Essential Read: Raising an Entrepreneur: 10 Rules for Nurturing Risk Takers, Problem Solvers, and Change Makers by Margot Machol Bisnow

August 28, 2016 Melanie Hawken

In her book, Raising an Entrepreneur: 10 Rules for Nurturing Risk Takers, Problem Solvers, and Change Makers, Margot Machol Bisnow a political powerhouse and mother of two thriving entrepreneurs interviews the moms of some of today’s most successful innovators and—based on her findings—provides ten rules for raising confident, fearless, self-made individuals whose ideas and drive will change the world.

Liberty encourages its women employees to become more entrepreneurially minded

August 27, 2016 Melanie Hawken

L-R Melanie Hawken, Amanda Khoza, Eleanor Sansovini

Leading South African financial services group, Liberty, knows the importance of developing an entrepreneurial mindset in today’s economic climate in order to maintain a competitive edge. As a result, it is taking a proactive approach to encouraging its employees to think more entrepreneurially in their day to day work.

ENTREPRENEUR SMARTS: Do the numbers!

August 26, 2016 Melanie Hawken

I've been spending lots of time with new startups, from pro bono mentoring to judging pitches at the competitions. Lots of the ideas sound plausible but often suffer from a fatal flaw - the numbers have not been done.

Ntshantsha Tafeni-Majombozi, a South African natural skincare entrepreneur focused on promoting the country’s indigenous ingredients

August 26, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Ntshantsha Tafeni-Majombozi, founder of Yivani Naturals (South Africa) — **Ntshantsha Tafeni-Majombozi**, founder of Yivani Naturals (South Africa)

There is a growing interest in skincare products that have a natural provenance with ingredients sourced from the African continent, and South African entrepreneur Ntshantsha Tafeni-Majombozi, is tapping into that interest with her brand Yivani Naturals.

Quote of the Day by Bilikiss Abiola

August 26, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Bilikiss Abiola, founder and CEO of WeCyclers — **Bilikiss Abiola**, founder and CEO of WeCyclers

“Waste management is one of the main problems for poor populations in Nigeria. We want to create a system that would mean waste is no longer a problem, but a solution for everyone.”

- Bilikiss Adebiyi is a Nigerian entrepreneur and innovator, and founder and CEO of WeCyclers. This Lagos-based company is focused on giving low-income communities in developing countries a chance to capture value from waste and clean up their neighborhoods through an incentive-based recycling program. Bilikiss holds an MBA from MIT and a Masters degree from Vanderbilt University. She is a 2013 Echoing Green Fellow and WeCyclers were a Sustainia100 Company Award winner in 2014.

Sinoneliso Xaba, a South African entrepreneur bringing African print textiles and design to the attention of the world

August 25, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Sinoneliso Xaba, founder of Egoli Textile Designs (South Africa)

Often, indigenous design can remain a best kept secret to the country it is found in, but thanks to passionate South African entrepreneur, Sinoneliso Xaba and her company Egoli Textile Designs, that is about to change. She is on a mission to bring the continent’s most innovative African print textiles to the global marketplace, and to win a legion of new fans along the way.

Quote of the Day by Jennifer Riria

August 25, 2016 Melanie Hawken

"We have proven women are bankable. That you can invest in women and they can be trusted to pay back and grow their business."

- 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.

Rosemary Obi, a Nigerian entrepreneur creating the first make-up reality show in Africa

August 24, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Rosemary Obi, founder Project FX Make-Up Show Africa (Nigeria) — **Rosemary Obi**, founder Project FX Make-Up Show Africa (Nigeria)

On a mission to take Africa’s most talented make-up artists to the world of film and television, Project FX Make-Up Show Africa, the brainchild of Rosemary Obi, is looking to supercharge the careers of a new generation of home-grown African make-up artists.

Entrepreneur Advice from Rosemary Obi: Start from where you are

August 24, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Rosemary Obi, founder of Project FX Make-Up Show Africa (Nigeria) — Rosemary Obi, founder of Project FX Make-Up Show Africa (Nigeria)

Start from where you are....

"Start from where you are. All you need is God, Goals and Guts. Do not be scared to start small. Keep going and never look back nor listen to any pessimism. Just do it and the sky will only be but a launch pad for you."

- Rosemary Obi is the founder of Project FX Make-Up Show Africa in Nigeria, Africa's first ever make-up reality show launched in June 2016, with makeup artist contestants from 5 African countries.. Rosemary's love for make-up and Africa as a whole inspired her to start her Makeup Show journey. She is proudly promoting African make-up creatives and brands.

Quote of the Day by Margaret Hirsch

August 24, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Margaret Hirsch, co-founder Hirsch's Homestores (South Africa)

"Whatever you do - do it the best you can and then go the extra mile."

- Margaret Hirsch is one half of a dynamic husband and wife duo that founded Hirsch's Homestores. Back in 1979, as a secretary, together with her husband Allan, then an appliance repair man, they unwittingly became entrepreneurs who went on to build an appliance, electronics and furnishing retail empire. Today, Hirsch's Homestores is the largest independently owned appliance and electronics business in Southern Africa, with seventeen branches and concept stores spread throughout South Africa. Margaret was recently announced as the winner in the Standard Bank sponsored Top Business Woman of South Africa Award, her 17th major business award.

