Saajidah and Mubinah Esat, entrepreneurs creating a great Indian food cafe experience in Zimbabwe

April 29, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Saajidah & Mubinah Esat, co-founder, Zen Cafe (Zimbabwe)

Saajidah Esat and her sister Mubinah are the co-founders of Zen Cafe in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Having being brought up in an Indian home, where the focus was always around food, they spent most of their time whipping up new recipes and cooking for the family. They first ventured into the food industry while living and studying in South Africa. They sold food at a popular Johannesburg food market and catered for several corporate events. Zen Cafe was born out of a desire to create and bring something different to the Zimbabwean market. The cafe employs 6 full time staff, including the 2 sisters and has been in operation for the past 6 months.

Sany Weng San, an entrepreneur providing integrated office management services in Mozambique

April 23, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Sany Weng San, co-founder, MMO Facilities (Mozambique)

Sany Weng San is a successful entrepreneur and co-founder of MMO Facilities in Mozambique, and her exceptional leadership skills and dedication have earned her the Women Leadership Award. She founded MMO Facilities in 2018 to provide high-quality services to her clients and make their lives easier by providing top-notch integrated office management services. Under her leadership, MMO Facilities has become a leading provider of shared office spaces in Mozambique, serving a portfolio of multinational companies. Sany is committed to empowering women and has created job opportunities by hiring a team comprising 80% of women. With over 15 years of experience in the business industry, Sany's expertise in marketing, sales, human resources, procurement, budgeting, and project management has been instrumental in the success of MMO Facilities.

Neidy Carvalho, a Mozambican environmental consultant helping businesses become more sustainable

April 23, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Neidy Carvalho, founder & general manager, Imbe-Consultoria, Serviços e Soluções, Lda (Mozambique)

Neidy Carvalho is the founder and general manager of Imbe-Consultoria, Serviços e Soluções, Lda, also known as Imbe CSS. Her business, which was founded in 2019, is located in Mozambique. In the beginning, it was focused only on environmental consultancy, but then expanded to water treatment, HSQ and Energy sector (renewable and non-renewable energy). Imbe CSS helps other companies to become more green and environmentally aware in their day-to-day practices. It also provides environment permits, audits, monitoring and evaluations, environmental studies, assistance, and more as they need. The business has grown as it became more serious in its focus. Neidy considers herself persistent and studious, traits developed over the past few years. She now has almost 7 years of experience in the environmental area, and is surrounded with a young and vibrant team of 3 people. In the future, Neidy aspires to grow the business further, and help companies and others to be more sustainable as the planet requires of us.

Kenechukwu Augusta Okafor, a Nigerian entrepreneur passionate about women's empowerment and accessible, affordable healthcare

April 15, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Kenechukwu Augusta Okafor is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Gusta-Vines Global Limited and Africa Medical Marketplace Enterprise in Nigeria. She is passionate about women's empowerment, Africa, growth, and quality, accessible and affordable healthcare at the grassroots level. Kenechukwu has strong skills in organizational management, customer service relationships, and building positive human relationships.

Rebecca C. Sani, a Malawian entrepreneur building an organizational development consulting business

April 15, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Rebecca C. Sani, founder & Managing Director Resani Consulting (Malawi)

Rebecca C. Sani is the Founder, Managing Director, and Chief Consultant of Resani Consulting in Malawi. The name Resani incorporates her first name and her father's name as a tribute to his contribution to her professional development. She started off as an independent consultant who realized that she could not achieve the mission of Resani alone and therefore expanded her team. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing Management (USA), an MBA in Finance (USA) and a Master of Management (DISTINCTION, USA). She is passionate about building teams and helping organizations run more efficiently. She is also the Financial Director and Board Member of Good Shepherd International School.

Regina Augusto Charumar, a Mozambican social entrepreneur building an environmental clean-up movement

March 31, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Regina Augusto Charumar, founder, Geração Consciente (Mozambique)

Regina Augusto Charumar is a social impact entrepreneur, an Environmentalist, PhD student in Sustainability, Teacher, Jurist and founder of the environmental movement Geração Consciente. Geração Consciente is a non-profit environmental volunteering movement, made up of hundreds of young volunteers, who carry out environmental activities throughout the country. With the aim of raising environmental awareness, educating and raising awareness in society, she carries out campaigns to clean and restore the mangroves, clean the beach and public spaces, plant trees in schools and communities, lectures, environmental workshops and raise awareness. The Geração Consciente environmental movement was created on May 2022, and has already carried out hundreds of environmental activities across the country. The goal is to build an environmentally conscious generation.

