the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
by Phindile Ndlovu-Tapula
Motherhood is not a full-time job, and it is not a job, period. I often hear and read people calling Motherhood a job and I get really offended. I get offended because I wish it were, but it is not, okay? It is not!
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by Catia Mondlane
Business visionaries are inventive, imaginative and risk-taking by definition, so building up a business in or following a pandemic doesn't scare them away. The pandemic showed numerous such visionaries that keep up with their actual wellbeing and develop new business frameworks. In 2020, buyers looked to discover innovative solutions online to forget their challenges, and virtual exercise classes and online courses entered the market with a flourish.
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by Clementina Busayo
I’m that girl figuring out life as she grows, asking questions to help her find her way, taking little steps daily, making mistakes but never giving up. I started an ushering agency as a full-time customer service consultant in a bank. I realized only a few people pursue their ideas - either it is to start a business, an impact project, or pursue a purpose.
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Sujata Jaffer
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Nexia SJ Tanzania, a leading Audit, Accountancy, Tax and Assurance consulting business
The award-winning Sujata Jaffer is highly respected by industry peers and colleagues for her intelligence, strength, passion, philanthropy, work ethics and leadership qualities. Founder and Managing Partner of Nexia SJ Tanzania, Sujata brings more than 20 years’ experience in Accounting, Audit and Tax consulting.
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Sonya Barlow
Book Review
Sonya Barlow, award-winning entrepreneur and author of Unprepared to Entrepreneur: A Method to the Madness of Starting Your Own Business, believes times have changed. Today you can launch a successful enterprise with your phone, sell through social media and tap into a whole world of opportunities. In her new book, Sonja takes a look at the resilience needed to make it in business, the incredible tax on mental health and the non-negotiable steps to creating a viable business. This is the ultimate guide to side hustling, freelancing and entrepreneurial freedom of the future.
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Startup Story
Kunjina Tesfaye is the founder and creative director of Kunjina, a fashion brand established in 2017 in Ethiopia while she was a university student studying construction technology and management. The brand mainly caters to women and also makes some unisex items. Kunjina’s main sales outlet is the physical store located in Addis Ababa, and the business is also on its way to launching an e-commerce site soon. Kunjina currently has five employees working for the brand.
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Fatma Fernandes
Lioness Launch
Quincewood Group Limited is a technology company founded by entrepreneur Fatma Fernandes in Tanzania. The business is focused on the agricultural sector, developing innovations that aim to improve the livelihoods of farmers and even the playing field across the journey from farmer to table. The products developed are done with sustainability in mind. It’s latest innovation, eHakiki, is positively impacting thousands of lives in Tanzania's largest economic sector, agriculture. Its main aim is to ensure that smallholder farmer's incomes are protected.
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Naïma Korchi
Startup Story
Naïma Korchi is the founder of Africa Women’s Forum in Morocco. She is a Moroccan and French citizen and graduated in Paris (Assas and Sorbonne) in international law, international affairs and African legal and political affairs. She started her career with the United Nations deployed in several countries in Africa. She is also an expert on women peace and security with the African Union. After the UN she worked for international firms with businesses in Africa as a strategic manager. Her network and experience motivated her to create her first business to help organisations to develop their activities on the continent.
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By Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
During the last three weeks we have written about our frightening and ever changing world. One in which life will never be the same again (it seems) and one in which changes happen not only with increasing size, but with an ever increasing speed. How this will impact in the long-term for some of our businesses remains to be seen, although for many of us, we have already felt at first-hand the immediate results.
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by Helena Naitsuwe Amadhila
Entrepreneurs are creative and innovative individuals with unique eyes to see opportunities and create wealth. In order to persist and succeed, it is imperative for entrepreneurs to be risk-takers.
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by Nontobeko Mbuyane
How many times have you agonized in guilt over a "bad" decision? Or lay awake at night stressing about how you treated someone, or words you said, or food you ate? Clearly lots of times, as the rest of mankind anyways. This week one of my memories on Facebook popped up and I found this post I had written years ago.
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by Thuli Zikalala
Finding your Purpose - it starts here with finding your why. It was around 2014 when I decided I wanted to interpret full-time. I had several career options to choose from: either build on my psychology foundation; explore the education sector; or stick with interpreting and develop my skills.
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by Eldari Visser
Many a business woman struggles with self-talk that can be very negative! This is only going to make you give up on your dreams to early. The exact same happens with our finances and our investments. We see a bunch of figures and notifications of investment growth or no growth and nothing looks good. Even worse, your neighbour and her business is flourishing. All around you it seems chaotic! People all trying to get to the top, struggles to be first and now to conquer our new world first!
