What we're loving this week

June 15, 2025 Melanie Hawken

What we’re loving this week

In this week’s spotlight on all things Woman Made In Africa, we are showcasing Africa’s talented and innovative women entrepreneurs who are creating sustainable, quality products that discerning and impact-driven customers want to buy. Catching our attention this week are: The Joinery, the sustainable and ethical product design brand based in South Africa founded by Natalie and Kim Ellis, and their exciting Future Tex™ fabric; Femi Handbags in Nigeria, founded by Femi Olayebi, famous for its iconic handbag shapes and eclectic pops of colour; Black Mamba Foods in Eswatini, co-founded by Claudia Castellanos Roques, a growing fair trade brand that manufactures and distributes gourmet chilli products in Southern Africa and overseas; Food Lounge Mz in Mozambique, founded by Kátia Agy, a business that makes beautiful edible bouquets using fresh fruits and chocolates; House of Cinnamon in South Africa founded by Frances Edwards, a proudly Afro-European accessory brand that offers a highly curated range of luxury handcrafted shoes and one-of-a-kind leather bags.

Thandekile Moloko, an entrepreneur empowering her clients’ financial futures

June 14, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

SimWealth, a business on a mission to simplify the financial planning process and empower its clients in South Africa

Thandekile Moloko is a Financial Planner and the founder of Simwealth in South Africa, a business launched in 2019 and committed to helping individuals and businesses transform their financial future through clear, personalized, and practical financial planning. With a mission to make financial planning simple, accessible, and effective, Thandekile delivers tailored strategies that support long-term financial growth, security, and freedom. Whether you’re working towards personal financial milestones or navigating the financial complexities of running a business, her approach is grounded in creating actionable, sustainable plans that truly work. From managing day-to-day finances and preparing for life’s uncertainties to building generational wealth and achieving business scalability, Thandekile empowers her clients to make confident financial decisions. Her comprehensive planning process focuses on increasing net worth, protecting what matters most, and aligning financial strategies with your lifestyle and long-term goals.

Kelly Jean Valigy, a dynamic marketing and communications professional building a creative powerhouse in Mozambique

June 13, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Kelly Jean Ouchim Valigy, Founder & General Director, Jean Consulting & Services (Mozambique)

Startup Story

Kelly Jean Ouchim Valigy is a dynamic marketing and creative professional with a strong background in strategic planning and communications. As the Founder & General Director of Jean Consulting & Services in Mozambique, she leads a forward-thinking team that delivers creative marketing solutions tailored to help brands stand out in competitive markets. With extensive experience in marketing and copy editing, Kelly has successfully navigated roles in account management, community engagement, and content creation. Her expertise spans various industries, where she has spearheaded branding initiatives, digital marketing strategies, and impactful campaigns.

Bridging the Confidence Gap: How Empowered Women Change the World by Sheena Yap Chan

June 12, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

Celebrated executive, business leader, and author, Sheena Yap Chan’s book, Bridging the Confidence Gap: How Empowered Women Change the World, is a startlingly insightful and inspiring discussion of female leadership. Sheena delivers a transformative and fresh take on the challenges, pitfalls, and opportunities women face when they reach for the reins of leadership in business. She walks you through how to navigate those challenges and realize those opportunities with powerful observations drawn from a lifetime in business.

Mbali Ndandani and Portia Nondo, two passionate ecosystem builders driving support for Africa’s crafters and fashion brands

June 11, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Portia Nondo and Mbali Ndandani, founders, Portia Nondo and Mbali Ndandani (South Africa)

Startup Story

Zettuu, a marketplace providing business support services for Africa’s crafters and fashion brands that have unique products but do not have the operational capacity to grow their brands. Zettuu was co-founded in 2020 by Portia Nondo and Mbali Ndandani, two South African entrepreneurs whose vision is to create a thriving ecosystem of support for African unique crafts, bringing them from the continent to the world’s customers. Portia is a seasoned entrepreneur and franchisee at McDonald's, and Mbali has worked in marketing, digital, technology and artificial intelligence at Unilever and Lelapa AI.

