the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
by Phindile Ndlovu-Tapula
I started the Working Moms’ Club after I had my first baby. It was 11 months after I gave birth. I was doing it, I was a Mom to this incredible human, and I had a tribe of women to thank for my sanity. I had support and advice from loving women who wanted me to thrive. Motherhood felt like second nature and as much I was born to do this, without my tribe, it sure was going to be tougher.
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Impact Partner Content / Absa
Sluggish growth on the traditional brick n mortar restaurant market is demanding alternative ways of doing business.
The COVID-19 pandemic ushered changes that also fast-forwarded trends on our shores. One trend that is presenting opportunities in the prepared food business is the ‘dark kitchen’ model. Dark kitchen essentially refers to a food eatery that sells meals exclusively through delivery channels for remote consumption, there is no physical dine-in experience.
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Carly A Riordan
Book Review
Author and social media influencer, Carly A Riordan, who has just launched her new book, ‘Business Minded: A Guide to Setting Up Your Mind, Body and Business for Success’ believes that it’s possible to turn your creative passion into a successful company. With clarity and approachability, Carly’s book is a complete guide that will teach you how to monetize your creativity with a sustainable operation, helping you to become a happy, healthy, successful, business-minded boss.
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Refilwe Sebothoma
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
PBM Group, a South African high-growth business helping companies to create safe employee work environments
Refilwe Sebothoma, founder of specialist PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) business, PBM Group, in South Africa, a company started in 2014 and today with 2500 employees. As the builder of a growing market-leading business, she continues to grow as a visionary entrepreneur with proven business savvy and qualities. Through such business acumen, she founded her business in an industry monopolized by large, well established business and manufacturing industries, and established it as high-growth start-up that is highly recognized as a valuable business partner. In the past two years, as part of her growth strategy, she has been acquiring business shares in huge businesses which own her value chain.
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Chaimaa Elghani, founder, GO4Work (Morocco)
Startup Story
The concept of co-working for entrepreneurs is not a new one globally, but in Morocco, Chaimaa Elghani, founder of GO4Work, there was a gap. Today, she is creating an inspirational co-working space for people to develop their entrepreneurial spirit and to network with like-minded people who are all on their own business building journeys.
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Joan Mugenzi, founder, Imagine Me Africa (Uganda)
Startup Story
Joan Mugenzi is the founder of Imagine Me Africa, based in Uganda. She is an International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach with 385 hours of coach training and over 750 hours of coaching, with a focus on employment transition. Whether a person is getting into a new job, moving into the next opportunity within the organization, grappling with management and leadership transition role, or planning on exiting, Joan enjoys facilitating the conversations. Joan has trained in coaching up to the highest level of coaching (Mastery), and wholly believes in the need for people to experience professional coaching. She is the founding and current president of the International Coaching Federation Uganda Chapter. Her focus is building Africa's coaching hub of choice.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
…and so said Mark Carney the ex Bank of England Governor, now the UN’s special envoy on climate action and finance (here), and indeed he is right. To save the world; to ensure people continue to have homes, jobs and a future; to allow for a world where crops are not constantly facing drought one day and then hit by flood the next; to ensure that forests continue to provide habitats and local (and global) climate ecosystems - this all requires long, hard work from us all. Just to put it into further context, successive years of extreme weather events have plunged Madagascar into what WFP officials say is the world’s first climate-induced famine. Five years of consecutive drought compounded by sandstorms, as well as cyclones, an invasion of locusts and growing insecurity have created what World Food Program officials call the perfect storm. There is no magical green switch.
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by Naike Moshi
Having the right people on your board is absolutely fundamental to ensuring the organization is run effectively and efficiently. As with any recruitment exercise, it is important to consider what role the board members will have, and the skills, knowledge, and experience they need.
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by Marjon Meyer
People who are good at relationships are already happy with their lives and don’t expect others to make them happy. People who are good at relationships are living happy, fulfilled lives before they even enter into a relationship. They bring their happiness into the relationship, instead of extracting happiness from the relationship.
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by Ashika Pillay
What happens when you hear the word boundary? Most people feel a sense of contraction. A feeling of resistance. We feel that a boundary means “no”. Because we wish to be liked, and to please others, setting boundaries can feel like we are pushing others away, and that we are being selfish.
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by Thembe Khumalo
What comes to mind when you think about investing in yourself? Is it items that require serious expenditure, like an additional tertiary qualification, a new computer or a trip to an out-of-town conference? Or do you think about simpler things like a scented hand cream, a series of therapy sessions or a short online course? Whichever category your idea of investment is in, investing in ourself means you are foregoing other things to create value for yourself - and usually in a way that will enable you to learn, grow and improve your output.
