“My big dream would be to become the Coco Chanel of Africa. It doesn’t get bigger than that.”
Adele Dejak, founder of Adele Dejak (Kenya)
Read moreQuote of the Day by Adele Dejak
Adele Dejak, founder of Adele Dejak (Kenya)
Entrepreneur Advice from Siwela Sweetness Masoga / Be passion driven
Siwela Sweetness Masoga, founder of Siwela Wines (South Africa)
Be passion driven!…
“Always do what you are passionate about. Being passionate about what you do will always force you to work hard and remain persistent when times get tough.”
Siwela Sweetness Masoga, founder of Siwela Wines (South Africa)
Read moreLet’s change the ‘R’ number to an ‘I’ number for ‘Impact’ in 2021
By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
One of the things we all learnt in 2020 was what was meant by the ‘R’ number - the rate at which a sick person will pass on (in this case) COVID-19 to others. According to ISGlobal the average ‘R’ for an infected person with CV19 is around 2.5 in each 5 day period of incubation. An ‘R’ of less than 1 is good because it means that the number being infected is growing smaller, but over 30 days will still infect others, and thanks to the brilliant Visual Capitalist looks something like this…
Read moreWomen Going Global: Real-Life Stories of Women Entrepreneurs Doing Business Across Borders by Tonya McNeal-Weary
Tonya McNeal-Weary
Book Review
In her new book, Women Going Global: Real-Life Stories of Women Entrepreneurs Doing Business Across Borders, Tonya McNeal-Weary invites you to be inspired by the stories of trailblazing women who have succeeded despite the societal biases that attempted to hold them back.
Read moreAre your lack of boundaries between work and life getting worse?
by Lori Milner
“Your job isn’t to get people to like you but for you to like yourself” - RuPaul
In an article on CNBC.com, a survey showed that 69%, of employees are experiencing burnout symptoms while working from home. Despite work burnout, the majority (59%) are taking less time off than they normally would, and 42% of those still working from home are not planning to take any time off to decompress.
Read moreMary Nyaga, an entrepreneur creating a floral business in Kenya with a difference
Mary Nyaga, founder of LorMar Florium (Kenya)
Startup Story
Everyone loves flowers, for their homes and their offices, and in Kenya, entrepreneur Mary Nyaga, founder of LorMar Florium, is harnessing the power of technology to bring flowers to everyone’s lives. The business combines a flower subscription business using silk flowers, with a new app called Flowerhood, creating virtual floral arrangements and messages for customers to send to their family and friends.
Read moreEdna Reis, an entrepreneur passionate about active wellness in Angola
Edna Reis, founder of Active Wellness (Angola)
Startup Story
Companies and organizations know that their strength lies in their people, and it’s why employee wellbeing is key to their success. Helping employees to avoid burnout and ensuring they have support in managing their mental and physical balance is important. In Angola, entrepreneur Edna Reis, founder of Active Wellness, has created a business to meet this growing demand for better health and wellbeing in the workplace.
Read moreChioma Ukonu, a social entrepreneur turning waste into impact in Nigeria
Chioma Ukonu
RecyclePoints, a waste recycling social enterprise changing lives and the environment
Chioma Ukonu is an award-winning social entrepreneur with over a decade of hands-on experience and international exposure in environmental sustainability, women empowerment, youth employment, business leadership, circular economy, government and community engagement. She is currently the Co-Founder/COO of RecyclePoints, Nigeria’s foremost waste recycling and social benefit venture that motives post-consumers to recycle by creating value from their everyday waste. Chioma, who is well known for her strong business acumen, has received business training from various prestigious institutions around the world including the Said Business School, Oxford University in the United Kingdom; Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, USA; and Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University Lagos in Nigeria. Chioma has built RecyclePoints, which started from her kitchen, to a major stakeholder in waste management in Africa, creating over 230 green jobs and recycling over 100,000kg of waste monthly, whilst sustaining RecyclePoints as the social currency that converts waste to wealth.
Read moreIdeas need brave actors
by Thembe Khumalo
In the kind of creative space that Brandbuilder operates in, there is never a shortage of ideas. We often think of ourselves as an idea generating machine. The trouble with too many ideas and too much creativity is that you can very quickly end up with nothing but hot air - multiple voices telling multiple wonderful stories, but very little happening on the ground. That makes it really important to have systems for turning those ideas into solutions that clients will be prepared to pay for. That, and a team dynamic that contributes to better results.
