Applications are now open for the 2015 W.TEC Girls Technology Camp themed ''Geeky Divas - Grooming ICT-preneurs'', which takes place in Lagos, Nigeria from August 2 - 15, 2015. The aim of camp is to help girls develop an early interest in computers and other information technology.
Read moreAMPION is looking forward to your applications for The Ampion Venture Bus Africa 2015!
Ampion has opened applications for its third edition of The Ampion Venture Bus Africa which will take over 200 Ampioneers on 5 buses in 2015. Ampion is encouraging young African women entrepreneurs and ICT professionals to jump on Ampion's five 2015 venture bus tours this September through to December. Each tour is a 7-day full-immersion program for developing entrepreneurial skills and creating new ventures in a team-based competition. 50% of the participants will be female, 50% from Africa, 50% from the rest of the world.
Read moreQuote of the Day
“Failing a lot is the ultimate proof that you're meant to be a successful entrepreneur, as it shows you're willing to shake up the status quo and try new things. You need to be able to take a hit, bounce back up and say, ‘hit me again.’ If you can't take a hit, you won't stay in business.”
- Barbara Ann Corcoran is an American businesswoman, investor, speaker, consultant, syndicated columnist, author, and television personality. As a television personality, she is a "Shark" investor on ABC's Shark Tank.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Asma Dukanda - You need to manage your own expectations
Asma Dukanda, founder of Mokopu (South Africa)
You need to manage your own expectations as a new startup....
"It is not easy - I planned a lot, and saved up my money ready for the day I was to launch. You forget that in the initial stages it is slow, and you have to remember that you are building a new business and a brand. In all the initial excitement and with so much to do, it is easy to forget that you are a new startup and you are often tempted to raise your own expectations to impossible limits, or to look at others that are so much further down the business journey than you are and wish you were there already, so you have to continually remind yourself that you are just starting out on your own journey and that it takes time to become established. One of the key challenges is to manage your own expectations."
- Asma Dukanda is the founder of Mokopu, a South African startup company, launched in December 2014, that designs and produces a range of baby products and clothing, and specialises in locally sourced and created products. The name Mokopu comes from the South-Sotho word for Pumpkin. Asma is a qualified civil engineer who has reinvented herself as an entrepreneur.
Read more8 Things we're loving at Lionesses of Africa this month!
A new regular Lionesses of Africa feature is 'Things We're Loving This Month', where we showcase some of the fabulous and truly unique products being created by our talented women designers, makers and crafters across the continent. These are some of the things we are loving this month - hope you enjoy them too!
Read more2 Young Namibian women entrepreneurs selected to attend the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit set to be hosted by President Barak Obama in Kenya
US ambassador to Namibia, Thomas Daughton, flanked by Ally Angula (L) and Tammy Knott (R)
Ally Angula and Tammy Knott are two young women entrepreneurs making names for themselves as rising stars of the Namibian business scene. Their success has seen them invited to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) to be held July 24-26, 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya under the auspices of the United States Government. President Barack Obama will attend the GES summit reinforcing his commitment to women's entrepreneurship in a recent Whitehouse briefing where he stated, "... we’re going to step up our efforts to support young entrepreneurs and women, which is just smart business."
Read moreMatilda Sekoakoa - The startup story of a social-edu-preneur with a vision to help underprivileged South African children develop a love of reading
Matilda Sekoakoa, co-founder of Help A Child Grow Foundation (South Africa)
The challenge of inspiring young, underprivileged and orphaned children in South Africa to learn to read and develop a love of books and learning, is one that social edupreneur Matilda Sekoakoa, together with her business partner, Lerato Kadiaka, have embraced. They are not just actively working to provide solutions, but their inspirational Help A Child Grow Foundation is positively and tangibly changing the lives of these children each day.
Read moreQuote of the Day
“We need to open up to experiences and to visiting other African countries to learn about them, so that when we talk about intra-African trade – from the macro perspective and coming back to sector specific – it’s not just the thing that people talk about at the World Economic Forum Africa,”
- Juliana Rotich is a Technologist, MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow, TED Senior Fellow and currently serves as Chair of World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Data Driven Development. She is co-founder and Executive Director of Ushahidi Inc, a non-profit tech company, born in Africa, which specializes in developing free and open source software for information collection, interactive mapping and data curation. Ushahidi builds tools for democratizing information, increasing transparency and lowering the barriers for individuals to share their stories. She leads a team that is expanding its global footprint and making crowdsourcing tools available and useful, and catalyzing entrepreneurial initiatives like iHub in Kenya. She also serves on the advisory council of Microsoft 4Afrika and Waabeh Ltd. In 2011 The World Economic Forum named Juliana 'Social Entrepreneur of the Year'.
Read moreUganda ranked as the country with the highest level of entrepreneurship in the world according to latest research
It might come as a surprise to some that an African country, Uganda, ranks first in the world for having the most entrepreneurs per capita, according to recent research conducted by UK-based business-networking group, Approved Index. Three further African countries, Cameroon, Angola and Botswana also occupy places amongst the top nine countries with the most entrepreneurs, many of them women.
