Quote of the Day

January 3, 2015 Melanie Hawken

Sara Abera, founder of Muya, Ethiopia — **Sara Abera**, founder of Muya, Ethiopia

"Recent history has had a negative impact on the world's perception of Ethiopia," adds Sara. "By exporting our cultural heritage and know-how, we hope to show the world that there is much more to our country than drought and food shortages."

- Sara Abera founded Muya Ethiopia in 2005 to introduce the world to the rich heritage of traditional Ethiopian weaving, whilst incorporating modern design trends. Sara also wanted to bring together and retrain Ethiopian weavers and craftsmen, so they could work in improved conditions, supplying high-end markets in a socially and environmentally responsible way. Sara employees over 120 craftsmen and women in Addis Ababa. Her socially-responsible model resulted in Muyo becoming the first Ethiopian company to obtain the coveted International Fair Trade Association membership.

Quote of the Day

January 2, 2015 Melanie Hawken

"There is also a cultural bias; most people in our society still believe that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. On average, people don’t take women seriously. It can be challenging to get people to listen to me and I need to be either very persuasive or assertive."

- Lorna Rutto is a Kenyan eco-preneur, and the inspiring founder of EcoPost, a social enterprise created in response to the need to find alternative waste management solutions to Kenya's huge plastic waste problem. In 2009 she founded her company, which collects plastic waste and manufactures commercially viable, highly durable, and importantly environmentally friendly fencing posts, used widely across Kenya. In 2011, Lorna was recognised by the prestigious Cartier Women's Initiative Awards as their laureate for sub-Saharan Africa.

Lorna Rutto: Creating posts from plastic waste has earned her numerous awards for conservation

January 2, 2015 Melanie Hawken

Source: Standard Digital News Kenya | December 27, 2014 | by Faith Ronoh

Lorna Rutto, the founder of EcoPost Limited in Kenya, has despite her tender age already attained a remarkable list of achievements in environmental conservation that has seen her garner several international awards.

Read the article here.

Africa’s Top 10 Women Entrepreneur Newsmakers of 2014

January 1, 2015 Melanie Hawken

There is no doubt about it, Africa’s women entrepreneurs have been making the headlines for all the right reasons in 2014, scooping top entrepreneur awards and accolades, and achieving global recognition for their business and brand building efforts. Lionesses of Africa celebrates the success of 10 of Africa’s women entrepreneur trailblazers who in our opinion have been the continent's leading newsmakers over the past 12 months.

6 African Women Entrepreneurs Recognised at IWEC International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge Awards in Stockholm

January 1, 2015 Melanie Hawken

IWEC International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge 2014 Awardees in Stockholm, Sweden

Six of Africa’s leading women entrepreneurs achieved global recognition on 17th November in Stockholm at the prestigious IWEC International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge Awards. The event aims to develop a global business network for successful women business owners, helping them gain and expand access to international markets.

Our Top 7 Favourite Reads for Women Entrepreneurs in 2014

January 1, 2015 Melanie Hawken

To round off the year, we bring you our top 7 favourite reads for women entrepreneurs - all authored, or co-authored by women. We hope they inspired you as much as they did us.

Let’s face it, there is nothing quite like getting inspiration and advice from other great women entrepreneurs who have been there and done it, bought the T-Shirt, survived business failure and other challenges, made it through the good times and bad times - and ultimately achieved success.

50 Inspiring Quotes from Africa's leading women entrepreneurs to motivate you in 2015

December 31, 2014 Melanie Hawken

To kickstart 2015 off on a truly inspirational note, we are sharing our Top 50 Inspiring Quotes from some of Africa's leading women entrepreneurs. We found so much motivation and encouragement in their words and we hope they inspire you too as you continue on your own entrepreneurial journey to success in the year ahead.

Kofo Akinkugbe's SecureID teams up to advance financial inclusion in Nigeria

December 31, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Kofo Akinkugbe, founder & CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd — Kofo Akinkugbe, founder & CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd

SecureID Nigeria Limited, founded by Kofo Akinkugbe, a leading Nigerian digital solution provider certified by Visa, MasterCard, and Verve for Chip Embedding, Chip Encoding, Chip Personalization, Card Personalization, and Card Fulfillment, in partnership with Sterling Bank has provided a Biometric ID Card to enable ‘Financial Inclusion’.

Read the article here.

Entrepreneur Advice from Anna Savage: Sometimes you need to just roll with it

December 29, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Anna Savage (top left), co-founder of I Heart Market, Durban — **Anna Savage (top left)**, co-founder of I Heart Market, Durban

Sometimes you just need to allow your business to evolve....

