Africa's beauty and wellness sector continues to grow, with new and exciting products coming onto the market every day, most of them celebrating the unique, natural ingredients that are produced on the African continent. This month at Lionesses of Africa, we celebrate 30 women entrepreneurs whose remarkable startup stories we have featured over the past year and who are building great brands and developing world class products from all corners of the African continent.
Leading the pack is Tara Fela-Durotoye, founder of House of Tara in Nigeria. She is a wonderful example of how to build a proudly African brand that prides itself on its world-class approach to products and services, and one that is now set to really take itself to the next level globally. Tara is a great example for other African women brand builders to follow. Read more about Tara and the 30 women entrepreneurs from this exciting business sector who are making the world sit up and take notice with their great beauty and wellness brands and products.
Tara Fela-Durotoye addressing the Lionesses of Africa Annual Conference 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa
Tara Fela-Durotoye is a Nigerian-born lawyer turned Africa's leading beauty and makeup entrepreneur. She started House of Tara at the age of 20, from her living room, whilst an undergraduate at university back in 1998. She's since gone on to launch Nigeria's first ever bridal directory in 1999, and in 2004 she opened the country's leading beauty academy. Today, Tara has over 10,000 reps spread across Nigeria and 14 stores to her name and she is steadfastly dedicated to realising her vision of building a globally respected beauty company of African origin. Tara remains an inspirational role-model and mentor to make-up artists and aspiring beauty business owners across Africa. In 2013, Tara was nominated as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and was also named one of Forbe's '20 Young Power African Women'.
Meet 30 incredibly talented beauty and wellness entrepreneurs we've been privileged to feature over this past year....
Suné Theisinger is the ceo of BST Global in South Africa, a dynamic player in the rapidly evolving aesthetic industry. As the ceo of BST Global, Suné is responsible for overseeing and managing all aspects of the business. Dr Juanri Jonck is a qualified medical doctor with a degree from the University of Pretoria and is the Medical Director of BST Global. Dr Jonck leads with a deep commitment to hormone optimisation, evidence-based aesthetic medicine, and holistic wellness.