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Julie Keyes
Book Review
For all those women entrepreneurs who have built a business and a brand, but for whatever reason now need to plan their successful exit, help is at hand thanks to the great new book Poised for Exit: A Woman Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Transition by Julie Keyes.
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Johanna Makgalemele
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Travel with Flair, a leading South African personalized travel management service
Johanna Makgalemele is an accountant and B Comm graduate from Rhodes University. She is the co-founder of Travel with Flair, a company she started in 1996 with her two partners. TWF employs over 780 people (before Covid) with offices throughout South Africa and won Most Empowered Business of the Year. She is the first person from the African continent to sit on the Global Tourism Board (ACTE) – Association of Corporate Travel Executives where she represented the Middle East and Africa. Johanna has been blessed with many business accolades from “Most Influential Woman in Business and Government in Tourism” to EY Emerging World Entrepreneur of the Year. BWA recently awarded her “Business Woman of the Year” award, and she was also awarded by SA Style awards “Most Stylish Business Personality” of the year. She has been elected to sit on the ASATA Board as Vice-President for 3 years consecutively. Philanthropy is very important to Johanna and she chairs the board of the Salvation Army and assist with fundraising for their abundant children’s homes.
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Lioness Launch
Kids Dialogue started off as an experiential telemedicine platform in South Africa to empower parents and children from a mental health perspective. However, co-founder sisters, Candice Lambert and Kim Bergh, saw needs that existed hinging on mental health, such as behavioural optometry, occupational therapy and research. Their ground-breaking business mental wellbeing offering is unlike any others that have featured in their market. They have seen the linear models that are implemented and that don't create long-lasting sustainable results. Additionally, families are at home predominantly due to Covid and so there is a big need to create boundaries but empower and grow into a powerful CONNECTED network or family. Kids Dialogue has products and services that transcend the normal way of looking at wellbeing. For Candice and Kim, it not just about sitting in therapy, it’s about actively working at and grappling with what the future requires of us and our kids.
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Startup Story
Fatou Sarr is an entrepreneur and the founder and ceo of Takhar Aloè Véra which is a company producing and processing aloe vera into cosmetic products and natural food supplements. She is also the ceo of its market gardening business which focuses on agricultural production. Fatou was born in the region of Fatick in Senegal and her entrepreneurial journey started after she completed her scientific studies in high school, where she took professional training in computer networking. Today she is also a computer network technician.
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Hortense Mbea, founder, Afropian (Cameroon)
Startup Story
Hortense Mbea is a professional interpreter as well as a creative entrepreneur from Cameroon and the founder of lifestyle brand Afropian which was launched in 2017 in in Addis Ababa. A true nomad and multicultural woman, she was born in the USA and lived in many countries, while always staying very connected to Africa. The Afropian brand is Pan African and it gave Hortense the opportunity to bring together her passion for art and creativity and her mission to promote African excellence and unity. She gained international recognition with coverage from Vogue Italy, was invited to take part in prestigious events such as Addis Ababa Fashion Week and many shows and panels. Her vision is for the world to «Wear Africa Proudly », which is the motto of her brand. She fulfills her mission by providing quality, unique pieces which tell many stories of African tradition and are 100% Made in Africa.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
Having screamed ourselves hoarse supporting the incredible Nigerian women's basketball team captained by the amazing @_thenigerianqueen Ezinne Kalu as they lost (only just) to USA in their opening game of the Tokyo Olympics, we remembered that sports has an incredible ability to allow us to transcend our normal, stress-ridden, coffee-induced sleepless nights (oh the joys of being an entrepreneur!). We imagine for a moment that we too could be on the court with Ezinne, obviously ignoring for a moment the 10,000 painful hours of training, gym circuits and mental drive (oh and the hours that our parents would have had to put aside driving us to games and training - as Melanie knows only too well!), that it takes to reach the top of sports or higher still - to have those immortal letters ‘OLY’ after your name…
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Impact Partner Content - Absa
As the Franchise Association of South Africa (FASA) prepares to host the first virtual conference since before the pandemic on the 25th and 26th August, aimed at reviewing, resetting and reviving the franchise sector, the narrative of the success of franchising in South Africa is one that inspires the possibilities of this business system gaining momentum not just in South Africa, but also in the rest of Africa. South Africa stands out as the only country in Africa that embraced the franchising model way back in the 1960s and built it into the formidable business sector that has created 800 business brands operating through over 48 000 outlets and employing around half a million people.
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