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Rebecca Tshuma, founder, Becks Foods (South Africa)
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Becks Foods, building a reputation for supplying fresh, healthy produce direct from the farm.
Ensuring food security and continuity of the agri value chain is important in South Africa and globally, and for agripreneur Rebecca Tshuma, founder of high-growth business, Becks Foods, that is her inspiration. She is building a reputation for supplying some of the freshest, healthiest produce direct from the farm. From major food retailers to the hospitality industry, commercial customers look for reliable, high quality, fresh produce suppliers to meet their needs, and Becks Foods is growing to be there for them.
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Carolyn Byron Lowe
Book Review
Digital marketing expert and author of the new book Business Growth Do's and Absolute Don'ts, Carolyn Byron Lowe, says it’s the question emerging entrepreneurs and burgeoning business leaders ask themselves every day: Am I doing this right? Markets fluctuate and trends come and go, but some principles of the business world are here to stay. Founders and leaders need to know—and cannot ignore—the vital differences between success and failure.
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In Focus / Mozambique
Like countries across the African continent, Mozambique is emerging from the impact of many challenges over the past two years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn. But those challenges have spurred on women entrepreneurs in the country who want to create businesses that can help them to better weather the social and economic storms going forward. What each of these women entrepreneurs share in common is a passion for the businesses they are creating, ambition for the brands they are launching, and a desire to create opportunities and jobs for local people. These true Lionesses of Africa are not just showcasing their own unique products and services to the world, getting consumers interested in buying what they have to offer, but they are also putting Mozambique on the map and stimulating interest from across the continent.
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by Paula Quinsee
Talent Management has been a focus for quite some time now, but what we’re really implying is that a candidate needs to have the knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job perfectly from day one. (i.e. a self-starter that can hit the ground running). Instead, what we really need to be looking for is not only does a person already know how to do something, but can they also learn it? How flexible and adaptable are they to learning new things whether that be skills, systems or ways of working?
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Adele Dejak
Lioness Launch
Adele Dejak, the brand, is an authentic jewellery and fashion accessories brand that offers a direct access to the true premium African experience. Founder Adele Dejak has built a powerful brand over the years, globally renowned for creating a wide variety of lovingly designed and handcrafted pieces including bracelets, earrings, necklaces and handbags. Every piece tells a story and is inspired by African textiles, cultures and traditions, with everything being produced directly in the Adele Dejak studio in Kenya or through collaboration with an established network of partners. On 5 November 2021, Adele launches the inspirational new Malaika Collection, a new capsule collection of jewellery and accessories for the modern warrior man and woman.
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Catherine Nakayemba, co-founder, Safe Girl (Uganda)
Startup Story
Catherine Nakayemba is the co-founder and administrator of Safe Girl in Uganda, a business on a mission to lower the cost of menstruation by making safe and eco-friendly reusable menstrual kits. Each kits consists of two reusable sanitary pads, a knicker, storage bag and a piece of soap. This lasts for 12 months hence enabling a rural woman or girl to save from buying monthly pads. Since launching the business, it has produced over 1000 reusable menstrual kits and distributed them all around Uganda. The business employs 20 women working in both production and marketing of the pads.
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Impact Partner Content / Absa / by Vishay Rabbipal, Head: Renewable Energy, Retail and Business Banking
All-encompassing solutions for the green transition implies two intertwined policy objectives – inclusive growth and green growth. Put in a different way, it begs the question: How can we achieve environmental objectives and at the same time deliver inclusive and widely shared economic growth?
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
In a recent interview, climate-change activist Greta Thunberg when asked how optimistic she was that the COP26 conference could achieve anything, responded "Nothing has changed from previous years really. The leaders will say, 'we'll do this and we'll do this, and we will put our forces together and achieve this', and then they will do nothing. Maybe some symbolic things and creative accounting and things that don't really have a big impact. We can have as many COPs as we want, but nothing real will come out of it.” (See here her interview), but should we be so negative about the work that our politicians are about to do in a wet and windy Glasgow in the UK?
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Robyn Keet, founder, Inner Voice Creative (South Africa)
Startup Story
Inner Voice Creative, founded by Robyn Keet in South Africa, is a socially conscious photographic exhibition management service and photography mentorship business. Robyn is using this business platform to create a range of specialist photographic services and training products that allows the business to give back to the global creative community.
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