Diana Dwamena, a digital transformation strategist developing workforces for the future in Ghana

August 26, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Diana Dwamena, founder and ceo, The Learning Nuggets Company Limited (Ghana)

Diana Dwamena is the founder and ceo of digital learning and transformation company, The Learning Nuggets Company Limited, in Ghana. She is a trailblazing strategist and tech-savvy innovator who has been shaping the digital transformation landscape for over two decades. With her impressive track record of pioneering impactful technology solutions, she has been featured in the esteemed UK History of Parliament Trust's “300 Years of Leadership and Innovation” commemorative album. She launched her business in 2007 and it employs 5 people.

Safia Shatta, a woman entrepreneur empowering others through language learning in Sudan

August 25, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Safia Shatta, founder and CEO, Mango Gate (Sudan)

Safia Shatta is the founder and CEO of Mango Gate in Sudan, a specialist language learning platform. She is an urban planner, education activist, and a passionate polyglot, and is also proud to be an alumni of Orange Corners Sudan, a member of Women in Africa (WIA) and eTrade for Women. Additionally, she has been recognized as a UNDP-4YFN women innovator and the winner of North Africa's Most Promising Entrepreneur Award at the AfricArena Summit 2022. Through Mango Gate, Safia is dedicated to empowering people through language learning and breaking down communication barriers. She started the business in 2020 and today it employs 12 people.

Emi-Beth Aku Quantson, a Ghanaian social entrepreneur creating impact through coffee

August 25, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Emi-Beth Aku Quantson, Founder & CEO, Kawa Moka Coffee Company (Ghana)

Emi-Beth Aku Quantson is the Founder, CEO and Chief Caffeination Officer at Kawa Moka Coffee Company, Ghana's leading social enterprise coffee company and roaster, where she drives investment and growth. She has raised over $200,000 in debt and equity investments; created over 250 jobs in coffee through farmer partnerships and employment of marginalized groups; and established Accra's largest roastery, supplying major supermarkets and cafes across the country and internationally. Emi-Beth has been recognized by the President of the Republic of Ghana, President Akuffo Addo. Prior to founding Kawa Moka in 2015, Emi-Beth worked as a tax consultant and transfer pricing expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Ghana and Kenya.

Cátia Siueia, a Mozambican entrepreneur creating smart energy solutions for low income women and communities

August 20, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Cátia Siueia, founder, Smart Energy Initiatives (Mozambique)

Cátia Siueia is the founder of Smart Energy Initiatives in Mozambique. She is an entrepreneur extremely passionate about technology. Her business distinction lies in offering totally environmentally friendly and economically sustainable solar cookers to low-income women. At the end of 2021, Smart Energy Initiatives was created for the purpose of reaching women who do not have access to energy. The company currently has four employees who promote this impact driven initiative.

Yolanda Matine, a Mozambican entrepreneur helping families to prepare healthy lunchboxes for children

August 20, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Yolanda Matine, founder, MomlifeMarmitas (Mozambique)

Yolanda Matine is the founder of MomlifeMarmitas in Mozambique, a business idea inspired by her two daughters. Yolanda has taken various entrepreneurial routes in the past 10 years, but has now arrived at her destination, doing what she loves the most, which is cooking. She is using this love to help caretakers (moms, dads, grannies, aunties, uncles, helpers) to make healthy lunchboxes (with less processed food) for their children, while at the same time creating incredible food memories. MomlifeMarmitas offers courses with weekly menus, recipes, weekly shopping lists, lunchbox set ups, bento boxes, accessories, and an eBook with more than 25 recipes, tips on food storage, and lunchbox plans.

Ama Brenya, a Ghanaian entrepreneur building a wholesale bakery products manufacturing business

August 12, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Ama Brenya, founder and ceo, LADL Patisserie Company Limited (Ghana)

Ama Brenya is the founder and ceo of LADL Patisserie Company Limited in Ghana. She has about 10 years’ experience working in the mining industry as a Chemical Engineer and three years working in the banking sector in supply and logistics management. She officially ventured in to entrepreneurship since 2017, operating a brick and mortar pastry shop and then added a mobile food truck from which she sold pastries along some streets in the business district in Accra. During the pandemic in 2020, it became necessary to rethink her business strategy in order to remain relevant and resilient. During the lockdown, the idea of producing frozen croissants and bread rolls was birthed.

Kgabiso Palesa Sephai, a South African entrepreneur passionate about socio-economic development in grass-roots communities

August 12, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Kgabiso Palesa Sephai is the founder and managing director of two entities, KgabisoPalesa Consulting and KgabisoPalesa Cares NPC in South Africa. She is also a director at In Pursuit Renewable Energy. She has over 15 years experience in project planning, project & programme management, PMO setup and management. She holds a B.Eng (Hons) in Electrical Engineering from Multimedia University in Malaysia, a Postgraduate Diploma in General Management, and an MBA from the Gordon Institute of Business Science. She is also a Project Management Professional and a member of the Project Management Institute.

