Only reason I’m bringing this article is, when you come to Ghana, there are few of them who are trying to make a difference, most of them are all up on social media 24/7 either competing with each other or showing off what they’ve got. It’s time Ghanaian females step up and prove worthy of the statement “what men can do, women can do it better”. I hope this inspires them.
Forbes Magazine unearthed 268 new billionaires in 2014. Impressively, 172 of these powerhouses were women – an all time record and a huge improvement on last year’s 138. Indeed, 10 of the females listed also appear on Forbes’ annual 100 Most Powerful Women ranking. On a larger scale, billionaire wealth shows no signs of decreasing. That is, a record net worth of $31 billion was needed to rank among the top 20 billionaires this year – representing a significant incline from last year’s $23 billion. This year, the United States led the world with an impressive 492 billionaires, followed by China with 152 and Russia with 111. Forbes also notes individuals with sizable fortunes in other countries such as Algeria, Lithuania, Tanzania and Uganda.
Forbes commented on the impressive number of women on this year’s billionaire list and some of its broader implications but there is still something to be said for the fact that the majority of women on this list inherited their wealth from a spouse or parent; and yet, nearly one fifth of them are self-made, and this is a number that has more than doubled in the past few years. The world’s top 10 richest women have a collective net worth of $223 billion, a staggering figure that increased upwards of 25% from last year. Forbes puts this number in perspective: these women are worth more than every professional sports team in the United States put together! These women’s accomplishments are a momentous feat in themselves, but what they will choose to do with this wealth is equally important. Laurene Powell Jobs, for example, has used her status and power to deal passionately with education reform in Washington. In the future, one can hope to see more women taking the lead in business, philanthropy, and entrepreneurship throughout the world. Perhaps these 10 new female billionaires in 2014 can give us a glimpse of what the new generation of rich and powerful women worldwide looks like.