the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
Tania Morgan, founder, MiQuann (South Africa)
Startup Story
Tania Morgan and Britt Marki are cofounders of MiQuann! a South African feminine wellness business focused on female self-care, hormonal health and ageless lifelong sensuality. This dynamic team are developing a community platform to empower women to make lifestyle and self-care choices to optimise their hormonal health enabling a better quality of life and lifelong sensuality.
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Mariama Dia, founder Delices Casamançaises (Senegal)
Startup Story
Mariama Dia is the founder of Delices Casamançaises in Senegal. She is married and the mother of two children, and holds a masters degree in geography. Being from Casamance, which is a forest region located in the south of Senegal, she witnesses every day the destruction of fruits resulting from overproduction. This is what led to her decision to launch her business, Delices Casamançaises with the aim of transforming the fruits to allow consumers to enjoy 12 months of the previously only seasonally available fruits.
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Nyambura Munyua, founder and executive director, Thogithi Handmade (Kenya)
Startup Story
Nyambura Munyua is the founder and executive director of Thogithi Handmade Community Based Organisation in Laikipia County in Kenya. She is a steward of the sustainable development goals which envision a better world for us all. Her social impact initiative is founded to empower women and local communities. It aims to catalyse local production, improve livelihoods, encourage entrepreneurship, and address the potential women have to improve their livelihoods by undertaking activities that generate income and build the social fabric. Nyambura aspires to continuously create well-designed products that leave a positive footprint in the communities in which her organisation operates.
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Alix Willemez, founder, Mamafrica (Cote d’Ivoire)
Startup Story
Alix Willemez is the founder of Mamafrica in Cote d’Ivoire, a business that aims to make life easier in Côte d'Ivoire and to reduce dependence on word-of-mouth by offering consumers innovative and practical online services while supporting the development of local businesses. Today, the whole Mamafrica team works every day, through its different specialized websites, to bring quality information on health, leisure, to promote the employment of quality domestic staff, to highlight reliable real estate agencies and local craftsmen, and to support local NGOs.
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Startup Story
Arlene Singh is the founder of Nala Environmental (Pty) Ltd based in Johannesburg, South Africa. After years in the corporate sector, she took the big leap into starting her own Environmental Consulting firm. Arlene’s business is focused on providing environmental consulting services to Developers in the renewable energy sector in Africa. The business was founded in 2019 after 10 years in the sector. She is registered as a Professional Natural Scientist in the field of Environmental Science with the South African Council of Scientific Professionals and a Registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner with the Environmental Assessment Practitioners Association of South Africa.
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Dirce Vicente, founder, Fly Eagles LDA (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Fly Eagles LDA is a digital magazine publishing venture, founded by experienced agripreneur, Dirce Vicente in Mozambique. Passionate about Agriculture, she has already developed many solutions to improve the agricultural ecosystem in Mozambique. Dirce is the founder of Dfruit, Agri impact, and is currently letting her passion emerge with the launch of an agribusiness magazine called Fly Eagles Agribusiness. The magazine aims to provide the reader with unique experiences, inspiring them to reach their purpose and unlock their maximum potential. It shares stories of overcoming and persistence in Agriculture from people who are making it happen, and excelling in this field.
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Tamryn Lowe, owner, Tamryn Lowe Photography (South Africa)
Startup Story
Tamryn Lowe is the owner of Tamryn Lowe Photography based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is an international award winning photographer with a passion for helping change the way women see themselves, as well as helping businesses receive more qualified leads through being intentional with their personal branding photos. While she founded her business eleven years ago, she spent the first four years also working for other photographers and the second four years in corporate - all while running her own business at the same time.
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Teresa Kulei, founder, NSINYA COMÉRCIO e SERVIÇOS, LDA (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Teresa Kulei is the founder of NSINYA COMÉRCIO e SERVIÇOS, LDA in Mozambique. She graduated in Agronomy from the State University of Saint Petersburg-Russia and works in the agribusiness area. NSINYA was founded in 2020.
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Barbara Kleinschmidt, founder and Director, Totally Wild (Pty) Ltd (South Africa)
Startup Story
With 30 years of experience in the aloe industry, Barbara Kleinschmidt is a founder and Director of Totally Wild (Pty) Ltd, a 13 year old Cape Town based company, specializing in natural and organic products, made from South Africa's wild-grown, indigenous Aloe ferox plants. Barbara, a single mom with 3 grown up sons, has always had a strong interest in naturopathy, traditional and natural medicines, and focuses on products that will help to improve the health of their customers. In addition, the aloe industry in South Africa relies on a large rural workforce to harvest and pre-process the aloe leaves, providing jobs and upliftment for entire communities who were previously disadvantaged.
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Jessica Cumbana, project manager, Girls Can Code Club (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Jessica Cumbana is a 23-year-old Mozambican social entrepreneur and business analyst. She is the founder of the Elevate Youth Program, a project designed to empower young people and create development opportunities through training and programs. She is also the project manager of the Girls Can Code Club, a project developed with the aim of reducing the gender gap in the STEM field. A business administration degree holder, Jessica has always believed in using the transforming power of business to positively impact the world, having lived by this philosophy.
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Kato Mokabathebe, founder and Creative Director, Colourbox Pty Ltd (Botswana)
Startup Story
In today’s highly competitive business world, it is essential to make your brand work for you in the digital marketplace. That’s where Kato Mokabathebe, founder and Creative Director at Colourbox Pty Ltd in Botswana, comes to the rescue. Her creative digital agency brands, digitizes, and markets corporate brands. She is an entrepreneur with a degree in Multimedia Design and a major in Media Innovation. She is passionate about business, creativity, and applying technology to connect people skills. The company started in 2018 and currently has three employees and one freelancer. When she is not at Colourbox, Kato enjoys doing voluntary community work, traveling, and spending time in nature because it fuels her creative spirit.
