Kah Walla

Kah Walla started her consulting firm Strategies! in Cameroon with a commitment to hold the company to world-class standards and nothing less. Her business would compete not only with the best in Africa, but the best in the world. Her Douala office attracts clients from Africa, Europe and the United States.

The woman-owned, women-run firm boasts annual sales of $500,000 and continues to grow. But Kah recognized her success story did not reflect the experiences of most women working in Cameroon, one of the lowest-ranked countries in the World Bank’s gender-equity index.

In 2008 — in collaboration with Vital Voices — Kah launched a pilot program with women sellers in one of the largest produce markets of Douala, where 900 women traders had no voice in market operations. Through the program, women sellers formed an association to advocate collectively — for improved conditions, elimination of double-taxation and for the creation of a level playing field for women in the marketplace.

As a business owner and as an elected member of the Douala City council, Kah is finding solutions to systemic challenges that inhibit women’s economic advancement in Cameroon. The same principle that guides her company’s success guides her work in government — a firm belief that Africans have all of the ability, all of the resources and all of the capacity to be able to respond to the needs of the people who live there.

In October 2010, Kah announced her candidacy for the 2011 presidential election in Cameroon.