by Melanie Hawken, founder and ceo, Lionesses of Africa
Talk to the 1.7 million women entrepreneurs in our Lionesses of Africa community and they will tell you that reaching a new milestone on your business building journey ignites your entrepreneurial spirit and energizes you for the challenges ahead. So it was for Team Lioness on 11 July 2023 in The Hague when we launched Start-Up Night Africa, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Netherlands and the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO). Importantly, it also provided the platform for us to officially launch our new Lionesses of Africa Europe Office in The Hague! It marks another important milestone on our decade-long journey as social impact innovators, to realize our vision of empowering Africa’s women entrepreneurs to fulfill their potential.
Believing those closest to the problem are also closest to the solution, at Lionesses of Africa we are creating the space for women to actively participate in identifying, formulating, and delivering solutions to overcome the barriers and inequalities they face. The outcome is women entrepreneurs become active agents of change, participating directly in shaping their economic futures. Our job is then to bring all the key players to the table to help them realize their ambitions - Start-Up Night Africa is one practical way we achieve that goal.
The Start-Up Night Africa event aimed to create new investment connections and market access opportunities in The Netherlands for the 10 exciting high-growth women entrepreneurs showcased. It was the perfect platform to show how we need to shift the dial for women entrepreneurs to access much needed growth capital for their businesses - because when Africa’s women entrepreneurs grow, so does the continent. The event was the latest in the series of StartUp Night Africa events hosted by Lionesses of Africa, and which have been held in other cities such as Berlin, London and New York. The event in The Hague is special because it’s where Lionesses of Africa has now officially launched its European office.
“When we empower Africa’s high-growth potential women entrepreneurs by providing access to investment, markets, knowledge and partnerships, we help the African continent to accelerate its achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.”
A little about us… Lionesses of Africa is a social impact innovation organization that, over the past decade, has worked to advance growth and prosperity in Africa by empowering and igniting the potential of its women entrepreneurs. We have built an action-orientated community of 1.7 million women entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries and in the Diaspora, working toward a shared vision of unlocking inclusive prosperity, investment and growth in Africa.
I invite you to support our vision and partner with us to make real impact happen in the lives and businesses of Africa’s women entrepreneurs.
Melanie Hawken
founder and ceo
Lionesses of Africa