By Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey, GNA
Accra, Dec. 23, GNA – Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation, has been named among the 100 Most Influential Africans for 2025 by New African Magazine, UK.
The recognition honours her efforts to improve healthcare delivery through the training of doctors in specialised fields.
Dr. Kelej, also President of the “More Than a Mother” campaign, shares the recognition with African leaders including Angola’s President H.E. João Lourenço, South Africa’s President H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, and Ghana’s President H.E. John Dramani Mahama.
This marks the seventh consecutive year Dr. Kelej has featured on the list, highlighting her sustained impact in advancing equitable healthcare, reproductive health, and education across Africa.
The annual New African Magazine special edition highlights individuals shaping Africa’s present and future across public service, business, technology, advocacy, creative arts and sports, spotlighting leaders driving meaningful transformation.
Dr. Kelej expressed appreciation for the honour, describing it as motivation to intensify efforts to improve lives.
She said the award recognised her commitment to strengthening healthcare capacity, supporting women living with infertility, and promoting girl-child education through Merck
Foundation programmes.
Under her leadership, Merck Foundation has launched flagship initiatives including the
Scholarship Programme for Healthcare Providers, providing 2,500 scholarships to medical professionals from 52 countries across 44 critical and underserved specialties.
She noted that many beneficiaries became the first specialists in their countries, improving access to quality healthcare.
A key initiative is the “More Than a Mother” movement, launched in 2015, which addresses infertility stigma, promotes infertility prevention and male infertility awareness, and strengthens reproductive and fertility care.
The programme has been implemented in 42 African and Asian countries in collaboration with First Ladies, governments, academia, media and international partners.
Dr. Kelej said 770 scholarships have been dedicated to fertility care and related fields, including sexual and reproductive medicine, embryology, women’s health, psychiatry, urology and family medicine, to advance equitable women’s health services.
Beyond healthcare, Merck Foundation supports women economically through the “Empowering Berna” programme, assisting childless women to establish small businesses, and invests in education.
In partnership with African First Ladies, the Foundation has awarded over 1,200 annual scholarships to underprivileged but high-performing schoolgirls in 19 African countries, including Ghana.
Dr. Kelej is recognised for advocacy against infertility stigma, child marriage, gender-based
violence and female genital mutilation. She has mobilised millions across Africa through media, arts and culture, inspiring social change, and leaving a legacy of empowerment and hope.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey