{"id":8458,"date":"2025-11-12T07:27:55","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T07:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gracamacheltrust.org\/?p=8458"},"modified":"2026-01-22T22:33:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T20:33:57","slug":"the-graca-machel-trust-welcomes-mrs-aishah-n-ahmad-cfa-ofr-as-new-chair-of-the-expert-leaders-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/featured\/the-graca-machel-trust-welcomes-mrs-aishah-n-ahmad-cfa-ofr-as-new-chair-of-the-expert-leaders-group\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust welcomes Mrs Aishah N. Ahmad, CFA, OFR as new Chair of the Expert Leaders\u2019 Group"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload alignnone size-full wp-image-11530\" src=\"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%272560%27%20height%3D%271440%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%202560%201440%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%272560%27%20height%3D%271440%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-500x281.jpg 500w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-700x394.jpg 700w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GMT-Announcement-DG-Aishah-scaled-2.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>The Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust is pleased to announce Mrs. Aishah N. Ahmad, CFA, OFR,former Deputy Governor (Financial System Stability) of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as the new Chair of the Expert Leaders\u2019 Group (ELG).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ELG is a pan-African network of primarily female central bank governors, deputy governors, financial regulators, and senior industry executives. Established by the Trust to advance women\u2019s participation at multiple levels of financial systems, the ELG provides a platform for influence, collaboration, and systemic reform across the continent.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mrs. Gra\u00e7a Machel, Founder and Chair of the Trust, said: \u201cWomen do not lack talent or ambition. Too often they lack access to resources and a seat at the tables where financial decisions are made. With Mrs. Aishah N. Ahmad\u2019s proven policy leadership, we will work with central banks, regulators and industry to open the system so that women can access capital, grow enterprises, and lead. I extend my deep appreciation to Dr Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula formal Deputy Governor, administration at the Bank of Zambia, whose principled stewardship has strengthened this work and the ELG, preparing the ELG for its next phase.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A seasoned regulator and investment professional, Mrs. Ahmad brings extensive experience in financial sector governance, innovation, and inclusion. Commenting on her appointment, she said: \u201cI am deeply honoured to serve as Chair of the Expert Leaders\u2019 Group at such a crutial \u00a0time for women\u2019s economic leadership in Africa. The Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust has built an extraordinary foundation,proving that when women\u2019s voices are at the centre of policy, finance, and enterprise, nations prosper. Looking ahead, our focus will be on turning advocacy into measurable impact, deepening collaboration across the Trust&#8217;s networks, and ensuring that women\u2019s leadership is recognised as essential to Africa\u2019s growth story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mrs. Ahmad succeeds Dr. Kankasa-Mabula, whose leadership and dedication helped strengthen the ELG\u2019s foundations and guided its early growth across Africa\u2019s financial landscape.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reflecting on this work, Dr. Kankasa-Mabula said: \u201cit has been a privilege to serve as the founding Chair of the Expert Leaders\u2019 Group and help build what is becoming a strong and credible platform for women\u2019s leadership and advancement. We also appreciate Ms Gail Makenete, Second Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Lesotho, for her year of convenorship and steadfast coordination in support of the ELG\u2019s agenda. I am confident that under Mrs. Ahmad\u2019s leadership, the ELG will continue to expand its influence and shape financial systems that enable women\u2019s full economic participation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This transition marks the next chapter in the Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust\u2019s enduring mission to advance women\u2019s wealth, leadership, and legacy, ensuring that no country in Africa develops without the full participation of its women.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; The Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust is pleased to announce Mrs.  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_rtcl_gb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,81,90,741,95],"tags":[277,278,279,280,281,282],"class_list":["post-8458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-highlight","category-media","category-news","category-womens-economic-and-social-advancement-highlight","tag-aishah-n-ahmad","tag-central-bank-of-lesotho","tag-dr-kankasa-mabula","tag-dr-tukiya-kankasa-mabula","tag-expert-leaders-group","tag-gail-makenete"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}