"Starting a business is like creating a human life. There is a gestation period, infancy and then at some point the business turns into a teenager and takes on a personality of it’s own. At this point, it is necessary to re-evaluate the direction that the business is taking. Sometimes, it is not the direction that you hoped but it’s what the public is demanding. This is the point at which you have to trust and just roll with it. It’s not an easy thing to allow the business to evolve into it’s own beast!"

- Anna Savage is the owner and co-founder of the popular I Heart Market in Durban. Since its humble beginnings in 2009, this now renowned market has mushroomed in popularity, becoming a favourite with Durban locals and visitors alike. Anna has managed to bring together a colourful celebration of local talent, fresh foods and quirky decor and design and she strongly endorses authenticity, originality and clever craftsmanship.

Lorna Rutto: Inspirational woman eco-preneur scoops 2014 Green Award

December 27, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Source: Standard Digital | December 27, 2014

Lorna Rutto has won the 2014 Green Award by the Transform Kenya Awards, a joint initiative of the Standard Group and Deloitte in recognition of her work. Her company, EcoPost, has saved over 250 acres of forests and withdrawn over 1,000,000 kilograms of plastic waste from the environment.

Read the full article here.

Susan Mashibe - The startup story of a Tanzanian woman entrepreneur with an aviation dream

December 23, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Susan Mashibe, founder of Via Aviation, Tanzania — **Susan Mashibe**, founder of Via Aviation, Tanzania

There are not too many young 4 year old girls in the world who have a dream of a career in aviation and go on to launch a unique and highly successful technical and logistics company to support private jets in Africa - but the inspirational Susan Mashibe is one of those few!

Quote of the Day

December 18, 2014 Melanie Hawken

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"No one gets to the top, if they sit on the sidelines, or if they don't believe in themselves."

- Sheryl Sandberg is the COO of Facebook. Her remarkable career has included stops at the World Bank, the U.S. Treasury, Google and Facebook, where she's been Chief Operating Officer since 2008. Sheryl Sandberg grew up in North Miami Beach, Florida, and studied economics at Harvard. Her position as one of Silicon Valley's most successful female executives has made her a lightning rod for both praise and criticism, especially after the publication of her 2013 book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead in 2013.

Swaady Martin nominated an Emerging Leader by Aspen Institute France

December 17, 2014 Melanie Hawken

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A big LoA community congratulations to Swaady Martin-Leke, founder of Yswara the African luxury tea brand, who was recently nominated an Emerging Leader by the Aspen Institute France under the patronage of President François Hollande. Félicitations Swaady!

Entrepreneur Advice from Maira Koutsoudakis: Find yourself a mentor

December 16, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Maira Koutsoudakis, founder of Life group of companies — **Maira Koutsoudakis**, founder of Life group of companies

Top business tip for women entrepreneurs....

"Find a mentor, someone you admire and trust."

- Maira Koutsoudakis is an internationally acclaimed interior architect and founder and CEO of the Life group of companies and Life Interiors, Architecture and Strategic Design. Maria’s garnered international acclaim for her firm’s multi-award winning work in the areas of luxury resort, boutique hotel, exclusive residential, restaurant projects and product design.

Swaady Martin: The importance of African luxury

December 16, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Swaady Martin-Leke, founder of Yswara — **Swaady Martin-Leke**, founder of Yswara

Source: City Press | by Sue Grant-Marshall | December 16, 2014

Swaady Martin-Leke wants to preserve and celebrate Africa’s rich culture and history. She tells Sue Grant-Marshall why tea is a good place to start.

Read the full article here.

Quote of the Day

December 15, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Chetna Vijay Sinha, founder of Mann Deshi Foundation, India — **Chetna Vijay Sinha**, founder of Mann Deshi Foundation, India

"The best way to create a woman entrepreneur is to help her stay in education, through high school and beyond. She receives an education and she delays getting married and having a family, giving her greater control over her life."

- Chetna Vijay Sinha is founder of Mann Deshi Foundation of India and Mann Deshi Mahila Bank which is India's first rural cooperative bank she founded in 1997. Its client base and membership is 100 per cent composed of semi-literate or illiterate poor rural women with an average annual income of less than USD 1.5 per day. The number of direct beneficiaries stands at 209,000. Chetna was recognised by the Schwab Foundation as a Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014.

Anne Githuku-Shongwe - The startup story of a social techpreneur aiming to revolutionise education in Africa

December 13, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Anne Githuku-Shongwe, founder & CEO of AFROES Transformational Games

Anne is literally a game-changer in every sense of the word, empowering young people in Africa to learn, engage, and challenge existing perceptions of the continent through mobile gaming.