LEGEND
The First Lady of Mobile
Patricia Obo-Nai , CEO , Vodafone Ghana
The first woman to become Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana , Patricia Obo-Nai is a giant in the African technology and telecoms sector . Prior to her appointment as CEO of the country ’ s second-largest mobile carrier by market share , Obo-Nai was a 20 year veteran of the country ’ s communications space .
She started as an intern at Millicom Ghana in the late 90s , rising to the position of Chief Technical Officer over her 12 year career with the company , before transferring to Vodafone Ghana in 2011 , assuming the role of CEO in April of 2019 .
Obo-Nai is a graduate of the University of Ghana , where she studied law ; with additional qualifications from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern , INSEAD , and the London Business School .
What makes her a legend , however , is her unceasing passion for using technology and telecommunications to better the lives of marginalised Ghanaians across the country . “ A few
Number of years working in the comms sapce
20 years from now , AI , robotics , machine learning , 3D printing and augmented reality will all be deeply rooted in our everyday lives just like computers , phones and electricity are necessities today ,” she said in an interview last September , stressing the need for young Ghanaians to pursue education in technology , and calling on employers to support the education of the country ’ s youth in STEM subjects . “ Let us change our minds , stop causing fear of these subjects and challenge ourselves . Technology is the future and it is exciting , be ready ,” she added .
Obo-Nai is also a fierce advocate for using technology to lower mortality rates among pregnant women in the country . “ It is wholly unacceptable that a mother in sub- Saharan Africa is over 100 times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth than a woman in Western Europe in an age when having a mobile phone and access to the internet alone can greatly enhance their life chances ,” she wrote in an open letter to The Africa Report .
18 March 2021