As always, the annual Wexford Opera Festival in Ireland is a much anticipated event for opera lovers around the world, and this year was no exception. The event opened with the Frederick Delius opera, Koanga, featuring the talented South African opera singer and entrepreneur, Nozuko Teto in the role of Palmyra. She is receiving rave reviews for her wonderful performance.
Read moreMeet Linda Gieskes Mwamba the founder of Suki Suki Naturals, an Indie, Natural, and African Hair Care Brand. Linda is the first natural African hair care brand to be invited to exhibit at the Sanlam Handmade Contemporary Fair in Johannesburg. LoA caught up with her at this event in October 2015 and chatted with her about her exciting new haircare brand. Listen to our interview.
Read moreSuccessful ventures will need an exceptional management team. But your startup has a young team without a lot of experience or a track record that will impress people. What can you do? Create an "Emeritus Board" of advisors. Ask some of the best and brightest people in your field to join an advisory board for your company.
Read moreThe tech sector has a wealth of exciting opportunies for entrepreneurs to make a difference and Lorraine Steyn, founder of Khanyisa Real Systems, is one such entrepreneur who has built a highly regarded and successful business, underpinned with a strong sense of wanting to do good in the world.
Read moreThere is no secret formula for entrepreneurs to follow....
“There is no secret formula to success … if you are determined, have integrity and passion, show that you care, remain honest and true to yourself and surround yourself with people that you take care to nurture it will lead to success.”
- Pam Golding is one of Africa's most successful women entrepreneurs and an icon of the real estate industry. She founded Pam Golding Properties in South Africa in 1976 with no start-up capital and just a single sales assistant. The company now has over 300 offices in Africa as well as international offices in the UK, Germany, France and Mauritius. It is one of South Africa’s largest independent property trading companies with 2010 turnover of US$1.7 billion. Pam is now retired from active management, but remains the Life President of the company she founded.
Read moreSource: The Guardian | by Athlyn Cathcart-Keays | 21 October 2015
Wecyclers began life as a student project – but Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola has since built it into a social enterprise that tackles the Nigerian capital’s waste crisis and empowers low-income communities to turn trash into cash.
Read moreSource: How We Made it in Africa | by Dinfin Mulupi | 20 October 2015
Silicon Valley’s diversity problem has been a subject of much debate in recent years. Women and minorities remain under-represented in tech companies and venture capital firms. In Africa’s tech industry, women are becoming more visible but they too face challenges.
Read moreBuild strong foundations....
"dot as many of your i’s and cross your t’s, always keeping the end goal in mind. Do everything from the start as if you were that global corporation, meaning with excellence, high standards, good corporate governance and integrity! Then keep walking and never give up!"
- Kerryne Krause-Neufeldt is founder of South African beauty and wellness company, eyeSlices®, a multi-award winning product range and a global first in Cryo-Gel technology. These cooling and soothing eye gels target puffiness, dark circles, tiredness, redness and wrinkles, and are re-usable up to ten times! Made with natural and organic extracts from the Swiss Alps, they are guaranteed to leave you feeling relaxed, restored and revived within minutes! Kerryne currently exports from South Africa to over 20 countries.
Read more“There are parts of this country where women cannot own land or property. We intend to go and build there and we intend to ensure that at least 50% of our buildings are owned by women.”
- Chinwe Ohajuruka is the founder and CEO of Comprehensive Design Services in Nigeria. Chinwe is a US-based architect who splits her time between the US & Nigeria working on sustainable housing development projects. She is a passionate championof green building solutions for Africa and she engineers and builds affordable green houses that are both energy and resource-efficient. Chinwe was selected as the Sub-Saharan laureate of the 2015 Cartier Women's Awards.
Read moreChallenges are best met head-on with confidence and honesty....
"As a woman in business, and in a male-dominated field, I have encountered my share of obstacles; from the male airport officials who have blocked my entry to the aircraft I am working on, to clients to whom I must prove myself. I have also had to deal with corrupt officials who insist on being paid bribes for the simplest of tasks. When faced with these challenges, my approach has always been the same: to be confident and honest. I have confidence in my business, and the benefits we bring to clients and to the Tanzanian Government."
- Susan Mashibe is founder and executive director of VIA Aviation, an international fixed-base aircraft services operation and the first company of its kind in Tanzania. Susan is also the first woman in Tanzania to hold both a FAA certified commercial pilot and an aircraft maintenance engineering qualification. This passionate aviator left Tanzania at the tender age of 19 to learn to fly jetliners in the United States, later returning home to help reshape African private air travel.
Read moreAs an entrepreneur, have you ever thought that banks are not exactly designed to meet your needs, or don't really understand what it is like being an entrepreneur and the challenges you face each day? Well, here is your chance to imagine what the ideal entrepreneur-centric bank would look like - enter this exciting new competition and win great prizes for your ideas.
Read moreIn the latest of a series of guest blogs that look at issues around financial management for women entrepreneurs, this week our focus is on understanding how to value your company. I want to sell 25% of my company to a friend - just how much is my company worth?
Read more"I am witnessing a phenomenon. It seems as though a growing group of women entrepreneurs all around the world has discovered the secret to success and happiness in both their lives and careers. It’s almost as though there is a hidden, underground world of power playing females who have all cracked a magical code: they think positively, they support one another, and they truly believe they can have it all —and you can, too" - Cara Alwill Leyba, author and master life coach
Read moreLoA had the opportunity to meet and chat with Anna Raimondo, the creative Founder of Smith Jewellery this month, on a very hot and blustery day on the rooftop of the Sanlam Handmade Contemporary Fair in Johannesburg.
Read moreBethlehem Tilahun Alemu is a tireless foot soldier taking Ethiopian entrepreneurship to the world. She is building a $20-million shoe factory in Addis Ababa and is also soon launching a coffee brand.
Read moreParis, 15 October 2015 - This year's Cartier Women's Initiative Awards have just been announced and the sub-Saharan Laureate for 2015 is the inspirational Chinwe Ohajuruka, the founder of Comprehensive Design Services, Nigeria. Chinwe received her well-deserved award at a prestigious ceremony in the glamorous French capital.
Read moreDame Stephanie Shirley is the most successful tech entrepreneur you never heard of. In the 1960s, she founded a pioneering all-woman software company in the UK, which was ultimately valued at $3 billion, making millionaires of 70 of her team members. In this frank and often hilarious talk, she explains why she went by “Steve,” how she upended the expectations of the time, and shares some sure-fire ways to identify ambitious women.…
Read moreGood entrepreneurs begin by listening, hearing something that is growing or that needs a solution... You need to hear the bell first. Many people think that entrepreneurship starts with creativity, with dreaming up an idea. But it doesn't. Creativity comes after you hear the bell, in responding to that call. First the work of the ear, then the hands....
Read moreElizabeth Holmes speaks to emerging women leaders in STEM from 21 countries in Africa, Central Asia & the Middle East. These 100 women pledged to be #ironsisters: women helping 100 other women so as to impact 10,000.
Read more"How is running a business different from running a home? Just as a business has to budget, manage its cash flow, do administration and develop human capital, so do women who run families. Women have always been in business and they have always been resourceful."
- Stacey Davidson is the director at Redisa, the Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa. Stacey joined REDISA in 2010 as a director, after working in various industries including finance. Her interest in the economic empowerment of previously disadvantaged communities resulted in her volunteering for community-based organisations such as NICRO, CAFDA, and Triple Trust Organisation. It was Stacey's passion for community development which prompted her to join REDISA.
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