the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
Fátima Suliman, founder and CEO, Cookie World (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Fátima Suliman is the founder and CEO of the company Cookie World. The company is based in Maputo Mozambique. She is an aspiring pastry chef. Fátima's business is focused on decorated sugar cookies and macarons mostly for parties and events. She founded the company 3 years ago in 2018. Fátima believes in women empowerment and her employees are women. She is hoping to open a pastry shop soon.
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Daniela Samakosky, founder, Walk The Talk Africa (South Africa)
Startup Story
Daniela Samakosky is the founder of Walk The Talk Africa in Cape Town, South Africa. Following in the family footsteps of a long line of Italian shoemakers, the idea of upcycled fabric shoes, slides and slippers was born in 2016. A lifetime of reverence for nature coupled with sustainable living underpins the values that drive the vision of creating a brand that creatively transforms fabric books and remnants into beautiful ‘one of a kind’ slippers and shoes.
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Chikondi Michongwe, co-founder, Serene Vegan Co. (Tanzania)
Startup Story
Chikondi Michongwe is the co-founder of Serene Vegan Co. in Tanzania. She is a passionate plant-based lifestyle entrepreneur who believes in the wellness of both the mind and body. Chikondi's start-up aims to raise awareness of the goodness and benefits of a plant-based diet and to do away with the stereotype that a vegan diet is bland and unexciting. She has more than 15 years of entrepreneurial experience and has gotten her hand in many business ventures over the years.
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Sabina Ali, founder and executive partner, SAB Consulting (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Sabina Ali is the founder and executive partner of SAB Consulting in Mozambique, a company recognized for its strategic leadership, tailored business strategies and support in the areas of organization, implementation, monitoring and coaching. She is also the co-founder of Dr. Moz, a pioneering digital platform for the health and wellness industry, recognized as the first Mozambican platform to provide telemedicine services.
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Bih Adelaide, co-founder, African Initiative For Health and Research Promotion (AIHRP) (Cameroon)
Startup Story
For victims of conflict and low income people who cannot access affordable healthcare in Cameroon, help is now at hand, thanks to social entrepreneur Bih Adelaide, co-founder of African Initiative For Health and Research Promotion (AIHRP). Her venture is now providing pro-bono health care services to those who need it most.
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Zara Kattiems, founder, Caroline 1942 (Nigeria)
Startup Story
The story of Caroline 1942, a Nigerian fashion brand created by Zara Kattiems, is one that encompasses uniqueness and also a relatable experience. Caroline 1942 is nicknamed after Zara’s grandmother, Caroline Miner, who unfortunately passed away, but her legacy took off in the spring of 2017 with the launch of a brand created ‘For The Timeless Woman.’ Today, Caroline 1942 tells the story behind the brand and still creates that sense of oneness with the women of the world with every design produced.
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Bronwynne Wiehl, founder & CEO, Conversation Station (South Africa)
Startup Story
Bronwynne Wiehl is the founder & CEO of Conversation Station. Having worked in the corporate sector for over 20 years, she left to start her own social media consulting business. She focuses on giving small business owners and entrepreneurs strategic guidance with their social media brands and presence. Her strength is advising business leaders on content strategies and reputation management. She has a passion for social media engagement and content marketing strategy where she believes storytelling has the ability to change the world.
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Betelhem Abebe, founder, ZEWD Design (Ethiopia)
Startup Story
Betelhem Abebe is the founder and creative director of ZEWD Design based in Ethiopia, a growing high street fashion brand. She studied electrical engineering at Addis Ababa University and also fashion design at SITAM Fashion and Design School in Addis Ababa to sharpen her skills in fashion design after having partially developed the ZEWD concept in her final year at the university.
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Startup Story
Iolanda Almeida is the founder and CEO of INMA LIMITADA based in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province. She is a coffeepreneur and award-winning enterprise leader in Mozambique for the NEPAD SAN Bio Phase II BioFISA FEM BioBiz Programme. Iolanda’s business is focused on processing coffee from Ibo Island in Mozambique´s World Biosphere Reserve for the internal market. She founded the business in 2015 to support almost 150 Ibo Coffee farmers, for social inclusion and local development.
