On 6 and 7 December 2018, the first out of a series of Female Academic Career Workshops was held in Dakar (under the aegis of GHI Paris). Among 120 applications, 16 scholars from Senegal (8), Cameroon (4), Côte d’Ivoire (1), Togo (1), Algeria (1) and Morocco (1) were selected. The workshop consisted of two parts: (a) a public round table on ‘Female academic career development in African academic environments” and (b) a non-public coaching seminar which was conducted by Folashade Soule-Kohndou (University of Oxford). Four scholars from Senegal and Germany contributed to the round table, which attracted a broad audience: Fatou Sow (CNRS Dakar), Absa Gassama (Université virtuelle du Sénégal), Yacine Diagne (CESTI/UCAD) and Nadine Sieveking (University of Göttingen). The discussion focused on the low representation of women at the level of academic staff and university leadership positions at (West) African universities as well as on the question of how academic careers of women can be better promoted in Africa. The coaching seminar considered applications for academic positions or research grants, the construction of international academic networks and the role of gender in the class room.