"Taxation has a huge impact on development. It is important that women are part of decision-making processes and policy development," pleads Nana Akua Mensah, tax policy adviser at Ghana's Tax Authority.

African women do not actively participate in politics and public life. They do not make much headway in their studies and lack qualified diplomas. According to Mensah, promoting female leadership should go through quality education.

In some African countries, laws exclude women from participating in tax administration. According to Micheline Ilboudo, Divisional Inspector of Customs at Burkina Faso, to work in customs administration, the law said: "you must have done military service, be of male gender". Ilboudo reveals sexual exclusion in these institutions.

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Solidarity can change the game.

"It is not easy to be an African woman in these traditionally male spaces. It is important that we strive and make our way here," Mensah tells other women.

African women working in the tax field founded a network of African women in taxation, AWITN (African Women in Tax Network). Mensah emphasizes that this network offers her the opportunity to interact with other women from the continent on tax matters. She mentions that the network allows these women to share experiences and learn from one another.

To rise to administration positions, African women must "fight themselves, train themselves and show solidarity," according to Ilboudo. Ndinaye Charumbira, Policy Officer at the African Union recommends women break down barriers. "By practicing at the forge, they will become a blacksmith." Charumbira suggests that each woman leader carry under her shadow a young girl to inspire her.

Female leadership faces gaps across the African continent. The lack of experience for these administration positions makes these positions a dream for the future.

Read also: What is wrong with tax administration in Africa?

Eric Niyoyitungira