Read more5 tips to help you take that first big leap of faith and start your entrepreneurial journey
Perfect moment? I am not really sure if there is such. As an entrepreneur, there is no time like the present to make your dream a reality. It might take you a while to dive in at the deep end, but just know that you are delaying your destiny. A minute, a week, a month is way too long to have your dream deterred. Take a leap of faith and get on with realising your entrepreneurial dream.
Read moreQuote of the Day
"Communities offer women entrepreneurs much-welcome affirmation, know-how, peer-to-peer guidance and ultimately, role models."
- Kari Warberg Block, founder and CEO of Earth-Kind, is an American inventor, serial entrepreneur and small business champion with a passion for growing people, products, ideas, and business through a sustainable approach. Her company, Earth-Kind, has the mission to preserve what’s good and prevent the rest, by providing proactive, natural alternatives to protect the spaces in which we live, work and play. Kari was named to the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Woman Class of 2012.
Read moreThree African women-led startups announced as finalists of the 2015 Cartier Women's Initiative Awards
The annual Cartier Women's Initiative Awards aim to encourage women entrepreneurs starting up in business. This year, three sub-Sahara Africa finalists have been announced in the 2015 awards - Chinwe Ohajuruka, founder and CEO of Comprehensive Design Services (CDS) in Nigeria; Suzana Moreira, founder of MoWoza in Mozambique; and Thato Kgatlhanye & Rea Ngwane, co-founders of Rethaka Trading in South Africa.
Read moreA View on the Challenges for Women Entrepreneurs from the African Diaspora
Guest Blog by Clare Kagimu, a Ugandan-born, but now UK resident, this talented Interior Architect and Designer shares her insights on the challenges facing women entrepreneurs both at home and abroad.
Read moreYoung Senegalese entrepreneur, Mame Khary Diene founder of Bioessence Laboratories, wins prestigious United Nations IFAD award
Mame Khary Diene, founder and CEO of the Bioessence Laboratories receiving her award in the category of diaspora entrepreneurship at the 2015 UN IFAD Awards
Milan, Italy 18 June 2015: The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has awarded young Senegalese entrepreneur, Mame Khary Diene the founder and CEO of the Bioessence Laboratories, with their 2015 'Excellence in Diaspora Entrepreneurship with Social and Environmental Impact' Award. The award ceremony was held in Milan on June 18th.
Read moreBushera Bashir - The startup story of an entrepreneur building a luxury ethical cashmere fashion label in South Africa
Bushera Bashir, founder of Trebene (South Africa)
Every woman entrepreneur in Africa has a unique story to tell and usually an inspirational story of how their own personal entrepreneurial journey started. The back-story for Bushera Bashir, the founder of ethical fashion label Trebene, takes us on a unique journey from the birthplace of Cashmere wool, Kashmir, from where Trebene’s beautiful luxury cashmere scarves are handwoven, through to Cape Town in South Africa where they are designed, printed and retailed.
Read moreLuxurious AAKS raffia bags from Ghana showcased by prestigious Anthropologie stores in the USA
Akosua Afriyie-Kumi, founder of AAKS, Ghana
Global recognition for the luxurious handmade accessories created by Ghanaian fashion and accessory designer, Akosua Afriyie-Kumi, continues with her latest collection being showcased and retailed by the prestigious Anthropologie stores in the USA.
Read moreThe Bold Kampala design team looking to take Angola’s fashion scene by storm
Hot on the heels of the Bold Kampala team's recent fashion tour successes to London and Kigali, their unique global fashion pop-up store concept is now headed to Luanda in Angola, giving local fashionistas the opportunity to check out the fabulous African designs on show.
Read moreWomen Entrepreneurs in Africa — Hear Them Roar
Melanie Hawken, founder and editor-in-chief of Lionesses of Africa
Source: Hai Afrika | by Melanie Hawken | 12 June 2015
Female-run enterprises are growing exponentially all over the world, contributing to household incomes and the growth of national economies. However, these women often face challenges like social and physical constraints that might limit their ability to grow their businesses. --- As featured in Hai Afrika
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Dr. Jennifer Riria - Find your passion
Dr. Jennifer Riria, Group CEO of Kenya Women Holding
My message to Africa’s young aspiring business people and entrepreneurs...
"What are they passionate about? What can you die for? That is the first thing they should find out and go die for it."
- Dr. Jennifer Riria is the Group CEO of Kenya Women Holding and one of Africa's leading women entrepreneurs who has always been on a mission to transform the lives of women and their families in her native Kenya. She is distinguished as a microfinance banker and practitioner, researcher and gender specialist. She has served in many leadership roles for which she has been recognized locally and internationally. In 2013 she was awarded the Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the year, East Africa 2013, and subsequently, the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2014, at which point she was admitted to EY’s Global Hall of Fame.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Ashley Heather: Your intuition is a powerful a tool
Ashley Heather, founder of Ashley Heather Jewellery
Have patience and trust your inutition....
"Have patience. Ask for advice but also be prepared to disregard it - your intuition can be as powerful a tool as all the best business books combined. Be kind to yourself."
- Ashley Heather is the founder and creative force behind Cape Town-based Ashley Heather Jewellery. All her jewellery is handcrafted at her Woodstock work+shop using precious metals reclaimed from circuit boards by a small refinery in South Africa. Ashley takes great care about every aspect of the craft and is constantly striving for the most sustainable studio practices from the manufacturing processes right through to the packaging.
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