Event Report - Lioness Lean In Mozambique 3 April 2024

The first in the annual series of popular Mozambique Lioness Lean In Webinars for 2024 took place on Wednesday 3 April. Hosted by Lionesses of Africa in partnership once again with Standard Bank, the theme of growth and job creation was firmly at the forefront of women entrepreneurs’ minds. With 140 attendees to kickstart the conversation, including a speaker panel of 7 highly experienced women entrepreneurs from the Lionesses of Africa community in Mozambique, the focus was on sharing experiences and learnings. Specialist insights and advice also came from Crescênia Matsinhe, Head of Consumer, Industrial and Infrastructure Sector, Commercial Banking, Standard Bank Mozambique, who shared how the bank is supporting women entrepreneurs and their growth this year.

The first Mozambique Lean In Webinar of 2024 was launched by regular Mestre de Cerimónia, Catia David, Gestora de Projectos, Incubadora, Standard Bank Mozambique, who as always, encouraged attendees to engage and share their insights and experiences of the morning’s event with their own networks. She also spoke about the power of storytelling to make positive change happen in the lives of women entrepreneurs in Africa. She said, “Every woman entrepreneur building a sustainable business here in Mozambique has a unique, impact-driven story to tell. I encourage you all to share your stories with us; let us help you to get those stories noticed and read by potential buyers of your wonderful products and services; let us get you connected to your fellow women entrepreneurs, so you can build your own powerful business networks get ready for a year of growth and impact in 2024.”

Lionesses of Africa founder and ceo, Melanie Hawken, was the first speaker to open the programme, and in her role as co-host welcomed attendees to the event and spoke about ambition and achieving growth goals in 2024. She shared some insights from other women entrepreneurs who have achieved significant growth over the past year, and practical advice on how to develop a growth mindset for the year ahead. Melanie said, “Ambition and success are contagious, and if you surround yourself with the right people who share your goals and your philosophy on life, then their success will rub off on you too. Today, you are surrounded by your fellow Lionesses who share your journey, so I encourage you to walk it together and support one another each day until you achieve success.”

Next on the programme was Crescênia Matsinhe, Head of Consumer, Industrial and Infrastructure Sector, Commercial Banking, Standard Bank Mozambique. Crescênia shared insights and advice on how the bank assists women entrepreneurs to better understand their needs whilst on their growth journeys, and extended an invitation to each attendee to reach out and set up individual meetings and conversations with Standard Bank specialists.

As always at each of the Lioness Lean Inn Webinars, inspirational woman entrepreneurs are invited to share their startup stories and experiences with attendees. At this first event of the year, it was the turn of the highly experienced and successful Rukssana Saide, founder of Dream Agrobusiness Lda, to talk about her entrepreneurial journey. She was inspired to start her business through her passion for the land, her sense of duty to contribute to the transfer of knowledge to those who do not have access, the demystification of the paradigm of small-scale agriculture for less educated people, and commercial agriculture for foreigners, and the desire to develop the community and leverage others. Today her business is focused on production, marketing, and assistance to small producers. Dream Agrobusiness has a production field, generates its own agri-production, buys surpluses from small producers and provides assistance to small producers. Her product range includes grains, oilseeds, and cereals.

The second woman entrepreneur to share her story was Amirah Adam, founder of Mira La Mira Têxteis, a specialist business focused on Textile Print Design, Communication and Marketing Design, Production of Custom Clothing and Accessories, and the sale of textile items. Textile printing design is a new concept for the Mozambican market. Amirah and her team have built a customer base of those fashion designers looking for alternative fabrics and who wish to customize the prints on their fabrics, to make their final products more original.

Building on Lionesses of Africa’s ongoing research into women entrepreneurs as important job creators, a quick ‘pulse-poll’ was undertaken during the event asking women entrepreneur attendees about their intentions to create new jobs in 2024. Out of the 64 women entrepreneurs who responded, 58 said they would be creating new jobs in the next 12 months, compared to just 6 who said their job count would remain the same. These quick poll insights support Lioness Data’s research findings over the past three years that women entrepreneurs are committed to playing their role in creating much-needed jobs through their businesses.

A popular part of the programme is always the Lioness Launch session where Mozambique’s women entrepreneurs with new products and services to announce get the opportunity to pitch them to the audience. At this 1st Lioness Lean In event, two women entrepreneurs with very different businesses and product offerings were given the opportunity to launch them to potential customers. First up was Solange Correia, founder of Consultoria e Formação Parental, a business specializing in monitoring and supporting parents in educating their children to prioritize harmony and respect for all family members. After a successful and passion-driven pitch by Solange, it was the turn of highly experienced serial entrepreneur, Patricia Vasco, escritora, O Kaio e o Cão Panda. She launched her latest business venture, an exciting new book and educational resource for children and parents.

L-R: Elisabeth Veloso, Milene Mucache, Nuria Arbelo

The final part of the programme, and the most interactive, was the ever-popular Lioness Launch Open Mike session, where three women entrepreneurs were invited to pitch their new products in just 4 minutes each. Elisabeth Veloso, fundadora, Chicoxana, Milene Mucache, fundadora, MV Health Consultancy Service, and Nuria Arbelo, fundadora, Brincadeira, all successfully pitched their businesses and new products, winning over potential new customers and building brand awareness. A Q & A session with the audience followed, giving attendees the chance to ask questions and learn more from all the women entrepreneurs who were showcased at the event. As always, the session was lively and informative.

The Lioness Lean In Webinar was brought to a close by Melanie Hawken, founder, Lionesses of Africa, who thanked everyone for attending, and encouraged women entrepreneurs to share their startup stories on the Lionesses of Africa platforms. She also encouraged attendees to sign up for their free subscriptions to the Bom Dia Leoas daily digital newsletter, which is a wonderful resource for women entrepreneurs, and sponsored by Standard Bank.

The next Mozambique Lioness Lean In event will take place in July 2024, details to be announced on www.lionessesofafrica.com