Franca Ovadje, a Nigerian economist, has received the HARAMBEE AWARD 2022 for the Promotion and Equality of the African Woman for her academic and professional merits, as well as for the great social work she has been doing on a voluntary basis for more than 20 years to help women in her country to start businesses.

Franca Ovadje is co-founder of the pioneering women’s training NGO NBWF (Businesswomen’s Forum) and has developed market opening projects for women’s SMEs in Nigeria and training programs such as the “Grow Your Business Programme”, followed by nearly 5,000 women in her country.

In the last 15 years, she has designed and delivered leadership programs for students at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and Lagos.

The prize money will be used for a new project: “Tech Power”, to develop STEM skills in secondary school girls in Nigerian public schools.