Read morePitsi Ledwaba, a South African entrepreneur building a natural, organic beauty brand
Pitsi Ledwaba, founder of Bonolo Naturals (South Africa)
Impact Partner Content - Absa
Pitsi Ledwaba is from Polokwane in the Limpopo Province of South Africa and the founder of Bonolo Naturals, a growing natural, organic beauty brand. For the past 12 years she has been in the retail industry managing both local and international brands. It is where she fell in love with beauty, fashion and everything that makes people look and feel good.
Read moreAre you an impostor?
by Marjon Meyer
This sounds like a nasty accusation, yet the impostor syndrome is real! Do you sometimes feel that others’ applause for you is not earned or deserved? This happens when people doubt their accomplishments or a person has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud”, despite external evidence that they are competent. These self-perceived “fraudsters” tend to be highly competent individuals. While both men and women are affected, this syndrome seems to be more prevalent amongst high-achieving women.
Read moreResilience is the Entrepreneur’s Character
by Sibongile Mtsabe
Entrepreneurship is what Africa needs right now. Africa needs those who would put ideas into implementation and make things happen.
It has never been an easy road but it’s doable. It takes courage, endurance, passion and believing in yourself.
Read moreQuote of the Day by Agnes Chikukwa Hove
Agnes Chikukwa Hove, founder, Sequor Consulting (South Africa)
“Your life has a purpose. Your story is important. Your dreams count.”
Agnes Chikukwa Hove, founder, Sequor Consulting (South Africa)
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Celine Uwineza / Surround yourself with the right people
Denise Umunyana and Celine Uwineza, founders of RightSeat (Rwanda)
Siwela Sweetness Masoga, a South African wine producer creating quality accessible wines
Siwela Sweetness Masoga
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Siwela Wines, a new generation, trail-blazing female black-owned wine business.
Siwela Sweetness Masoga is a biotechnologist, wine maker, and founder of Siwela Wines, a South African wine company focusing on the production of quality accessible wines. Siwela also runs a wine academy focusing on education and training within the wine and hospitality industry. Siwela Wines is currently amongst the few youth female black-owned wine businesses in South Africa and was launched in 2018.
Read moreNidia D’Almeida, a Mozambican entrepreneur helping businesses protect their intellectual property
Nidia D’Almeida, founder of API - Agência de Propriedade Intelectual (Mozambique)
Startup Story
So many businesses wonder if you can protect your Intellectual Property Rights in Mozambique, and the answer is yes, you can. Entrepreneur Nidia D’Almeida, founder of API - Agência de Propriedade Intelectual, is there to show you how.
Read moreJosefa Amélia Massinga, a Mozambican entrepreneur taking floral decor to a new level
Josefa Amélia Massinga, founder of Florista Flor Khyathu e Servicos (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Every great event needs great floral decorations to create memorable occasions, and it is the same with creating the right impression in a home or office. In Maputo, Mozambique, entrepreneur Josefa Amélia Massinga, founder and CEO of Florista Flor Khyathu e Servicos, has just the floral decorations and expertise to turn any event or space into something truly special.
Read moreCharlene Shapiro, a South African entrepreneur supplying the hospitality industry with quality food products
Charlene Shapiro, founder of CNC Products (South Africa)
Impact Partner Content - Absa
Charlene Shapiro is the founder and Managing Member of CNC Products in South Africa. She is an all-rounder entrepreneur and has 29 years’ business experience working in the hospitality industry. Charlene's business is focused on providing high quality service and affordable food products to the hospitality industry, corporates and home users at large. Her experience in sales and marketing come from her years spent in the newspaper industry. She is proudly continuing a family legacy of service and is proud to have her daughter, Kerry, continuing with the same passion at CNC Products.
Read moreMove the Needle: Yarns from an Unlikely Entrepreneur by Shelley Brander
Shelley Brander
Book Review
People always ask Shelley Brander, author of the new book Move the Needle: Yarns from an Unlikely Entrepreneur, what possessed her to leave the successful advertising firm she founded with her husband to open a local yarn store. And then they wonder how that one storefront grew into an e-commerce business, and from there into a global movement to Knit the World Together. In Move the Needle, Shelley shares stories from her life to show that you can pursue your life's passions, both personal and professional, no matter how quirky or impossible they may seem to everyone around you.
Read more“Mola Mia…”
By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
January, just the mention of that month brings high hopes and expectations of greater things. Given the low base that was 2020 (although as we pointed out in our last Blog, 2020 was a year of such incredible opposites, not only of terrifying lows but also for many Lionesses, incredible highs), 2021 for the entire world from a health perspective has to be better!
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