Ingrid Awadé: The “Iron Lady” of Togo’s Administration, a Model of female leadership
At just over fifty years old, Ingrid Awadé ranks among the most powerful women in the administration of Togo. An exceptional career path that commands admiration and testifies to the trust President Faure Gnassingbé places in the competencies of women to steer strategic sectors of national development.
When she became Director General of Taxes back in 2006, she immediately made her mark by imposing severe tax audits on prominent economic players, showing that she feared no one and placed the general interest above partisan considerations.
This rigor in her work, combined with unshakeable integrity, earned her the respect of taxpayers even the most powerful and laid the foundations for an exceptional career in the service of the Togolese state.
Her time in international institutions gave her a global vision of economic and financial challenges, knowledge of best practices, and a valuable network of contacts that she now places at the service of her nation.
This international experience, combined with an intimate knowledge of Togolese realities, makes her an outstanding manager capable of reconciling performance demands with consideration for local specificities never losing sight of the ultimate goal: the well-being of the people.
After a notable stint at DOSI (the body in charge of organizing the informal sector), she now heads the highly important National Social Security Fund (CNSS), where she has instilled a new dynamic, transforming the institution into a genuine driver of economic and social development.
Under her energetic and visionary management, the organization has demonstrated great capacity to serve the country well beyond its traditional social protection mission, financing several structuring projects in areas as diverse as real estate, health, and energy.
The CNSS now actively participates in the construction of public infrastructure, the equipping of health centers, and the expansion of access to electricity notably through its equity stake in the Kekeli Efficient Power plant, a major project for Togo’s energy sovereignty.
Nicknamed by some as the “Iron Lady,” she is one of those brilliant Togolese who built their careers abroad and whom President Faure Gnassingbé has wisely surrounded himself with to bring a fresh breath of air to the country’s governance and modernize public administration.
Kodjovi Makafui
