Masiyiwa reflects on significance of first female, black US Vice President

Billionaire businessman and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa, a father of five daughters, says the historical swearing in of the first female and black US Vice President Kamala Harris is a great inspiration for millions of girls and women across the world.

Masiyiwa, the founder and chairman of the pan-African Econet Group, writes:

There are people who will want you to believe that it is not a big deal that a woman of colour is becoming Vice President of the United States.

It's a REALLY BIG DEAL FOR ME, and here is why:

I am a father of five daughters, and from the moment each one of them took their first breath, I have wanted them to be successful in life. I want them to be whatever their God-given talents and grace will allow them to achieve.

But I have always known that there are barriers which must be removed for them to get there - precisely because they are woman, and also because they are black.

Each time someone out there removes a barrier that my children face, I rejoice!

How can I not rejoice because a woman and one of colour has reached this level?

When she is sworn in later this afternoon (January 20, 2021), I will sit with each of my daughters, and we will watch. And so will millions of black Americans who will see this day as a miracle. And many little girls will dream, and dream!

When my daughters were little, they would shout encouragement about each other with these words:

"Go Joanna, Go! You are a champion! Girls can do anything!"
(Joanna was the smallest of them, and she got to Yale University!).

So let's all shout: "Go, Kamala, Go! You are a champion! Girls can do anything!"

Let us encourage others, so that we too might draw encouragement.