This August, Lionesses of Africa is featuring the talented women entrepreneurs who are changing the PR, media and communications landscape in Africa through their innovation, products, services and their passion for what they do.
Some of the names and companies are well-known - others are new to the scene - but all of them are making waves through their work in creating memorable PR campaigns for their clients, producing great brand communications strategies and campaigns, and producing world-class media platforms and channels in television, radio and film, not to mention the published media of magazines and newspapers.
Let's introduce you to some of these amazing women....
Mo Abudu, founder of EbonyLife TV, Nigeria
Mo Abudu is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of EbonyLife TV, Africa's first and fastest growing black entertainment and lifestyle network. Mo Abudu, Nigerian media entrepreneur and talk show host, is the first African woman to launch a Pan-African TV channel. The channel currently on DSTV Channel 165, as well as in the UK on the TalkTalk platform, providing premium, original and home-grown programming to its ever increasing viewership. She has received many awards In recognition of her outstanding work in media and her services to humanity, and was most recently honoured with an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Babcock University. Read more from Mo here.
Khanyi Dhlomo, founder of Ndalo Media, South Africa
Khanyi Dhlomo is the Managing Director of Ndalo Media, which she founded in 2007. She is also the founder of DestinyConnect and the founding editor of Destiny Magazine. Before starting her own media company, Khanyi was editor of True Love magazine for eight years. In 2013, Khanyi ventured in retail and launched Luminance, a high-end fashion and lifestyle department store. Khanyi was named most influential woman in South African Media by The Media Magazine in 2003 and made the 2011 Forbes list of 20 Young Power Women in Africa. Read Khanyi's '100 Lionesses' profile here.
Uche Pedro, founder of BellaNaija.com, Nigeria
Uche Pedro is founder of BellaNaija.com, a company that develops and delivers exciting online content aimed at Nigerian and Pan-African audiences. Uche’s savvy grasp of media trends has led to BellaNaija.com becoming the go-to lifestyle, entertainment and fashion portal in Africa. Her website has established a loyal following amongst the young, cosmopolitan, upwardly mobile set in Nigeria, with over 1 million unique visitors and 9 million page views each month. Read Uche's '100 Lionesses' profile here.
Basetsana Kumalo, serial entrepreneur and philanthropist
Basetsana 'Bassie' Kumalo is a South African television personality, beauty pageant titleholder, serial entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Her career began in 1990 when she was crowned Miss Soweto and Miss Black South Africa at the age of 16. Since then, Bassie has become a formidable force in the business world and is widely respected as both an entrepreneur and a philanthropist. A Director at Travel with Flair, she also owns her own optical, sunglasses and cosmetic range. In the media space, Basetsana is best known as co-founder and Executive Chairman of Tswelopele Productions, a television production company which produces the popular shows Top Billing, Pasella, Ses’Khona amongst others. In 2011 she was honoured as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Read more about Basetsana here.
Patience Stevens, co-founder of Tswelopele Productions, South Africa
Patience Stevens is co-founder of Tswelopele Productions in South Africa, a leading TV production company, accredited by Impumelelo as one of South Africa’s Top 300 empowerment companies. Tswelopele is a Sotho word meaning to lift up, empower and to liberate people. It’s a story of progress driven by the energy and enthusiasm of Tswelopele Production’s Managing Director Patience Stevens and Chairperson Basetsana Kumalo. The company’s flagship brand is the Top Billing TV show that is produced for SABC3, the longest-running entertainment and lifestyle television programme in South Africa. In recent years Top Billing’s success has brought more projects to the reputable Tswelopele brand, such as the Afrikaans weekly magazine programme Pasella on prime time SABC 2, a youth TV show in SiSwati, Ses’khona on SABC 1; a travel series Top Travel which has achieved success locally and on the Travel Channel in Europe and Wealth TV in the USA; Top Dogs, a show celebrating top South African achievers; a talk show No Reservations and in print, Top Billing Magazine. More about Patience.
Diana Opoti, founder of Diana Opoti PR, Kenya
Diana Opoti the founder of Diana Opoti PR is a fashion media professional, avid blogger, entrepreneur and executive producer of the television series Designing Africa, with a hit campaign, 100 Days of African Fashion. Diana is a leading champion of the continent’s fashion design market and has become one of the Africa’s most formidable fashion connectors. In 2014, Diana was nominated as “outstanding Trend Communicator of the year by the continent’s most prestigious awards, The Africa Fashion Awards. More about Diana.
Our Startup stories of Africa's women in Media, PR & Communications
Why LoA loves Africa's Women in the World of Media, PR and Communications ….
For companies, organisations and brands, making a powerful connection with audiences, consumers and other key stakeholders is key. Creating messaging and campaigns that have the power to reach those audiences is where specialist companies and advisors come into the picture. Here in Africa we are blessed with some of the most talented communications and brand experts who are creating award-winning campaigns for their clients and finding solutions to the most challenging of communications problems. This month, we salute each of these Women in the Media, PR and Communications industries for getting the messages and brands out there! --- Melanie Hawken, founder and CEO of Lionesses of Africa
With two decades of experience, Mirza Jamal is a recognized professional in the areas of strategic marketing, corporate communications, and public relations, with a career marked by innovation, leadership, and social impact. As founder and ceo of MJ Consulting in Mozambique, she works to develop creative and accessible solutions for strengthening brands, empowering entrepreneurs, and promoting purposeful events.