Misinformation and disinformation: a growing threat and its implications for employee screening

June 2, 2025 Melanie Hawken

by Jenny Reid

The 2025 World Economic Forum (WEF) Risks Report has ranked misinformation and disinformation as one of the top global threats, highlighting a challenge beyond social media and politics. This alarming ranking underscores how false or misleading information—whether accidental or deliberate—can destabilise societies, erode trust, and threaten organisational resilience.

On being a professional citizen: The strategic phase of SME CSR development

June 2, 2025 Melanie Hawken

by Dr. Memuna Williams, DBA

As business owners, leaders, and professionals, we often think of the work we do as simply part of the job. However, as I reflect on my experiences and studies on the evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly through the lens of the third phase of strategic CSR development, I believe that CSR is as much about citizenship as it is about business. A process of building business citizenship.

Performance Management: Linking data to processes for better decision-making

June 2, 2025 Melanie Hawken

by Dr Michélle Booysen

“Without data, you're just another person with an opinion.” – W. Edwards Deming

The ability to make informed decisions is a competitive advantage. Yet too often, data lives in one silo and processes in another. When businesses link data to their processes, decision-making becomes faster, smarter, and more aligned with strategic goals.

You can’t microwave success: why the slow burn wins

June 2, 2025 Melanie Hawken

by Margaret Hirsch

In today’s fast-paced world of viral hacks, overnight influencers, and instant gratification, it’s easy to believe that success should come quickly. That if you're not "crushing it" within a few months, you're failing. But here’s the truth I’ve lived and learned: you can’t microwave success.

Authentic Selling: Be Real to Seal the Deal by Kendrick Shope

June 1, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

For many women entrepreneurs, selling can feel like a necessary evil, but it doesn't have to be. In Authentic Selling, internationally recognized sales expert Kendrick Shope reveals the secrets to selling with integrity, compassion, and undeniable success. This isn’t just another sales book. It's a blueprint for entrepreneurs and business owners who want to make that all-important sales revenue without sacrificing who they are.

South African natural baby food producer, Pojupoju, launches innovative new range

June 1, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Launch

South African serial entrepreneur, Dorothy Dolly Fatima Mofomme, founder of natural baby food producer, Pojupoju, has launched a brand new range of delicious and nutritious purees - with a twist. Each puree is packaged in a pouch, capped with minicap/anti-choke lids that can also be repurposed as children’s creative building blocks.

Jacqueléne Coetzer, a pan-African business consulting and specialist trade firm builder empowering other women entrepreneurs

June 1, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Jacqueléne Coetzer, founder & CEO, Jacqueléne Global Consulting (JGC) (South Africa)

Startup Story

Jacqueléne Coetzer is the founder and CEO of Jacqueléne Global Consulting (JGC) — a pan-African business advisory and trade firm founded in 2022, specializing in strategic consulting, commodities, medical diagnostics, and cross-border market access. A former diplomat with 14 years’ experience, she now leads high-level negotiations and sourcing across Africa in sectors including medical diagnostics, metals, fuel, and mining. Through exclusive distribution mandates and deal structuring, she is helping shape Africa’s economic future. Fiercely resilient and values-driven, Jacqueléne empowers African women entrepreneurs to rise, scale, and lead — because she believes Africa’s wealth should be built by Africans, for Africans.

Schneidine Phidelmond, an entrepreneur building a holistic digital agency supporting WSMEs and SMEs in Mozambique

June 1, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Schneidine Phidelmond, founder and Creative Explorer, MUSA Moz MEDIA (Mozambique)

Startup Story

Schneidine Phidelmond is the founder and Creative Explorer of MUSA Moz MEDIA, a holistic digital agency founded in 2022 and based in Mozambique. With over a decade of experience in media, including skills in sound engineering, audiovisual production, graphic design, and branding, she launched MUSA to support women entrepreneurs and small businesses in Southern Africa and the Afro-Caribbean diaspora. Multilingual and self-taught, Schneidine offers a sensitive and multidisciplinary approach to digital visibility and content creation. MUSA embodies her belief that creativity, culture, and sisterhood can fuel sustainable growth and inspiration. MUSA stands for: Mission, Ubuntu, Sorority, and Authenticity.

