Ramatou Baoua N’gobi, the (discreet) warrior from Parakou
At just 40 years of age, Ramatou Baoua N’gobi is the coordinator of the Centre Solidarité et Initiatives pour le Développement du Bénin (CSID-Benin) [Beninese Solidarity and Initiatives for Development Centre]. Reserved but determined, she knows how to listen and show humility.
Profiled by Emmanuel de Solère Stintzy.
We can easily bring to mind the image of a griot – that tall, intrepid, venerable and eloquent figure of a West African storyteller and musician. And while Ramatou Baoua N’gobi may belong to this caste of travelling musical poets, at just 1.56 m, the discrete coordinator of CSID-Bénin is far from a typical griot... “Ramatou has inherited respect for the given word from her caste,” explains her uncle, Morat Lafia Kora Yémagui Ali, an anthropologist. “Thanks to my background, I can approach people with ease and humility, because a griot is always working at the service of their king,” adds the young woman. This is an attitude strengthened by her character: “Even at an early age, Ramatou loved listening to and helping others,” her aunt, Mauna Boussou, recalls.
After gaining a degree in management (focusing on marketing and management in organisations) from the University of Parakou in 2013, followed by a master’s in project management in 2018, Ramatou initially worked as a community development officer. On her motorbike, she toured villages for the Parakou regional branch of the Institut Kilimandjaro before becoming the administrative and finance manager in 2010.
In 2014, she was appointed coordinator of the NGO CSID-Benin, replacing her then line manager, Sahadou Ali Zato.
She never tires of working!
Sahadou, a management consultant and trainer recalls: “As the administrative and finance manager, Ramatou reported directly to me and, even then, she was already proficient in the donor procedures. As her mentor, I saw potential in her that even she was unaware of!”
However, the arrival of a 34-year-old woman at the head of the CSID was not without prejudice: “Some people thought Ramatou was there to provide assistance and that I was still running things. They know now that she has all the powers and that I’m there less and less,” says Sahadou.
Safianou Wabi Alassane values the good leadership of his “boss”: “Ramatou puts herself in the other person’s shoes. When she gives me a task to do, she gives me her input to ensure we succeed. She likes everything to be right and never tires of working.” It is this individual and collective energy that has enabled CSID-Benin to gain several testimonials of good performance from multiple partners, with particular congratulations from CFI.
Ramatou valued this experience as a technical and logistical partner for Benin Citizens’ Dialogue 1 & 2: “These projects gave me the opportunity to meet lots of people. I take the reviews and comments of others and use them in an effort not to repeat the same mistakes. I never admit defeat!”
In April 2019, during the first seminar for Benin Citizens’ Dialogue 2 and after listening closely to Ramatou Baoua N’gobi speak in front of around 100 people, one attendee searched in vain for the name of the discreet coordinator of CSID-Benin. He ended up calling her “the warrior from Parakou”. A nickname that suits her rather well...
In 10 years...
Today, Ramatou Baoua N’gobi is the coordinator of CSID-Benin, but what heights does the future hold? In 10 years, her former line manager, Sahadou Ali Zato, would like to see her as the “administrative and finance manager for a sub-regional project or international organisation, or an expert in issues of citizenship and female leadership.”
Her colleague, Safianou Wabi Alassane, “hopes that Ramatou is advocating for the women’s cause in an international position. She knows how to coordinate and is already working locally with women's groups.” In the words of her aunt, Mauna Boussou: “Ramatou will definitely keep developing, because she pushes herself in everything she does. She should continue as a team leader and stay ahead of the field!”
Never one to take the credit for herself, discreet Ramatou hopes “to help women step into the limelight in the community and no longer wait for men to decide their place.” In short, in 10 years, “the warrior from Parakou” would like to continue the fight in an international NGO or “at the head of a Solidarity and Initiatives for Development Centre for the whole of Africa, which would coordinate all the CSIDs”
(Editor’s note: see also CSID implementation process in Burkina Faso, Togo, Niger and Côte d'Ivoire)”.