Roumana Garba Oumarou, is a freelancer. Single without children, she is an alumni of the Yali Dakar program session 4. She is also the focal point of Niger for the movement of female elites in French-speaking Africa. After having climbed all the levels, she is currently the National President of JCI Niger. With her young age approaching her thirties, Roumana knows where she is going, what she wants. She is regularly invited to national and international conferences, where she never hesitates to take the microphone and vigorously defend women’s rights. A girl in the field, she travels thousands of kilometers to meet her sisters; looking for ways to improve the situation of its members through income-generating activities.
Tell us about yourself, this club, your objectives and different areas of intervention, and the concrete achievements of this organization.
I joined Junior Chamber International Niger (JCI) in 2016, inducted in October of the same year during the national convention held in Arlit as a member of Junior Chamber International Maguina which is a local organization of JCI Niger bringing together entrepreneurs and young project leaders where I respectively held the following positions: 2017, Vice-President of the business sector; in 2018: Vice-President of Community Affairs; in 2019: Vice-President, individual domain; in 2020: Executive Vice-President; in 2021: Executive Chairman. In 2022 I go to the national level as National Vice-President, and this year I am the National President of JCI Niger.
I am trained in oil, more specifically in exploration and exploitation, but also I have notions in the energy field, in particular solar energy.
The Junior Chamber International is a non-profit organization, bringing together young people aged 18 to 40, and is present in more than 120 countries around the world. Its mission is to provide young people with leadership development opportunities by enabling them to create positive change in their community. Its vision is to be the leading network of young leaders. The JCI was present in Niger since Feu Kountché but reached its peak thanks to its relaunch in 2003 and has 12 local organizations, 3 of which are in the creation phase.
We operate in four (4) key areas, namely the individual area: The personal development of our members is at the center of our actions. Within the JCI, everyone has the opportunity to train, to discover new skills through our training modules. We want our members to become young Leaders to meet the challenges of the world.
At the community level: The goal is to provide opportunities to develop social responsibilities and to have a major role in creating positive changes with high impact through the JCI Rise which calls on young enterprising leaders from around the world working together to make economies and workforces more resilient. Or through projects relating to Human Rights and the participation of young people in conflict management.
With regard to the field of Business: Business is at the heart of our interventions with the aim of allowing our members to take advantage of it to develop their Business experience by learning by doing, and to have a networking filled with successful entrepreneurs. JCI members and young people can learn to develop themselves by participating in the various projects to master the role of manager, visionary, leader and coach.
At the level of the Internationalism field: Through international conferences, exchange programs, twinning between young chambers, JCI offers opportunities for global development, international meetings and the strength of a united and fraternal world.
The 2023 mandate of JCI Niger focuses on industrialization in Niger, the objective of which would be to be able to position young people and women in industrial value chains. But also actions in the promotion of youth entrepreneurship.
Our action plan includes the Kokowa PITCH project, which is a national competition whose aim is to create matchmaking between project leaders (especially industrial ones) and potential investors. We hope to launch by the end of April, the organization of a lunch debate on “women’s industrialization” which will be a framework for exchange and advocacy of women who are in the processing of products (agri-food, crafts …), the creation of a leadership academy and processes for the creation of industrial units in Niger and the establishment of a TOYP which is a JCI program aimed at rewarding the 10 best young people of a country distributed in 10 different categories which are: Business, Economics, and/or Corporate Achievements Political, Legal, and/or Governmental Affairs Leadership and/or Academic Achievement; cultural achievement Moral and/or environmental leadership; contribution to children’s rights, world peace, and/or human rights Humanitarian and/or volunteer leadership; scientific and/or technological development; personal development and/or personal achievement; Medical innovation; training on entrepreneurial awakening for young people from the Tillaberi and Diffa regions and Niger’s participation in the Africa and Middle East zone conference in Zimbabwe from May 17 to 20 and at the world congress in November from May 14 to 18.
Woman and leader of a club, what is the relationship you have with your male friends regarding the management of this framework?
You know, whatever position a woman may occupy, leader or not, she will always be in one way or another having to explain herself and prove that she is up to what she stands for. or its position.
Indeed, I have many male and also female friends, most of whom since I joined this organization do not support my choice to belong to this type of association… And besides, I have lost a few because of that, but I was also able to surround myself with a few who supported me throughout my Junior Chamber career and even outside the associative framework.
In any business there are ups and downs, how do you manage to overcome the obstacles? And as a woman, how do you also manage to reconcile family life and professional life?
You had to overcome obstacles to get where I am today… It was easy and difficult at the same time.
Easy because I had set myself ambitious goals as soon as I joined this organization, I knew exactly where I was going to be in the future years so it just took determination, being dynamic and persevering. And above all I had and I have a few friends who support me tirelessly, it’s important.
Difficult because being a woman we have more challenges because of socio-religious constraints. As soon as a woman stands out and wants to climb the ladder, she gets heckled from all sides, both inside and outside the organization.
Being single for the moment, I manage to plan my family and professional life well. It’s true at first it wasn’t easy with the parents, especially regarding the many meetings, activities and trips. But they ended up accepting my choices because they saw the positive impact it had on my life.
How do you view female leadership in Niger, what female figures impress you, who are likely to boost you?
I believe that today’s Niger can boast of having great female figures, female leaders, female politicians, female entrepreneurs…
We are in a Niger where women have understood that it is necessary to work with them to advance the economy, education and other areas linked to the development of the country.
It is true that until now the place of women in society is still debatable, but there have been great advances compared to 30 years ago.
Among the female figures who impress me, there is first of all my mother, Ms. Maidah Zeinabou who is an advisor for my term, Ms. Gourouza Salamatou who is my godmother, Aichatou Mindaoudou who has been my idol since childhood… In short, there are a lot of them.
Let’s go back to the associative movements that work for the development of our country through many activities, with regard to the preconceived ideas (these are sects of Freemasonry) that people have of these platforms, what have you you to say about it?
Like most associations in Niger, the JCI does not escape this macabre idea of associating it with a sect. But not only that, we heard about everything and machinations of all kinds. For others because we wear a chain that is worn exclusively at local or national authorities (reserved only for local presidents and national president).
And for many others because of the recitation of our creed which is a guide, from the values that we promulgate and that we adopt to our societal behaviors. But we must also tell the truth, the best young people in Niger, who really make things happen, are part of or come from youth associations. We believe in what we are doing and we keep going.
What positive things has this framework brought to your life? If you have a call to make to young people who want to join your club, which one would it be?
The associative movement (I am in several, not just JCI) has shaped the person I am today, through the various training courses followed, and my vision of seeing things differently.
It also helped me to develop a sense of self-sacrifice in community actions to help and serve my neighbour, to value human beings of all races, ethnicities or religions without distinction. To develop a fairly wide relational network thanks to the various trips, but above all to have discovered or met the wonderful people who have become brothers/sisters for me.
My appeal for young people wishing to join JCI Niger is to stop speculating and associating this organization with a sect, to arouse their curiosity by coming to see and discover what we are really doing.
It should be noted that we are present in the seven (7) regions of Niger except Diffa which is in the creation phase, we will be delighted to welcome them and make them leaders who in turn will bring an impacting change in their community. . They can write to us via our JCINIGER Events Facebook page. So if you really like your friends, make them discover the JCI!!!!
By Aissa Abdoulaye Alfary(ONEP)