the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
Swaady Martin, founder of Yswara
- Swaady Martin, Founder and CEO of YSWARA
Read more
Mary-Anne Calvert, founder of The Human Element (South Africa)
Believe in yourself....
- Mary-Anne Calvert is the founder of The Human Element in South Africa, a company provides leadership and soft skills development, performance coaching and business development, to nurture potential. Mary-Anne is a passionate developer of people and businesses to help them become the best they can be. She founded The Human Element in 2005 to use her adult education qualifications and experience in senior management positions to become a skills learning facilitator, performance coach and business development consultant.
Read more
Tara Fela-Durotoye, founder of House of Tara, Nigeria
- Tara Fela-Durotoye founder of House of Tara (Nigeria)
Read more
Sofia Cassimo, founder of SamSara Development and Investment
The sooner you fail, the sooner you'll win....
- Sofia Dias Cassimo is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Samsara Development and Investment and Sublime Special Events & Catering in Mozambique. Sofia, who has a medical degree, turned entrepreneur following a stint working for an NGO, when she followed her passion for food, catering and hosting, starting up Sublime Special Events & Catering. She also followed her passion for developing programs that help neglected people and communities, starting Samsara Development and Investment, a social enterprise that creates programs for empowering women to become changemakers in rural communities.
Read more
L-R: Deborah Hartung, Raksha Mahabeer, Melanie Hawken, Kathryn Main, Ngwana Matloa
Another packed audience of women entrepreneurs assembled this month on 23 November at the Standard Bank Business Incubator for the last in the South African series of Lioness Lean In events for 2017. The theme for the morning was the art of building powerful business and personal brands, and understanding how to leverage those brands for success as women entrepreneurs.
Read more
Keneilwe Magula
Author and entrepreneur, Keneilwe Magula, is a firm believer that without the correct recipe, no matter how good you are in the kitchen, you will always make a terrible meal. She also believes that this is true about life also. She says that no matter how good you might be at something, if you don’t understand how life responds to our intentions you will always get the same bad results. Her new book, Keep Going, encourages you to look at life as a journey, and to realise that your current situation is not your final destination.
Read more
Ngwana Matloa, co-founder of ABOT Technology (South Africa)
How often do you see companies and organisations investing in IT and technology solutions but not actually ensuring they are aligned to overall business strategies? As a result, maximum efficiencies and highly functional systems never realize their full potential. IT specialist, Ngwana Matloa, co-founder of ABOT Technology, is on a mission to change that.
Read more
Nicola Bokaba, founder of Earthy Cook (South Africa)
Sometimes, the best ideas have been around a long time but simply need adapting or updating for a contemporary marketplace. In the culinary world, that is certainly the case for the traditional South African mafehlo (pap making whisks). Entrepreneur Nicola Bokaba, founder of Earthy Cook, saw an opportunity to start a business inspired by these traditional cooking implements but updated to meet today’s kitchen needs.
Read more
Angela Dick, co-founder and CEO of Transman
Women need to find their purpose....
- Angela Dick, co-founder and CEO of Transman (South Africa)
Read more
Ally Angula, co-founder of Leap Holdings and founder of My Republik Brand
- Ally Angula, co-founder of Leap Holdings (Namibia)
Read more
Ayoronke Tosin-Yeye, founder of IMentorAfrica (Nigeria)
- Ayoronke Tosin-Yeye, founder of IMentorAfrica (Nigeria)
Read more
Evylin Munyi, co-founder of KOFAR Kenya
You will overcome obstacles....
- Evylin Munyi is the co-founder of KOFAR Kenya, a company that supplies farmers, especially small-holder farmers, with Organic and Natural inputs to use on their farms so as to restore the soil back to health from overuse and abuse from conventional inputs. Evylin started doing research on Organic inputs and Organic Agriculture back in 2009-2010 and registered a company in 2011. She teamed up with local and international scientists and came up with the KOFAr soil repair package suitable for all soil types in Kenya and beyond. This changemaker has come up with a business concept that can change farming across Africa.
Read more
Divine Ndhlukula, Founder and Managing Director of SECURICO
- Divine Ndhlukula founder of SECURICO Security Services (Zimbabwe)
Read more
Lilian Muhammed, founder of LONDRÉ TAN (South Africa)
Know your purpose....
- Lilian Muhammed is the founder of LONDRÉ TAN, a company that designs and manufactures handcrafted leather bags, purses and precious stone jewellery in their studio in Johannesburg, South Africa. The brand was created with the aim of producing great quality, locally made fashion accessories with exceptional craftsmanship, and a modern look and feel.
Read more
by Sylvia Walker, author of SmartWoman
Most of us will all need to apply for credit at some time in our lives, and as an entrepreneur, this is almost a certainty. By taking ownership and being pro-active in managing your credit, you can avoid any unpleasant surprises and make sure that financial support will be there when you need it most.
Read more
We love mobile and have been fortunate enough to work on the initial versions of many of South Africa’s leading apps over the last 7 years. In some cases, we have continued working with these brands throughout the course of their app journeys and these are some of the fundamental (as well as subtler) learnings anyone looking to make a dent in the space can take from this experience.
Read more
It happens often: we appear to be listening but in fact we are so distracted by other thoughts, other people, and other things we have to do, that we’re not really actively listening. Or we’re thinking about what we’re going to say next and how we can say it so that we sound fabulously articulate and intelligent. We don’t entirely hear what the person in front of us is saying. We’re not getting the whole message. In our careers, it’s critical that we are heard. But it’s just as critical that we hear, that we truly hear. Our ability to really listen to others is as vital to our overall presence.
Read more
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu is founder and Managing Director of soleRebels
- Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, founder and Managing Director of soleRebels (Ethiopia)
Read more
You need to learn to turn stress on its head....
- 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 18 Hirsch stores and four Samsung concept stores.
Read more
Have you ever asked an entrepreneur how much they make? And they respond with a ‘million from last month’ but no smile coming with it? Or any triumphant fist in the air? Yep. It is because it is deeper than that. Revenue is the easiest part of operations; if you have built a good brand and something people want/need; you will have sales easily. The trick is ‘where are those sales going’?
Read more