How do you mitigate risks associated with nepotism, bribery, or unethical practices

June 1, 2025 Melanie Hawken

by Jenny Reid

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, South Africa’s official unemployment stats, state that the unemployment rate has declined slightly to 31.9%, down from 32.1% the previous quarter. While this marks the second consecutive quarterly decrease and the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2023, the persistently high levels of unemployment remain a pressing concern.

On Citizenship

June 1, 2025 Melanie Hawken

by Dr. Memuna Williams, DBA

I recently had the opportunity to watch The Final Year, an HBO documentary chronicling the last year of President Barack Obama's administration. The film looks into the inner workings of the White House through the eyes of Obama and several of his staff members including Samantha Power, Ben Rhodes, and John Kerry. It highlighted key themes like diplomacy, war and peace, and the impact of decisions made at the highest levels. For me, however, the documentary went beyond politics and brought to light themes that are integral to my work: education, entrepreneurship and leadership.

73% of Companies Confuse PR and Reputation Management. Here’s Why It Backfires.

June 1, 2025 Melanie Hawken

by Marilize Jacobs

According to a 2024 PwC study, 73% of executives mistakenly use Public Relations (PR) and Reputation Management interchangeably. A confusion that costs companies an average of $2.4M per crisis in lost revenue and recovery. The difference? Hard data tells the story: PR succeeds when visibility climbs (e.g. media mentions rise by 40%). Reputation management succeeds when risk drops (e.g. negative search results fall by 65%).

Performance Management: How to Build a Culture of Continuous Process Improvement

June 1, 2025 Melanie Hawken

by Dr Michélle Booysen

“What gets measured gets managed.” – Peter Drucker

Performance dashboards are powerful tools to drive decision-making, improve efficiency, and align daily operations with strategic goals. For dashboards to truly work, they must be simple, relevant, and actionable. A well-crafted performance dashboard is not about volume of data—it’s about clarity and purpose.

Teboho Seretlo, a passion-driven entrepreneur helping SMEs to grow

June 1, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

TL Seretlo Business Consulting t/a Seretlo Consulting, a professional business consulting firm supporting SMEs in South Africa

Teboho Seretlo is a business consultant and founder of TL Seretlo Business Consulting in South Africa, with over 25 years’ experience in enterprise development, business planning, monitoring & evaluation, and mentoring SMEs. She supports entrepreneurs applying for funding and serves as an NSFAS student accommodation accreditor. Her expertise spans B-BBEE, rural development, and gender-responsive enterprise support. Teboho holds a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and executive education from GIBS and Rotterdam School of Management. Passionate about women’s empowerment, she also mentors female entrepreneurs across Africa.

Babette’s Bread by Babette Kourelos

May 18, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

For Babette Kourelos, founder of Babette’s Bread and the author of the beautiful new book of the same name, the happenstance baking of a humble cottage loaf completely changed the trajectory of her life. It led her away from a career in law to answer a different calling: bread. Seeking comprehensive training, she undertook an apprenticeship with renowned French master baker Gerard Rubaud in the woods of Vermont. In this visually appealing and practical new book, Babette takes readers on a culinary journey, bringing her incredible know-how into readers’ kitchens, and inspiring them to fall in love with the art of bread-making.

Lioness Launch / South Africa’s IWDS, launches impact-driven initiative to create sleeping bags from waste fabrics, turning waste into hope for the homeless

May 18, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Colleen Deetlefs, founder, IWDS (South Africa)

Lioness Launch

South African social entrepreneur, Colleen Deetlefs, is passionate about creating awareness of the state of our environment through the renewing of different waste materials and shifting the global economy through the rejuvenation of waste. Her latest initiative, IWDS, is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to fostering sustainability and economic empowerment. Through its work, it strives to offer more than just a solution for waste - it is helping to build a future where creativity, sustainability, and community-driven progress go hand in hand. IWDS is committed to transforming waste into opportunity by upskilling individuals, fostering creativity and promoting sustainability. In a world where waste is abundant and unemployment hovers at 35%, IWDS’s mission is to upskill individuals using repurposed waste materials. With winter now in full swing in South Africa, IWDS has identified a dire need for sleeping bags with a carry bag for the 16000 homeless people in Durban alone. Through upskilling, IWDS is on a mission to create sleeping bags from waste fabrics-turning waste into hope-to those who need it most.

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