Silvia Ferreira, a Mozambican entrepreneur changing the world one brick at a time

August 6, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Silvia Ferreira, founder, Cosini Lda (Mozambique)

Silvia Ferreira is the founder of Cosini Lda, a construction, real estate and industrial solutions company started in Mozambique in 2020 and with a workforce of 12. She is the winner of the Access bank 2022 award for the biggest Female Entrepreneurship project in Mozambique. She has an MBA in supply chain from Vlerick Business School in Belgium.

Daphne Kasambala, an entrepreneur in Malawi building a wholesale marketplace for African creatives

August 6, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Daphne Kasambala, founder and CEO, Meekono (Malawi)

Daphne Kasambala is the founder and CEO of Meekono, a wholesale marketplace for African creatives seeking global trading opportunities. A multifaceted entrepreneur and former corporate banker with experience gained with major institutions in Europe and Africa, Daphne is a relentless problem-solver and collaborator who is determined to play a key role in putting African creativity on the map. Daphne considers herself a global citizen, and has recently returned after many years abroad to focus on growing her business. One of Daphne’s proudest moments was scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise funds for a revolving micro-loan facility for African women micro-entrepreneurs. Her business was launched in 2021 and today employs 5 people.

Nicolene Schoeman-Louw, a South African entrepreneur making reliable legal information available to more people

July 23, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Nicolene Schoeman-Louw, co-Founder & Managing Director, PocketAdvisor (South Africa)

Nicolene Schoeman-Louw is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of PocketAdvisor in South Africa. She is also one of the skilled facilitators at PocketAdvisor. Nicolene’s involvement is a passion and means through which reliable legal information can be made available to more people. Nicolene is also the Founder and Managing Director of SchoemanLaw Inc in Cape Town, South Africa. She is an admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa, Conveyancer, Notary Public and Mediator with a passion for entrepreneurs and helping them reach their most ambitious goals. Nicolene has enjoyed the confidence of many successful entrepreneurs (both locally and abroad) over the years and continues to do so. As a trusted advisor she has actively contributed to the successes of many businesses, helped and continues to help many entrepreneurs build lasting legacies.

Robyn Keet, a South African management consultant accelerating business and digital transformation

July 23, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Robyn Keet, co-founder, BrightWolves (South Africa)

Robyn Keet is the co-founder and operations manager for the South African entity of a Belgian-based management consulting company called BrightWolves. Robyn is passionate about bringing together sustainability and entrepreneurship. After gaining valuable experience studying and working in Europe, Robyn returned to her roots to co-lead the international expansion of BrightWolves into South Africa with business partner Domien Agten. BrightWolves is a boutique consulting firm that specializes in providing end-to-end solutions, from strategy to implementation. The company covers the entire spectrum, from business advisory to digital transformation and sustainable value creation in companies. BrightWolves’ vision is to deliver positive and sustainable impact to its clients, to its team, and the South African economy.

Leonilde Melembe Bene, a Mozambican artisan entrepreneur creating handcrafted accessories

July 16, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Leonilde Melembe Bene, founder Paphalati (Mozambique)

Leonilde Melembe Bene, is the founder of Paphalati, a handicrafts and handmade jewellery small business in Mozambique. She has a passion for accessory designs, recycling materials and home décor articles. Paphalati also restores old pieces of jewellery, giving them a second life. She founded her business 15 years ago, first it was only her and now she employs 3 people, one of them a local community seamstress. Professionally she also works as a Communication and Public Relations Manager. From a very early age she became interested in the world of arts and culture. She made her directorial debut with this short film and was the winner of the 2nd Edition of the Maputo Shortcutz competition (2022).

Zola Mhlongo, a South African entrepreneur building an exciting contemporary shape-wear brand

July 16, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Zola Mhlongo, founder, Undefined Shapes (South Africa)

Zola Mhlongo, better known as Zola Zee Lovin’, is an actress, singer and media personality turned businesswoman with a contemporary shape-wear brand, Undefined Shapes, based in South Africa. Born and raised in Durban, and pursuing a degree in Drama at the University of Cape Town, the stage has been her office until Undefined Shapes awakened her entrepreneurial spirit. In just two short years since its inception, Undefined Shapes has achieved remarkable sales success, consistently selling out multiple times. The business continues to thrive, cultivating a rapidly growing community of loyal customers.

Vanize Da Natividade Teixeira, a Mozambican entrepreneur recycling Capulana fabrics to create dolls and clothing

July 9, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Vanize da Natividade Teixeira, founder, Muyana and Arts (Mozambique)

Vanize da Natividade Teixeira is the founder of Muyana and Arts in Mozambique. The company uses recycled materials, transforming them into dolls, bags and other products for the home, through sewing skills and empowering women who want to embrace this artform. Vanize has two interns who work with her, and who are currently being trained in specific skills. She is still running the company herself because it's small, but her dream is to be big and international one day. Vanize has a degree in accounting from high school, and was the commercial director of the company Mocinter lda that was in the field of service provision, and also of the business, Marumadi Planeta Mozambique, a guesthouse.

