Ladejo Urges African Women To Rewrite Continent’s Narrative, Embrace Digital Literacy

Founder of Digital Women Africa, Ambassador Datari Ladejo, has called on African women to assume greater ownership of the continent’s narrative by deliberately amplifying positive stories of women making impact across different sectors, rather than allowing negative perceptions to define the African woman.

Ladejo made the call as a guest panellist at the Pan-African Conversations, where she challenged women to move beyond the amplification of societal challenges and deploy their collective influence to spotlight achievements, innovation and leadership contributions of women across the continent.

She also urged them to cultivate a culture of mutual support and strategic visibility, stressing that women must deliberately tell and promote the stories of other women who are breaking barriers and contributing to national and continental advancement.

Ladejo also emphasised the need for women to research, acquire knowledge and educate themselves in order to participate more effectively in shaping public discourse.

“I am passionate about girls and women, and how we participate in shaping the future and the story of African women,” Ladejo said, maintaining that women should not remain passive subjects of narratives constructed about them but must become active participants in determining how their contributions are documented and projected to the world.

The digital transformation consultant also identified digital literacy as a critical enabler of women’s economic empowerment, visibility and participation in contemporary leadership. She urged women and girls to acquire relevant digital competencies and leverage technology for knowledge acquisition, enterprise development, advocacy, networking and greater engagement in public affairs.

Ladejo, a lawyer, entrepreneur, digital strategist and leadership speaker, however, noted that the pursuit of digital inclusion must be underpinned by deliberate investment in critical infrastructure. She identified inadequate infrastructure as a major constraint to Africa’s digital advancement and called for improved electricity supply, particularly in rural communities, to enable more women and girls to access and sustain digital connectivity.

She advocated a robust public-private partnership framework to address the continent’s infrastructure and connectivity deficits, while urging African governments and private-sector actors to deepen collaboration with organisations and technology stakeholders outside the continent. “Africa, we have infrastructure problems,” she noted, stressing that the challenges should not obscure the continent’s considerable innovative capacity and its potential to emerge as a major global hub of innovation.

According to her, Africa’s ability to project a compelling global identity would also depend on the degree of unity and collective purpose among its people. She therefore called on women to build stronger networks of solidarity and concentrate on solutions capable of changing the narrative, rather than perpetually reproducing the problems confronting the continent.

Ahead of the 2027 elections, Ladejo further encouraged women to deploy digital platforms as instruments of informed civic engagement by researching and amplifying the profiles, accomplishments and public contributions of women seeking elective office. She said greater visibility for competent women in the democratic space could contribute to changing prevailing perceptions about women’s leadership capacity, while emphasising that such engagement should be informed by knowledge and civic responsibility rather than partisan considerations.

Ladejo’s intervention formed part of the Pan-African Peace, Leadership & Governance Summit 2026, convened by Ambassador Dr Kingsley Onuche under the auspices of the Peace Ambassadors Advocacy Network (PAAN).

Held at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, the summit, themed “Advancing Peace, Inclusive Leadership & Strategic Partnerships for Africa’s Future,” brought together stakeholders to interrogate issues around peacebuilding, inclusive leadership, governance, diplomacy and strategic partnerships, with complementary platforms including the Pan-African Peace Envoy Assembly, Pan-African Youth Peace Envoy Assembly, Girls & Women Speak Ambassadors and the Peace Diplomacy Simulation Programme.