Ornília Faife, a Mozambican entrepreneur helping clients to clean their environments

March 31, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Ornília Cândida Roseiro Artur Faife, founder of EnviroWorks Solucoes Ambientais, Lda (Mozambique)

Ornília Cândida Roseiro Artur Faife is the founder of EnviroWorks Solucoes Ambientais, Lda, a business located in Maputo City Centre which has 11 employees. It’s main customers are private and state entities. She is currently the manager of two companies: EnviroWorks Lda. and Connected Business Center, and is also opening a laundry in the Maputo province.

Camille Storm, a dynamic Kenyan music entrepreneur elevating African musical talent to new heights

March 26, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Angela "Camille Storm" Kariuki, founder of CNC Distro and Camille and Company Limited (Kenya)

Angela "Camille Storm" Kariuki is a dynamic music executive with a passion for East African talent and the founder of CNC Distro and Camille and Company Limited. Her career started with the founding of "The Camille Way" music blog and grew to include Camille & Co., a boutique talent and PR agency that represents ground-breaking artists such as Blaqbonez and Lojay. Camille's latest venture, C&C Distro, is a digital music distribution and market platform for emerging artists. She has gained recognition from publications such as The Fader and Apple Music, and became an official juror at the AFRIMA Awards in 2022, solidifying her status as a leading force in the music industry, and elevating African music to new heights.

Nelly Paulser, a Zimbabwean entrepreneur building a client centric graphic design business

March 26, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Nelly Paulser, co-founder, Graphic House Zim (Zimbabwe)

Nelly Paulser is an Events Branding Designer and the co-founder of a graphic design, printing, branding and events business in Zimbabwe called Graphic House Zim. She is an Alumni of the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs, a Geneza School of Design Scholar, a recipient of a Tony Elumelu Foundation grant, one of the 503 African Women Entrepreneur Finalists selected by Women In Africa for training and mentorship, and now a UPG Biashara Candidate - Class of 2023. She is also a winner of the 100 Voices For Our Planet Award and was nominated for Women Changing the World Awards presented by Dr Tererai Trent. She is also an ImpactHer Ambassador for Zimbabwe. Above all this she is a wife and a mother to three beautiful children.

Kabira Dewan, a South African entrepreneur creating jobs for women in underprivileged communities

March 19, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Kabira Dewan, founder, Tamura Enterprises (Pty) Ltd (South Africa)

Kabira Dewan is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Tamura Enterprises (Pty) Ltd in South Africa. She is also a proud wife and mother of 3 with a successful career pivot from being a 20 year Ex-Banker at one of the 4 Big Banks in South Africa. She is a passionate social entrepreneur with a firm belief in combining profit with philanthropy and is the founder and Craft Director at Bead Expressions, a social enterprise that is creating jobs for women in underprivileged communities in an effort to eradicate unemployment. In addition, she is also a Franchisee for a Famous Brands Combo Store Restaurant Franchise. She enjoys sharing her insights and knowledge of women franchisees, as women are particularly underrepresented in fast food franchise. She is also a guest blogger for Lionesses of Africa.

Audrey Simbiso Chidawanyika, an innovation-driven Zimbabwean tech entrepreneur

March 19, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Audrey Simbiso Chidawanyika, founder, Simbiso Jumpstart Initiative (Zimbabwe)

Audrey Simbiso Chidawanyika is the founder of Simbiso Jumpstart Initiative in Zimbabwe. She is a multidimensional pan-African leader, a globally celebrated mentor, and an award winning disruptive innovator. She is an innovation, strategy and transformation catalyst, a human capital development and business process re- engineering expert. A community and program management specialist, she has extensive experience working with NGOs, corporates and start-ups in Africa. She is passionate about accelerating human growth and has over ten years of experience working in the African Innovation, Development, Humanitarian and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. She has proven ability working with organizations exploring the role of entrepreneurship, technology, innovation and local knowledge in creating paths to sustainable development. Audrey is a Management Consultant and Strategist in Agile Scrum, Lean Six Sigma, Enterprise and Human Centred Design Thinking. She launched her business in 2019 and today it employs 12 people.

