In this first edition of Inspirational Women, The Women’s Torch profiles Oley Dibba Wadda, the AfDB’s recently appointed director of Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development. She is expert in international development policy and programming, particularly on education and gender equality in Africa. A mentor, motivational speaker and a Certified Life and Spiritual Coach, Oley Dibba Wadda is the Founder, President and CEO of the Gam Africa Institute for Leadership (GAIL) and has led multicultural and multidisciplinary Pan African development organisations.
Inspirational Women will each month profile a West African woman of clout, a trailblazer whom we hope will inspire in particular our younger readers and women across West Africa to follow their dreams.
Who is Oley Dibba Wadda?
My Name is Oley, Lucretia, Clara Dibba-Wadda. I am of Gambian origin and the eldest amongst 4 siblings. I was born on 24 March 1967 to my father, Omar Baboucar Yusupha Dibba, and my mother, Lucretia Eleanor Clara Dibba (nee Carayol). I was born in the United Kingdom at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford where my father was a graduate student at the Oxford University at the time. As their eldest child I was named after my dad’s mother, Oley, and also given my mother’s middle names, Lucretia Clara.
I attended the Methodist Primary and Kindergarten School at Dobson Street in The Gambia and later went to St. Joseph’s High School at Box Bar, also in The Gambia. I graduated with a Masters in Gender Analysis in Development from the University of East Anglia in Norwich in the United Kingdom. I am married to Bye Malleh Wadda and have one daughter (Katty) and three sons (Omar, Mustapha and Samsudeen). READ FULL STORY HERE