the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
Catherine Mahugu, founder of Chiswara (Kenya)
Catherine Mahugu, founder of Chiswara (Kenya)
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Xoliswa Hlongwane, founder of XO Collection (South Africa)
Put those building blocks in place!
Xoliswa Hlongwane, founder of XO Collection (South Africa)
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Startup Story
For travellers who want to visit Cape Verde for vacations or business, help is at hand thanks to the team at Resermar Reservas Online, the country’s first online integrated booking platform co-founded by Leidimara Ramos. This one-stop-shop platform assists not only visitors, but also those smaller suppliers on Cape Verde who want to connect with potential new customers.
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Jamie Kern Lima
Book Review
In Believe IT: How to Go from Underestimated to Unstoppable, Jamie Kern Lima, founder of IT Cosmetics, shares the wild but true story of how a once struggling waitress turned her against-the-grain idea into an international bestselling sensation. She eventually sold the company for over a billion dollars and became the first female CEO of a brand in L’Oréal’s 100+ year history.
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Sibongile Mtsabe, founder of Sibocali Traders (South Africa)
Startup Story
Getting access to good, affordable and nutritious food that can also help in addressing obesity, diabetes and malnutrition is a challenge for many communities in South Africa. For entrepreneur Sibongile Mtsabe, founder of Sibocali Traders, that challenge provided the inspiration for the launch of her agriprocessing business.
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Lesego Mathate, founder of Nena (South Africa)
Impact Partner Content - Absa
The problem of absenteeism of girls in South Africa’s schools due to the lack of sanitary pads is still a real challenge in the country. It is a challenge that inspired entrepreneur Lesego Mathate to start her business Nena in order to address. Her brand of hygienic and affordable sanitary pads is now retailing through major supermarket chains in the country, empowering women and girls to take control of their menstrual health and hygiene.
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Dr. Dorcas Muthoni
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
OpenBusiness Africa, a business transforming African enterprises through technology
Dr. Dorcas Muthoni is an entrepreneur, computer scientist, and founder of OpenBusiness Africa and OPENWORLD. She started her software business at the age of 24 and today it employs 50 people. She is greatly passionate about the transformation of African enterprises through technology. Dorcas is also the founder of the regional organization AfChix, a mentorship and capacity building initiative for women in computing across Africa. Globally, she has been involved and honored in technology leadership by the Internet Society (ISOC) as an Internet Hall Of Fame Global Connector, World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Young Global Leader (YGL), AnitaB Institute as a Change Agent Award Winner and the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in Spain as an Honoris Causa.
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Chule Gobodo
Lioness Launch
Chule Gobodo, the Love Activist, creates digital content for the purpose of creating shared healing experiences. Whether it's through her newly launched web series Conversations with a Love Activist, contributing to podcasts, important conversations, and speaking on topics and tools around self-love, self-care, and personal growth, Chule tells personal stories that heal.
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From the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
The title picture this weekend is of the Peters’ Globe (℅ Graphic). The ‘normal’ globe inflates the sizes of regions as they move further from the equator. Since much of the developing world lies near the equator, these countries appear smaller and less significant. On Peters' globe, areas of equal size on the globe are also equally sized on the map - so poorer, less powerful nations are now restored to their rightful proportions. GO AFRICA!
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by Gabriella Von Ille
At Lifa, we spend a lot of time on media training and presentation coaching for our clients. Since lockdown began and Skype, Teams and Zoom became our new best friends, we have received numerous requests for advice on how to come across in the best possible way when “on-camera but remote”.
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by Anja van Beek, Talent Strategist, Leadership Expert and Executive Coach
I love this quote: “Balance is not better TIME management, but better BOUNDARY management?” Have you ever calculated how many of your 24hrs you are in “work-mode” – whether thinking, doing, or responding to a quick mail at a family braai?
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by Natasha Singh-Ally
Investing years of diary entries and your daily energetic imprint in business takes a special kind of dedication and calling, and anyone with the intention to go towards that pull and stay the course can do it.
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by Thato Mokhothu-Ramohlanka
The ability to look ahead and prepare for the future is rare. As human beings, we have mental models and biases that prevent us from thinking differently and looking out for alternative outcomes. We prefer existing within familiar territories and are supportive of our beliefs and intellectual conceptions of what reality ought to be because the alternative is incomprehensible. However, with or without our awareness, these conceptions prevent us from tackling problems more efficiently; they hinder our creativity and ability to seek solutions in unlikely places even at the risk of operating at our minimum capacity.
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Boost With Facebook x Lionesses of Africa / Virtual Masterclass Series
With the busy season now just around the corner, and those all important sales to try and achieve, it could be time to brush up on those skills and tools you need to turn your online connections into customers. Lionesses of Africa has partnered with Boost With Facebook to show you how!
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Melody Spann Cooper
Book Review
Melody Spann Cooper is one of the USA’s leading female broadcast executives who has mastered the art of Closing the Deal. In her debut book, The Girlfriend’s Guide to Closing the Deal, she shares her story of finding her voice in a male-dominated industry. In this semi-autobiographical work, Melody uses her special brand of warmth, candor and wit as she shares with readers how they can use their power to enhance opportunities as the highest level.
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Xoliswa Hlongwane, founder of XO Collection (South Africa)
Startup Story
South Africa needs jobs, and it also needs to rebuild a strong clothing manufacturing industry sector, and that’s where entrepreneur Xoliswa Hlongwane is making her contribution to the economy through her XO Collection (Pty) Ltd.
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Zola Shabangu, founder of iGoda Clothing Manufacturing Incubator (South Africa)
Startup Story
Driven by a desire to create opportunities for South African clothing manufacturers and designers to create and supply their clothing to local retailers, Zola Shabangu launched iGoda Clothing Manufacturing Incubator PTY Ltd. Today, the business is a development incubator for a new generation of fashion designers and seamstresses.
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Catherine Mahugu
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Chiswara, reinventing the coffee supply chain through technology to benefit Kenya’s coffee farmers
Catherine Mahugu is a globally acclaimed entrepreneur. She is a software engineer by profession and change-maker by passion. Catherine is a certified human-centred design expert, a skill she acquired at Stanford University. Currently, she is the founder of Chiswara, a tech-enabled specialty coffee company launched in 2018 that offers an equitable coffee experience for both local farmers and global consumers. Partners committed to the company's growth and impact include Alibaba, UNCTAD, and IFC.
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Bella Ikeme, founder of ASPIRE Luxury Magazine (Nigeria)
Lioness Launch
For all those lovers of luxury brands and products on the African continent, ASPIRE Luxury Magazine in Nigeria, founded by entrepreneur Bella Ikeme, is already a destination of choice for online readers. This month sees the launch of two new digital features which aim to share more positive narratives about African luxury brands and showcase some of the most exciting luxury brands to emerge from the continent.
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by the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
Terrific Tuesday (or ‘TT’ as we like to call it) is, if you remember, when the Head of Finance (HoF) gives us the morning to think outside the box, to move for a moment away from the incredible projects with which we are busy and step back for a moment from the crazy energy that is Melanie who, in the last 2 months, not only brought us the amazing LOA/Harvard Conference, then the Lioness Xpo B2B platform with Absa, and not stopping for breath just this week, the brand new (and in time for Christmas no less), incredible LOA / Facebook - Virtual Masterclass Series.
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