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Yasmina Benslimane, founder, Women Empowerment Coaching Program (Morocco)
Startup Story
Yasmina Benslimane is a coach and the founder of the Women Empowerment Coaching Program in Morocco, guiding women to developing their skills for leadership. She is also the founder of Politics4Her, a feminist youth-led blog and is a young human rights activist with a multicultural background. Her professional experience involves national human rights institutions, non-profit organizations, and United Nations agencies.
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Tshegofatso Tau, owner, The Catwalk Lodge (South Africa)
Startup Story
Visitors to the Pretoria area in South Africa who are looking for a luxury guesthouse but with a real personal touch, The Catwalk Lodge owned by entrepreneur Tshegofatso Tau, is just the place. Offering a combination of great accommodation and a wide range of event hosting facilities, Tshegofatso and her team are ready to extend the warmest of welcomes.
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Zena Akuwa, founder Parachefs Tanzania
Startup Story
Parachefs Tanzania is the brainchild of entrepreneur Zena Akuwa, an impact-driven business that creates training and career opportunities for people who want to learn how to cook.
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Bonolo Simon & Kefilwe Matake, founders, Fro’Niques (Botswana)
Startup Story
Natural haIr and beauty products are increasingly in demand, and in Botswana, entrepreneurs Bonolo Simon and Kefilwe Matake, founders of Fro’Niques, are building a natural haircare business to meet customer needs. The brand specializes in formulating homemade natural hair products for discerning customers who want to know they are using organic and plant-based ingredients.
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Vivette Ayiaga, founder, Vee Crafts (Kenya)
Startup Story
Like any specialist craft that requires key skills, a fine eye for detail, and a wealth of creative talent, the art of crocheting demands all three, and Vivette Ayiaga, founder of Vee Crafts in Kenya, has them in abundance. She is passionate about craft and particularly crocheting, and has turned that passion into a business, whilst also continuing her studies in statistical economics at Masinde Muliro University-Kenya.
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Bright Asiimwe Wandera, founder and CEO, Plum Cafe and Restaurant (Uganda)
Startup Story
Bright Asiimwe Wandera is the founder and CEO of Plum Cafe and Restaurant in Uganda. She’s a serial entrepreneur with interests in retail chain and hospitality. She’s an alumnus of Africa Women Entrepreneurs Cooperative and Stanbic Bank Uganda Business Incubator. Bright runs two supermarkets and most recently a high-end restaurant with two branches. Bright founded Plum Cafe and Restaurant this year in February 2021 after testing a restaurant model in 2020 that was attached to one of her supermarkets.
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Susan Nel , founder, Susan Nel Photography (Namibia)
Startup Story
There is nothing quite as powerful as a great photographic image that captures life and work’s key moments, and in Namibia, Susan Nel and the photography business that carries her name, is doing just that. Whether it’s recording on camera a beautiful wedding, or creating a powerful image of a product that can spearhead a marketing campaign, Susan knows just how to get the right shot for the occasion.
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Andrea Massamba, founder, AM Support - Marketing and Publicity Agency (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Andrea Massamba is a founder of AM Support - Marketing and Publicity Agency in Mozambique, a business she started in June 2020, when she found an opportunity during Covid. She understood that some organizations had to close because of Covid, so she decided to start her business to help the organizations continue to be active on social media, supporting them with their communication, scheduling posts, producing content etc. And now she's growing step by step.
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Startup Story
Frutee Belliez is a South African agroprocessing business founded by sisters Mbaliyethu(Lisa) Mthethwa and Masibonge (Lona) Mnguni. They have over 10 years’ experience as entrepreneurs, and their company focuses on processing fruits and vegetables and supplying them to industrial kitchens, as well as catering companies. They have won numerous awards with the most recent being Top Processor in KZN in the Department of Agriculture Female Farmer Entrepreneur Competition in 2018.
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Shaquila Antonio, founder, Confeitando Com Amor (Mozambique)
Startup Story
For all those who have a sweet tooth and love to celebrate every occasion with a beautiful cake, Confeitando Com Amor in Mozambique, founded by creative confectioner Shaquila Antonio, has just what you need. Her cake brand has built up a great customer following in her city of Beira and is set to grow further over the coming years.
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Lorna Mashiba, founder, Rangi Gallery (Tanzania)
Startup Story
Lorna Mashiba is the founder of Rangi Gallery in Tanzania, a virtual platform that connects African artists to Intercontinental art enthusiasts. As the founder of Rangi Gallery, she aspires to grow, empower and transform local talent beyond its borders.
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