Event Report

As part of celebrations for National Women’s Month in South Africa, Lionesses of Africa’s latest Lioness Business Agility Webinar took place on 14 August 2024, with 120 women entrepreneurs joining the event online. Once again hosted in partnership with Absa, the webinar focused on the theme of “Celebrating game-changing women entrepreneurs in South Africa who are in growth mode and creating local impact and jobs.” It’s an important topic and Lionesses of Africa believes in the need to recognize and support the work and commitment of women entrepreneurs who are building sustainable businesses that are creating much-needed jobs and driving economic growth in their communities.

As with all Lioness Business Agility Webinars, the event focused on creating a great conversation featuring highly experienced women entrepreneurs from our Lionesses of Africa community in South Africa who are building growing and sustainable businesses and brands, and importantly creating jobs for local people. The aim was to hear their experiences, the challenges they have faced, their success stories, and also their thoughts on what women entrepreneurs in South Africa need in terms of support to create more sustainable growth businesses in the future. Adding depth to the conversation was the team from Absa, who shared how the bank is proactively supporting the growth of women entrepreneur-led businesses to further stimulate economic growth and job creation. The team shared news and insights on the Absa Business She Thrives proposition and the bank’s strategy to support women-owned SMEs across all sectors.

Regular host, Nomalanga Sitole, Lionesses of Africa Enterprise Ambassador, kicked off the session by introducing the theme and the guest speakers and panelists for the webinar. First up to speak was Lionesses of Africa founder and ceo, Melanie Hawken, who shared news of the launch of the newly published Lioness Managing Your Business Cash Flow Playbook, a project produced with the support of Absa, and providing a much-needed new tool and resource for women entrepreneurs.

Melanie said: “We all know that maintaining a strong cash flow is key to business success - it’s the oxygen that keeps it alive. However, it can be harder to achieve good cash flow management in practice. There are times when the business will have good cash flows, for example after a good sales period, or after closing a big deal or project. There are other times when cash flow is under pressure, after an unexpected essential large-scale purchase, or during a weak sales period when the local or global economy is challenging. Let’s face it, even profitable, fast-growing companies can experience cash flow challenges at times while waiting for big deals to convert into cash in the bank. So, it’s time to start getting your cash flow management strategies on track. As part of our Women’s Month celebrations, we are launching our brand new Lioness Managing Your Business Cash Flow Playbook, sponsored by our partners, Absa. A big thank you to Absa for their continuing support as we develop great tools and resources such as our Playbooks to help women entrepreneurs grow thriving and sustainable businesses.”

Speaking on what Absa is doing to support women entrepreneurs in growth mode, Khanya Matshikwe, Head: Proposition Enablement - SME Relationship Banking – Strategy & Customer Value Management at Absa, gave an inspirational talk to get the session going, and the audience thinking. She shared her insights on the bank’s support for women entrepreneurs and their growth businesses, through its Absa Business She Thrives proposition. Khanya encouraged the audience members to set up a call or meeting with a specialist Absa banker to get some great advice and support to help them to grow their businesses and create more jobs for local people in South Africa.

Speaking on the event theme and with a real focus on her personal experience as a woman entrepreneur of building a fast-growing marcomms business across the African continent was Seanice Lojede, founder of BLU Flamingo Africa. Her pan-African tech-enabled integrated marketing communications company, headquartered in South Africa, has branches in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. With a master’s degree in digital marketing, and as an alumna of the prestigious Stanford Seed program, Seanice is a tech-savvy marketing leader whose data-driven strategies and cutting-edge marketing technologies have helped global companies crack the Sub-Saharan African market.

Next up on the programme was a speaker who has been an Absa client for many years. Olga Ncube, founder of Kusile Facilities Management, founded her business in 2003, offering specialist services including Contract Cleaning Services, Pest Control Services, Hygiene Services, Gardening, and Landscaping Services. This 100% women-owned company has a primary goal to ensure that its client premises maintain high-quality standards of hygiene and pest-free environments. Over the past 20 years, the business has created jobs for up to 500 employees, benefitting thousands of families.

The popular Lioness Panel Discussion followed with women entrepreneurs from the Lionesses of Africa community sharing their experiences of growing sustainable businesses, accessing new markets, and getting funding ready for greater growth in 2024. On the panel were four successful South African women-owned businesses including: Phindile Ndlovu, founder, Bhekizenzo Foundation; Mukundi Lambani, founder, Ambani Africa; Lerato Zulu, founder, Chemweb; and Sharon Castle, Transformational Life Coach and Founder of Mindfit Coaching Academy. Each of the panelists was given the opportunity to introduce their businesses and share their insights and experiences of creating jobs and addressing challenges such as access to growth funding and support.

The final speaker on the programme was Pragashani Reddy, Executive, Digital, Absa Relationship Banking, who spoke about the role of digital tools in business enablement and what Absa is doing to better enable businesses in growth mode.

The webinar wrapped up with Lionesses of Africa founder and ceo, Melanie Hawken, giving the closing remarks and informing the audience of the various tools and resources available from the Lionesses of Africa team and on the portal. She also provided a link for women entrepreneurs to download their copies of the newly launched Lioness Managing Your Business Cash Flow Playbook - https://issuu.com/lionessesofafrica/docs/lioness-playbook-managing_your_business_cash_compr?fr=sMzY1NTY4OTkzMzM

The next Lioness Business Agility webinar will be hosted in October 2024 - more programme details will be shared on the Lionesses of Africa website - www.lionessesofafrica.com

For more information on the Absa She Thrives proposition, contact Khanya Matshikwe via email: khanya.matshikwe@absa.africa