Mandy Dube, a serial business builder creating economic empowerment opportunities for women in Zambia

March 10, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Mandy Dube, founder, Yinu Custom Creatives (Zambia)

Mandy Dube is the founder of Yinu Custom Creatives in Zambia, a business which she runs alongside her professional role in international development. Yinu Custom Creatives is a collection of five brands covering fashion (Bonisa Tailoring), beauty (Simple SkinCare), food (Wadya Chani) and entrepreneurship (Atuule Hyesu) all underpinned by mental health or as Mandy likes to put it, Mental Muscle. The focus of the business is to promote mental health, wellness and economic empowerment for women.

Ayanda Majola, a South African entrepreneur building a niche beauty brand for sensitive skin

March 5, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Ayanda Majola, founder, Yanda Cosmetics (South Africa)

Ayanda Majola is the founder of Yanda Cosmetics which is a local South African beauty brand that specializes in scientific skincare made specifically for sensitive skin. As well as being a beauty entrepreneur, she is also a medical science student. Her business is committed to bringing non-toxic, simple, effective and affordable skincare products made with clinically proven active ingredients that were carefully selected from her background knowledge in both Medicine and Science. Despite her young age and being a full-time health science student, Ayanda has been able to grow her brand in a short space of time. Her products are now available on Zando and Takealot which are the leading online platforms in the country and she has recently signed a deal with an international shopping platform that will stock and sell her products in the United Kingdom.

Lungile Mbhamali, an entrepreneur transforming plastic waste into handcrafted accessories in Eswatini

February 26, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Lungile Mbhamali, founder, (ban-twa-na) Craft (Eswatini)

(ban-twa-na) Craft, founded by entrepreneur Lungile Mbhamali in Eswatini, began 2017, a small, handcrafted business which collects and recycles plastic packaging waste from supporters and friends of (ban-twa-na) and also collecting in areas where waste pollution is to be found. After collecting the waste, (ban-twa-na) constructs various craft items such as bags, coin purses, key holders, laptop bags, make up pouches and also backpacks, mainly using recycled chocolate wrappers, chip packets and maize meal bags. Founder Lungile has been recognised for her entrepreneurial recycling efforts and featured in Forbes Magazine in October 2018, and also CNN. She has had the chance to train differently-abled women and men on toy and doll making, under the organization Palms for Life, has undertaken and delivered a few corporate orders, and also exported goods to South Africa and England.

Bontle Tshole, a South African entrepreneur passionate about healthy eating

February 26, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Bontle Tshole, founder, Baaa Health & Luminary Thrivist (South Africa)

Bontle Tshole is a healthy eating and responsible food advocate, and the founder of Baaa Health & Luminary Thrivist in South Africa. She started her entrepreneurial journey early on in her life through the time she invested in assisting her mother in the family business at age nine. Over time she grew to love business and the endless opportunities it offered to her. It was during her tertiary studies that she began what was then called Baaa Smoothie Bar, now Baaa Health, in 2017 and has grown its reach and capacity since then. Baaa is a health bar that is changing the narrative of access to healthy eating by promoting responsible food choices through the provision of healthy quality food, addressing UN Sustainability Development Goal 3.

Ebele Ezeamakam, a Nigerian flutist turning her talent into an inspirational personal development coaching business

February 19, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Ebele Ezeamakam is a versatile, creative and innovative musician and personal development coach from Nigeria. She believes in the power of music and its ability to induce progressive, positive transformation in an individual. Ebele continually strives for excellence in music compositions, music performances, interpersonal relationships by involving music training, coaching programs and Talk Shows. In the process, she inspires, influences, motivates and helps to raise a generation of people that thrive in Spiritual Development, Personal Effectiveness, Stress Management and Social Etiquette.

Tania Morgan and Britt Marki, creating a self-care focused feminine wellness brand in South Africa

February 19, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Tania Morgan, founder, MiQuann (South Africa)

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.

Mariama Dia, a Senegalese entrepreneur transforming local fruits into natural retail products

February 12, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Mariama Dia, founder Delices Casamançaises (Senegal)

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.

Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletters for Africa's women entrepreneurs.