Sylvia Wambui, a Kenyan social impact entrepreneur helping businesses to grow

July 9, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Sylvia Wambui, Founder, Mursly Digital Group LLC (Kenya)

Sylvia Wambui is the Founder of Mursly Digital Group LLC in Kenya. She is a mentor, virtual assistant, and business consultant to entrepreneurs. She has spent over 6 years in marketing, across local and international clients where she has been a marketing lead, managing multiple brands and large tech brands. After COVID struck, it called for a restructuring of the business. That’s when Mursly Digital Group Limited was launched and has just recently been incorporated in March 2023. Mursly Digital Group offers business consulting services that cover strategy across business structures specifically marketing, social media, personal, and leadership development to ease the load of idea generation. It also does consulting and virtual assistance work, both in Africa and internationally, having worked with community and tech-driven brands like Black Women In Clinical Research, Blaze Group LLC, and Bauce Magazine. As a mentor, Sylvia has worked to support entrepreneurs and professionals by providing knowledge on capacity building and upskilling for scale / professional growth.

Nomsa Mdhluli, a South African communications specialist with a talent for storytelling

July 2, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Nomsa Mdhluli, founder, Tishala Communications (South Africa)

Nomsa Mdhluli is the founder of Tishala Communications in South Africa, a boutique Digital Marketing and Public Relations agency. She is an award-winning broadcaster who has a knack for storytelling, and translated this skill into Public Relations through her business. In 2018, Nomsa established Tishala Communications to serve corporate clients who deserved to have their ground-breaking business ideas, innovations and successes brought to public and business attention.

Mantate Queeneth Mlotshwa, a Zimbabwean creative entrepreneur using fashion as a tool for storytelling

July 2, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Mantate Mlotshwa is a creative and social entrepreneur from Zimbabwe. She is the Founder and Creative Lead for U Motle, a creative story-telling brand exploring fashion as a tool to curate experiences of African women and stories of African culture. She is a program design and development expert within the democracy, rights and governance sector. She holds a BSc in Psychology and has co-authored an anthology of short stories called Turquoise Dreams. She wants to grow the U Motle brand to reflect her travel within the continent, and to provide employment opportunities for other youth.

Tamara Bhatt, an entrepreneur building a specialist architecture business in Mozambique

June 25, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Tamara Bhatt, co-founder, Atelier (Mozambique)

Tamara Bhatt is co-founder of Atelier, a Mozambican architecture firm founded in 2012 and which today employs 5 people. She has a degree in Architecture from the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, she is pursuing a Masters in Urban Planning at Eduardo Mondlane University, focusing on ecological structure and urban green infrastructure. Her main areas of specialization include Architecture and Urbanism, with more than 13 years of experience working in the production and coordination of projects as a Senior Architect, Urbanist and Project Manager, with experience in physical planning, urban design and building design in Mozambique, Portugal, and Angola. Tamara has extensive experience in coordinating multidisciplinary teams, making projects compatible, as well as managing projects and clients.

Onkgopotse Khumalo, a South African entrepreneur democratizing access to mental healthcare

June 25, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Onkgopotse Khumalo, founder, The Pocket Couch (South Africa)

Onkgopotse Khumalo is a South African entrepreneur and the founder of The Pocket Couch, a health tech startup that aims to democratize access to mental healthcare. Her early professional journey saw her navigating financial services in the investment and portfolio management space, later transitioning to a management consultant role at McKinsey and Company. She then ventured into entrepreneurship after identifying that what she had initially thought was a problem unique to her own circumstance, was in fact more widespread across the globe. It was her personal journey trying to find avenues to better their mental wellbeing, that catapulted her journey into entrepreneurship, ultimately founding the startup with which she has a strong personal nexus. She prides herself first and foremost, however, as a dedicated mother to her 3 year old son whom she affectionately calls "boy genius".

Kealeboga Tshikovhi, a South African biodiesel entrepreneur contributing to the Green Economy

June 18, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Kealeboga Tshikovhi, founder, Lamo Fuel (South Africa)

Kealeboga Tshikovhi is the founder and ceo of Lamo Fuel based in Kuruman in the Northern Cape in South Africa. She is a seasoned entrepreneur focused on building resilience towards carbon emissions by providing an alternative clean source of fuel at lower prices. Her business achieves this by collecting used cooking oil and converting it into Biodiesel, thus turning waste into an energy source. Lamo Fuel is a 100% woman owned company which started in 2014 and which today employs four permanent staff and seven temporary staff members. The business started with 200L daily production in 2020, to now a 1000L production of Biodiesel per day as of May 2023. Kealeboga is excited about this great milestone and looks forward to achieving continual growth over the comings months and years.

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