New Lioness Playbook launched to help women entrepreneurs manage their cash flow

August 15, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Playbook Launch

Maintaining a strong cash flow is key to business success - it’s the oxygen that keeps it alive. However, many entrepreneurs find it harder to achieve good cash flow management in practice. That’s why Lionesses of Africa, a social impact innovation business with a fast-growing community of 1.8 million women entrepreneurs across the African continent, has responded to the challenge with the launch of a new Managing Your Cashflow Playbook. The new Playbook, sponsored by Absa, is the latest in a series of digital publications produced by Lionesses of Africa, providing practical business advice and insights delivered directly by leading African women entrepreneurs selected from the Lionesses of Africa community.

Introducing the holistic Absa Women and Youth Proposition

August 4, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Impact Partner

An interview with Khanya Matshikwe, Head: Proposition Enablement - SME Relationship Banking – Strategy & Customer Value Management, Absa

In this week’s edition of Lioness Weekender, we are focusing on how women entrepreneurs can get access to better financial advice and support for their businesses, to help them to grow and thrive. So to learn more, who better to speak to than Khanya Matshikwe, Head: Proposition Enablement - SME Relationship Banking – Strategy & Customer Value Management at Absa. Khanya will be a familiar face and name if you have attended one of the popular Lioness Business Agility webinars over the past year, where she provides great insight and information on what Absa is practically doing to support women-led SMEs.

Absa Bank wins Euromoney Award for Excellence as South Africa’s Best Bank for SMEs

July 20, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Award Winner

Absa Bank has been recognised by the prestigious Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2024, and awarded the accolade of South Africa's Best Bank for SMEs. The Euromoney Awards are the definitive annual awards programme for the banking industry, celebrating the achievements of banks and bankers from across the globe. Over 600 banks from over 100 countries enter the Awards for Excellence every year, making it the most comprehensive awards programme in the industry.

Empowering women entrepreneurs and fostering inclusive financial practices to drive sustainable economic growth across Africa

July 18, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Feature Interview

In Conversation with Jules Ngankam, Group Chief Executive Officer, African Guarantee Fund

The 2nd Start-Up Night Africa event on 11 June 2024, in The Hague, The Netherlands, provided the opportunity to highlight the critical role of investment and the power of partnerships to address the gender finance gap for high-growth women entrepreneurs in Africa. Continuing the conversations on this important subject, Lionesses of Africa spoke to Jules Ngankam, Group Chief Executive Officer of the African Guarantee Fund, a real champion of empowering women entrepreneurs and fostering inclusive financial practices to drive sustainable economic growth across Africa.

The power of partnerships to create greater access to funding for Africa’s women entrepreneurs

July 18, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Feature

Over the past eight years, Start-Up Night Africa events have aimed to stimulate real change by bringing together women entrepreneurs, with decision-makers and policy-makers, to discuss the challenges and real solutions needed to close the funding gap. At this year’s event on 11 June 2024, in The Hague, The Netherlands, a highlight of the programme was the panel discussion, where invited guest experts shared their insights and knowledge on the challenges women entrepreneurs face in getting access to finance and growth market opportunities. The focus was on discussing what progress has been made over the last twelve months, and also what new initiatives have been launched to practically shift the dial for women entrepreneurs in getting access to the growth funding they need. Chairing the panel discussion was Lionesses of Africa founder and ceo, Melanie Hawken, who was joined live on stage by Chiinga Musonda, co-founder of Savanna Premium Chocolate from Zambia. Joining via Zoom link were Patrick Lumumba, Group Director: Capacity Development at the African Guarantee Fund, and Vignesh Subramani, Head: Sales & Distribution, SME Business at Absa Bank, South Africa.

On a mission for equal rights and business opportunities for women entrepreneurs on the African continent

June 26, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Speech by Peter Derrek Hof, Ambassador Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, Director Social Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at Start-Up Night Africa on Tuesday 11 June 2024

Excellencies, representatives from the African Development Bank, the African Guarantee Fund, the ABSA Bank, the private sector, civil society, government, dear and esteemed guests, Welcome!

Welcome, on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, represented tonight by yours truly and by my colleague Wampie Libon, whom you will see later.

