AFP PHOTO / ISSOUF SANOGO
Catherine Samba-Panza (June 26, 1954)
Samba-Panza has had a long career in politics in the Central African Republic. Since 2014, she acted as the interim president of the country, becoming the first woman to do so. In the previous year, she served as the Mayor of Bangui, the capital of the nation, and was selected by the National Transitional Council to create political equilibrium in the nation.
Rose Francine Rogombé (Sept. 20, 1942 -April 10, 2015)
From June to October of 2009, Rogombé was the short-term acting president of Gabon. She acted as a bridge for the previous president, Omar Bongo, and the succeeding president, Ali Bongo Ondimba. In her political career, she served as president of the senate, a councilor on the local level in her hometown of Lambaréné, and a senator on the federal level representing Lambaréné in 2009.