In Focus: Meet the women entrepreneurs shaping Africa's Media, PR & Communications landscape

August 23, 2016 Melanie Hawken

This August, Lionesses of Africa is featuring the talented women entrepreneurs who are changing the PR, media and communications landscape in Africa through their innovation, products, services and their passion for what they do.

Quote of the Day by Sarah Collins

August 23, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Sarah Collins, founder of Wonderbag — **Sarah Collins**, founder of Wonderbag

"My heroines are African women. I am exceptionally proud to be African. Our resilience and capacity for innovation is so inspiring!"

- Sarah Collins is the founder and CEO of Wonderbag, a simple non electric slow cooker which works in mud huts in Africa to Manhattan apartments, possibly one of the only cooking devices that is globally relevant! Sarah is a South African adventurer, entrepreneur, and lifelong social activist. She thrives on challenges and has worked tirelessly over the past two decades to inspire change in the realms of gender-equality and environmental sustainability. As of November 2015, Wonderbag reached the 1 million milestone of Wonderbags sold across the world.

Entrepreneur Advice from Susan Kinuthia: Take small steps in the right direction

August 23, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Susan Kinuthia, founder of Ruzena Naturals (Kenya) — **Susan Kinuthia**, founder of Ruzena Naturals (Kenya)

Start with a small step....

"The smallest step in the right direction can end up being the biggest step of your life. Tip toe if you must, but just take the step."

- Susan Kinuthia, is the founder of Ruzena Naturals in Kenya, a company that manufactures natural handmade soaps from shea butter, cocoa butter and cold pressed oils like sesame oil, black castor oil and palm kernel oil. A Graphic Designer by profession, Susan quit the corporate world in January 2014 to follow her passion and launch her entrepreneurial journey. Having successfully developed her core product range, Susan plans to introduce at least four more soap variants in the next year, as well as a hair treatment and body lotion.

Sarah Collins, founder of Wonderbag, is named the Fairlady Woman of the Future for 2016

August 22, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Fairlady announced the winners of its annual Fairlady Women of the Future Awards, in partnership with Santam, at an exclusive VIP luncheon at Summer Place in Hyde Park, Johannesburg on Friday 19 August. Sarah Collins, founder of Wonderbag, was named the Fairlady Woman of the Future for 2016.

VIDEO: Bilikiss Adebiyi on how Wecyclers is creating a business model for recycling in Lagos

August 22, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Bilikiss Adebiyi, co-founder and CEO of Wecyclers in Nigeria talks about how the idea for her business started in an MIT class; how the service works; the incentives people receive to recycle; how it works financially for this social enterprise; and her ambitions for the business.

Tabitha Karanja receives the Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize presented by the Millennium Excellence Foundation

August 22, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Kenya's Keroche Breweries founder and chief executive Tabitha Karanja has been recognised for her fighting spirit and entrepreneurial mind. She received the Entrepreneurial Excellence in Africa Award in the Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize in Accra, Ghana on Saturday 20 August, becoming only the fourth Kenyan to have won the prize after former President Mwai Kibaki, industrialist Manu Chandaria and US-based Harvard University Professor Calestous Juma.

Susan Kinuthia, a Kenyan entrepreneur taking on the skin and haircare industry by providing natural alternatives

August 22, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Starting any business with a personal passion is always a good building block, and Susan Kinuthia is taking her love of natural skin and hair products to the next level, using it as the inspiration for her own company, Ruzena Naturals. This new kid on the beauty block is creating high quality, natural skin and haircare products for people who are sensitive to mass produced, chemical laced products on the market.

Quote of the Day by Divine Ndhlukula

August 22, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Divine Ndhlukula, founder SECURICO Security Services (Zimbabwe) — **Divine Ndhlukula**, founder SECURICO Security Services (Zimbabwe)

“What Africa requires are entrepreneurs that start up and create not just wealth for themselves, but employment for others, because that is what is vital for sustainable development.”

- Divine Ndhlukula founded SECURICO Security Services from humble beginnings in Zimbabwe in 1998. Divine identified a need in the market for a quality oriented security company and she has driven SECURICO to become the market leader in Zimbabwe. She has tackled a previously male-dominated industry head on and her business success story is nothing short of remarkable - marking her as one of Africa's most tenacious and inspiring women entrepreneurs. She is also the largest employer of women in her country outside of government.

EVENT REPORT: Women’s Month in South Africa celebrated with three inspirational Lioness Lean In Breakfast Events

August 21, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Every year in the month of August, South Africa celebrates National Women’s Month, and to support this commemorative initiative, Lionesses of Africa, powered by Standard Bank, made plans to host three of its hugely popular Lioness Lean In Breakfast Events. The first two events have now taken place, the first in Durban on 16th August, and the second in Johannesburg on 18th August. At each event, women entrepreneurs representing all sectors of business and industry, gathered for a morning of inspirational startup story sharing and great networking.