New research project launched at Start-Up Night Africa to address gender data gap on Africa's high-growth women entrepreneurs

June 25, 2024 Melanie Hawken

L-R: Melissa Basque-Roux, Ag. Coordinator, AFAWA (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa), African Development Bank; Melanie Hawken, Founder & CEO, Lionesses of Africa; Farshida Zafar, Director, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship

Launch Announcement

The 2nd Start-Up Night Africa event held on 11 June 2024 in The Hague, The Netherlands, was the launchpad for an important new research project announcement by Lionesses of Africa, in partnership with AFAWA (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa), and with the technical support of Lionesses of Africa’s research partner, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship. The research aims to address identified gendered gaps in data and insights that are barriers to achieving greater, more equitable, funding and support for women entrepreneurs in Africa. The project aims to deliver better insights into Africa’s women entrepreneurs who have launched high-growth ventures ambitiously going after double-digit growth and creating scalable business models to significantly impact the market, and their communities.

The 2nd Start-Up Night Africa event in The Hague connects Africa’s high-growth women entrepreneurs to European investment, and women entrepreneurs in the Netherlands looking to access African markets

June 16, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Media Release

Highlighting the critical role of investment and the power of partnerships to address the gender finance gap for high-growth women entrepreneurs in Africa and the Netherlands, were the key focus of discussion at the 2nd Start-Up Night Africa event on 11 June 2024, in The Hague, The Netherlands. The event was once again hosted by Lionesses of Africa, a fast-growing social impact organization with 1.8 million women entrepreneurs across the African continent, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Netherlands, African Guarantee Fund, AFAWA, and Absa. Opening remarks were delivered by Lionesses of Africa founder & ceo, Melanie Hawken; Peter Derrek Hof, Ambassador Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, Director Social Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Nishdeep Sethi, Group Director, Structured Finance, African Guarantee Fund. Also providing a welcome address was Erik Parigger, Programme Coordinator Orange Corners.

Lionesses in Profile / Meet the 10 women entrepreneurs showcased at Start-Up Night Africa, The Hague 2024

June 13, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Startup Night Africa, The Hague 2024

As a key driver of Lionesses of Africa’s ‘Access to Markets and Investment Programme,’ Start-Up Night Africa in The Hague aimed to connect Africa’s high-growth women entrepreneurs to European investment opportunities, and women entrepreneurs in The Netherlands looking to access African markets and partnerships. We showcased 10 inspirational women entrepreneurs in growth-mode at the event on 11 June 2024, all looking for new investment, markets, and collaboration opportunities. If you didn’t get to meet each of them on the evening, then take a look at their pitch videos below, which have all been published on the Lionesses of Africa website, and make those all important connections now.

Focus on women in manufacturing at the 2nd Lioness Business Agility Webinar of 2024

April 21, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Event Report

Lionesses of Africa’s latest Lioness Business Agility Webinar of 2024, took place on 17 April 2024, with 148 women entrepreneurs predominantly from South Africa joining the event online. Once again hosted in partnership with Absa, the webinar focused on the theme of “Women in manufacturing, creating jobs and local impact”. It’s an important topic and Lionesses of Africa believes in the need to recognise and support the work and commitment of women entrepreneurs who are building sustainable manufacturing businesses that are creating much-needed jobs and driving economic growth.

Thinking Bigger: A Pitch-Deck Formula for Women Who Want to Change the World by Sarah Dusek

April 14, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

In her new book, Thinking Bigger: A Pitch-Deck Formula for Women Who Want to Change the World, serial entrepreneur and investor, Sarah Dusek, tackles head-on a key challenge for women business and brand builders. The lack of female representation among top-earning business founders is surprising when compared with the number of women who start businesses. Fewer than thirty women in history have taken companies they founded public on leading stock exchanges. Although consistent references to “women and small business” dominate global development strategies and influence public policy, women are granted less than 2 percent of all venture capital investments annually. Things need to change!

Mozambique’s women entrepreneurs aim to create more jobs in 2024

April 5, 2024 Melanie Hawken

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.

Who is the Hero of your story?

February 25, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

“…give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” — Plato

As we continue our journey through the investment and finance world in our articles, making sense of the iniquities as we go, whilst creating some kind of ‘AH-HA!’ moment which will brighten the road ahead as we try to navigate our growth and cash flow needs vs our larger long term projects, we somehow need to also find the time to improve and turbocharge our approach to investors.