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Peace Samuel, founder and owner, The Virtual Paragon (Nigeria & United States)
Startup Story
Peace Samuel is the founder and owner of The Virtual Paragon, currently registered in Nigeria and United States. She is a multi-skilled entrepreneur and has been featured on a number of business platforms. The Virtual Paragon is focused on helping businesses and experts launch their programs/digital products without the tech overwhelm or losing their authentic self. She started the company 6 years ago and it’s still growing. Peace has supported many businesses and they have gone ahead to grow and scale their businesses.
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Marylou Bawden, founder and owner, Clear Path Senior & Speciality Moving Managers (South Africa)
Startup Story
Marylou Bawden is the founder and owner of Clear Path Senior & Speciality Moving Managers in South Africa. The business assists seniors to sort, downsize and move from their family homes into retirement villages. It also assists the family when their loved one passes away to sort and clear the family home. Marylou was retrenched at the start of Covid after being in the exhibition industry, and having previously been a business owner in the retail space she was looking for something new to start up. While the business is not a charity, the aspect of assisting and helping seniors in what is an enormously stressful time in their lives is the key purpose of the business and is enormously important to Marylou.
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Rita Da Silva, founder, Zhizha (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Rita Da Silva is the founder of Zhizha in Mozambique, an artisan ice cream business based on Italian techniques using the best local ingredients. Rita uses classic Italian ice cream processes to achieve the texture and flavor without having to resort to artificial stabilizers and emulsifiers. Each flavor is produced by Zhizha with a specially developed recipe. Rita looks for the best local solutions and believes that it’s part of her mission to contribute to the growth of other businesses, namely small agricultural producers. Zhizha wants to revolutionize the idea of ice cream in Mozambique.
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Melissa Jacobs, founder, Mel J (Pty) Ltd (South Africa)
Startup Story
Mel J (Pty) Ltd, founded by Melissa Jacobs in South Africa is a specialist business that facilitate workshops for one of the toughest exams in the financial industry - RE5 and RE1. The regulatory exams are being developed and delivered under the direction and management of the FSCA. Melissa’s business has a unique method used to teach its candidates and to prepare them for the exam. Workshops are held all over Johannesburg and candidates travel from all over South Africa. Melissa’s business has a great pass rate and its facilitators are passionate, not only about training, but about people and that is the winning recipe. Going over and above what is required is another trick to the business’s success.
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Georgina de Kock, founder, Munch Innovation (Pty) Ltd (South Africa)
Startup Story
Georgina de Kock is the founder, product developer and a director of Munch Innovation (Pty) Ltd in South Africa. She is a seasoned entrepreneur who has won many awards and she is a devoted business leader. Georgina was a financial advisor and owned a photographic, design and screen-printing business, Georgi 'D". She made a career change to follow her passion to something she believed in which is to help disrupt plastic waste to help save our environment making a difference that matters. Today, her business also employs 7 people, creating local green jobs.
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Monica Kabui, founder and managing director, TreeAgama (Kenya)
Startup Story
Monica Kabui is the founder and managing director of TreeAgama in Kenya. She is a marketing specialist and an expert in brand building and training. Her business focuses on using marketing as a tool to empower businesses to be the best version of themselves and as a tool to solve business challenges innovatively. TreeAgama is homegrown in Kenya and has been in operation since it launched in 2013 and now has 5 employees. Monica's experience spans 12 years working in three different advertising and marketing agencies and her last stint was design department head leading experiential marketing agencies in the country. TreeAgama is passionate about building brands.
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Nokuphila Dlamini, founder, Visibility Graphics (Eswatini)
Startup Story
Nokuphila Dlamini is the founder of Visibility Graphics in Eswatini, an e-commerce business that offers graphic design services to Small and Medium Enterprises in the country. She currently lives in Mankayane, Eswatini and holds a Bachelor's degree in Arts of Journalism and Mass Communication, majoring in Advertising and Public Relations. She also has a Certificate in Digital Marketing.
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Adeola Ayeni-Obimakinde, founder & CEO, Koreteegold Food & Grocery Ltd (Nigeria)
Startup Story
Adeola Ayeni-Obimakinde is the Founder and CEO of Koreteegold Food & Grocery Ltd in Lagos, Nigeria. She is a serial entrepreneur, a mom, a visionary leader, and a goal-getter with an award-winning business. Adeola is focused on putting a smile on the faces of busy moms and the elderly by providing solutions to their stressful food and grocery purchases and delivery in major cities in Nigeria. She also focuses on the packaging of safe agro products for Nigerians in the Diaspora. Adeola has over 5 years of business experience, as well as over 10 years as a former corporate executive with a multinational company and one of the country's leading banks.
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Mary Macheze
Startup Story
Mary Macheze is a Mozambican law graduate since 2016 and registered as a lawyer, however being passionate about the environment and the rescue of traditional moral values, she set up her company, Othuka Eventos in 2019. She considers herself a young woman determined and committed to making a sustainable contribution to the environment and transmitting values that can make today's children into better people of the future. What makes her business special is that it creates and improve a relationship bond between parents and children. It also teaches about Mozambican culture, traditional games and helps to create a sustainable environment, as well as also teaching about the importance of recycling.
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