the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
Aramide Ajayi, founder of Futureshoppers (Nigeria)
Startup Story
Being laser-focused on making shopping for children easier for busy parents was the inspiration to start a business for Aramide Ajayi, founder of Futureshoppers in Nigeria. Today, her e-commerce platform is a one stop shop for children’s products.
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Cindy Matlapeng, founder of The Office Team Cleaning and Support Services (Botswana)
Startup Story
Anyone running a successful business or large home knows that keeping things clean and tidy is a must, but professional help is needed to achieve this state of domestic or corporate bliss. In Botswana, help is at hand from entrepreneur Cindy Matlapeng, founder of The Office Team Cleaning and Support Services, a business that makes light work of cleaning.
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Claudia Reuter
Book Review
If you ever wondered how women can lean in to entrepreneurship to create the life they want, then author Claudia Reuter has the answer. In her new book, Yes, You Can Do This! How Women Start Up, Scale Up, and Build The Life They Want, she shares her own personal business building journey and a game-plan for taking the leap into the world of entrepreneurship.
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by Nthabiseng Maidi, Principal Director, MMCP Wealth and MMCP Business Advisory Services
Gone are the days where an accountant will receive paper invoices, receipts, bank statements and delve into processing and producing a trail balance, then the financial reports. There is an old myth that accountants are necessary for compliance purposes and that is not true. With the advancement in technology and the move to digital, some of the work that was previously done by accountants will be obsolete. The WEF of 2019 issued the trends of threatened jobs, and accountants were on the list. Meaning that accountants must rethink their service offering. We are not paper pushers anymore and we do not focus on the past. Our role should be forward looking and providing a service that will grow our clients.
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by Mandisa Makubalo, founder of Unlimited Experiences
A wave has just hit South Africa's banking industry, so who will be left behind? Tyme Bank is the new kid on the block promising to help South Africans achieve their full potential. The bank empowers South Africans to take back control of their money by helping them understand how money really works and giving them a transparent view of their own financial situations. Is this what customers are looking for from banking? What does banking mean for South African consumers? Could it be that Tyme Bank is the answer to the pain points of the South African consumer as far as banking is concerned?
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by Lori Milner
During the holiday break, we took the kids to do indoor climbing on a rainy day. My son objected from the moment we arrived and cried all the way until we reached the entrance of the venue. When he looked inside and saw how incredible this place was – it had everything from different types of climbing walls to mazes, obstacle courses and trampolines. Now when he saw this, he was running in and didn’t know where to start. Just pure excitement and joy!
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Andra Massamba, founder of Uabalika (Mozambique)
Evangelia Kalaitzi, founder of HealthyWise & Evangelia Nina K Brand (South Africa)
Entrepreneurship grows you as a person…
Evangelia Kalaitzi, founder of HealthyWise & Evangelia Nina K Brand (South Africa)
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Sarah Collins, founder and CEO of Wonderbag
Adv. Lufuno T Khorommbi and Sharmantha Valjee
Lioness CoLAB
Growing awareness of the need to protect personal and corporate information in cyberspace has led to the need for expert training and development of staff in these knowledge areas. In South Africa, two companies - DesignTech Training Academy and Orizur Consulting Enterprise - have collaborated on a range of solutions to address this skills deficit.
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Temie Giwa-Tubosun, founder of Lifebank (Nigeria)
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Every year in African hospitals, people die because health workers could not find the essential medical products needed on time and in the right condition. This problem affects pregnant women, children under the age of 5, victims of traumatic accidents, and people suffering from sickle cell anemia and other chronic conditions. For entrepreneur Temie Giwa-Tubosun, founder of Lifebank, these statistics needed to change. She did the math and found that over 14,965,000 people die annually in Africa from the shortage of essential medical products. Today, Temie’s business is working to harness the power of technology and innovation to find life-saving solutions.
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Modupe Sanders, founder of Mo Consult (Nigeria)
Startup Story
The restaurant business is an exciting one to enter for any passionate foodie entrepreneur, but it is also potentially one of the most challenging. Getting access to expert advice in starting up a successful new restaurant or turning around an existing one is key. Mo Consult, founded by Modupe Sanders, is a business offering just such a specialist service to its clients.
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Prudence Seya, founder of Web Training Academy (Cote d’Ivoire)
Startup Story
For any business looking to get the best from its people in a rapidly changing digital business environment, help is often needed to develop new skills and expertise. In Cote d’Ivoire, entrepreneur Prudence Seya, founder of Web Training Academy, is making e-learning more accessible.
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Lioness Launch
Meet Helen Viljoen, a luxury jewellery brandbuilder with a cause. — When you set out to build a niche jewellery business, underpinned by an ethos of legacy building through sustainable luxury, there is a golden thread that runs through the company and the brand. In the case of Nebü, founded by South African entrepreneur Helen Viljoen, that thread is the creation of beautiful, sustainable jewellery with a cause and a commitment to environmental and wild life conservation.
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Impact Partner Content: Absa | by Riaan Petersen, Head of Business Banking Segment Solutions, Absa Retail and Business Bank
You’ve done it. You took that first step, raised funding and ventured into the world of entrepreneurship. Operating in our current environment though is not easy. With growth in emerging and developing economies likely to remain slow, other possible challenges such as late payments impacting your cash flow and/or lackluster demand from buyers – building a business requires boldness and resilience.
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Faith James and Stacy Graiko
Book Revview
What if you could learn how big companies leverage their brands to make more money, attract ideal clients and get paid well to do the work YOU love? Well now you can some essential insights and advice by reading the great new book by Stacy Graiko and Faith James, titled Ladies, Power Up Your Brand. It’s the women entrepreneur’s guide to getting paid to be bold, brilliant and unapologetically you!
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by Thembe Khumalo
I have been very conscious of purpose in my adult life and tried to ensure my big decisions aligned with my life purpose. But what I didn’t give much attention to, until recently, was my daily purpose: embarking on each day with a clear and singular purpose in mind. Most people know roughly what they need to get done in the course of a week or a month. But often, the more senior you become the more you are required to attend to a wide variety of responsibilities. And as you become a generalist, you can easily start to find your days gobbled up by a myriad of small moves that leave you far from your original destination.
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Nubian Queens Soiree at Epicure Restaurant in Johannesburg, 2018 – There’s a seat at the table for all of us.
by Masana Sangweni, founder of Sanaandi Events & Hospitality
In 2016 I started my own business, Sanaandi Events & Hospitality. It wasn’t an easy decision, for years I procrastinated because of fear and self doubt. But there was that point where I realized that I can’t let fear keep me away from my destiny. The fear of not having a steady income, fear of rejection, fear of disappointing my parents for leaving the family business, fear of failure and fear of the competition. When I finally decided to pursue my passion, there was still fear but the passion was greater.
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Mapeka Polane, founder of Spegelicious Cakery And Party Rentals (Lesotho)
Mapeka Polane, founder of Spegelicious Cakery And Party Rentals (Lesotho)
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Suzie Wokabi, founder of SuzieBeauty, Kenya
Patience and persistence are key....
Suzie Wokabi, founder of SuzieBeauty, Kenya
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