New Green Business Growth the focus of the 1st Lioness Business Agility Webinar of 2024

February 18, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Business Agility Report

Lionesses of Africa’s new event year started with a bang as the first Lioness Business Agility Webinar of 2024, took place on 14 February, with 120 women entrepreneurs predominantly from South Africa joining the event online. Once again hosted in partnership with Absa, the webinar focused on the theme of “New Year, New Green Business Growth”. It’s an important topic and Lionesses of Africa believes in the need to recognise and support the work and commitment of women entrepreneurs who are building green, sustainable businesses and driving economic growth. They are creating much-needed jobs with their businesses, whilst also creating sustainable impact too.

Entrepreneurial Success: Growing Business in a Fluid Economy by Divine Simbi-Ndhlukula (PhD)

February 11, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

In her debut as an author, Divine Simbi-Ndhlukula (PhD) in her new book, Entrepreneurial Success: Growing Business in a Fluid Economy, provides ten powerful success insights for budding and established entrepreneurs alike. Zeroing in on her life’s work in her business enterprises at SECURICO and Zvikomborero Farms, she distills business administration concepts into everyday life principles that we all can admit we already know but fail to leverage.

Driving Women’s Economic Empowerment for Africa’s Green Transformation

November 19, 2023 Melanie Hawken

*Nomalanga Sitole, Lioness Enterprise Ambassador, Lionesses of Africa*

by Nomalanga Sitole, Lioness Enterprise Ambassador, Lionesses of Africa

It was an honor to be invited to the WE4D Women’s Economic Empowerment For Africa’s Green Transformation Regional Conference, to speak firstly in my role as the Enterprise Ambassador for Lionesses of Africa, the social impact organisation with a rapidly growing community of 1.7 million women entrepreneurs across the African continent; and secondly as an entrepreneur myself who has first-hand experience that when women entrepreneurs in Africa are empowered to fulfill their potential and succeed, then the continent as a whole will succeed.

South African leading sustainable luxury product design brand, The Joinery, strikes gold at the Eco-Logical Awards

November 19, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Awards & Accolades

The South African sustainable luxury product design brand, The Joinery, based in the Cape Winelands and founded by Natalie and Kim Ellis, has just been recognised as a gold award winner at the Eco-Logical Awards. The brand picked up the Gold Eco-Logic Award in the Eco-Fashion and Lifestyle category, sponsored by Pick n’ Pay Clothing. This latest accolade is a testament to the Joinery team’s unwavering commitment to sustainability. Renowned for its beautifully designed range of sustainable products, use of responsible fabrics, and ethical production, The Joinery has won fans around the world for many years for its passionate belief in being kind to our planet and fair to our people, one plastic bottle at a time.

Final Lioness Business Agility Webinar of 2023 celebrates women entrepreneurs as job creators

November 19, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Event Report

The final Lioness Business Agility Webinar of the year in South Africa, as always hosted in partnership with Absa, took place on Friday 17 November, with a special focus on the theme of “Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs as Job Creators”. The event, which brought together 150 women entrepreneurs from across the country, aimed to recognise and support the work and commitment of women entrepreneurs who are helping to drive economic growth. Not only are these inspirational women entrepreneurs creating much-needed jobs in South Africa with their businesses, they are also creating sustainable impact too.

Creating an environment where women and youth entrepreneurs can thrive

October 28, 2023 Melanie Hawken

by Ronnie Mbatsane, Managing Executive for SME Business & Sanah Gumede, Managing Executive for Strategy and Customer Value Management at Absa Relationship Banking

The past few years have been difficult ones for South Africans. We have faced the COVID pandemic, intensified load shedding, civil unrest and natural disasters to name a few. Not only have these challenges interrupted our daily lives, but the environment has changed significantly as a result with profound social and financial implications for individuals as well as businesses. According to the Africa Report, a significant portion of South Africa’s young people are now unemployed, with women making up two-thirds of the job losses during the pandemic.

Bridging the gender finance gap for Africa’s women entrepreneurs

October 12, 2023 Melanie Hawken

In Conversation

In Conversation with Pascalle Grotenhuis, Directeur Generaal Internationale Samenwerking, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands

One of the key goals of Start-Up Night Africa is to discuss the critical role of investment and the power of partnerships to address the gender finance gap for women entrepreneurs in Africa. We speak to Pascalle Grotenhuis, Director General Internationale Samenwerking, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands, who has spent many years on the continent in her role as an Ambassador and gender key champion, to get her insights on finding effective solutions to this and other challenges to creating a more inclusive business environment for women on the continent.

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