the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
Sabina Ali, founder and executive partner, SAB Consulting (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Sabina Ali is the founder and executive partner of SAB Consulting in Mozambique, a company recognized for its strategic leadership, tailored business strategies and support in the areas of organization, implementation, monitoring and coaching. She is also the co-founder of Dr. Moz, a pioneering digital platform for the health and wellness industry, recognized as the first Mozambican platform to provide telemedicine services.
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Seynabou Dieng
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
MAYA, a food processing business in Mali integrating local producers into its value chain
Seynabou Dieng is a social entrepreneur and the founder of MAYA in Mali, a food processing company founded in 2017 which uses raw materials from local agriculture and integrates small producers into its value chain. The finished products are distributed in Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Seynabou is committed to the cause of women and young people; 80% of her staff are women and and she devotes a great part of her time to coaching young entrepreneurs. Seynabou’s leadership in entrepreneurship and her social commitment have earned her several distinctions, the latest being the Cartier Women Initiative, she was 2021 laureate for Sub Saharan African.
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Rainat Komolafe, founder, Babies Essence (Nigeria)
Lioness Launch
Babies Essence is a one-stop-shop selling baby, toddler and maternity items for parents in Nigeria, founded by entrepreneur Rainat Komolafe. She believes that at Babies Essence every step matters, and so is launching an inspirational series of two new books for kids between the ages of 5 to 12 years. The first book is the A-Z of Positive Affirmations for Kids, and this is accompanied by a Positive Affirmations Workbook, both written and produced by founder Rainat.
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Book Review
If conventional business and marketing advice has not landed in your heart and soul very well, and keeps you chained to your screens (when you'd rather spend more time off line), then Quiet Marketing by Danielle Gardner is for you! Quiet Marketing is a book for highly sensitive solopreneurs who are seeking a calm, uncomplicated, minimal approach to business and online visibility.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
We woke to find it was Davos week! The gathering of the ‘Great and the Good’ of the finance world under the World Economic Forum banner who meet once a year in Switzerland to discuss, deliberate and invest, is as regular as a one of their famous Cuckoo Clocks. Sadly, at the last moment, and especially for those already in their Ski Jackets, Covid hit again and Davos was postponed until the summer and replaced by a few on-line speeches. All was not lost however, because one who is always at this event, a certain Mr. Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world's largest investment firm with many US$ billions under management, recently published his annual letter to shareholders. In this there is a call to arms for all CEOs:
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by Edna Reis
We constantly trap ourselves in the past or future and forget to live in the present. But the thing is: we have to learn to let go, we need to release the things we no longer need, things that have hurt us, things we will no longer experience. We all know this; we all have read books or came across a quote about it. Psychology has been showing us the facts on the dangers of being stuck in the past and the future.
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by Charmel Flemming
Are you an entrepreneur or small business owner who feels like there aren't enough hours in the day? Do you feel so bogged down with daily tasks that you can't get around to implementing strategic plans in your business? Do the phrases "accounting", "tax submission", "compliance", "forecast" make your skin crawl? Don't worry; this is not one of those tiresome infomercials.
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by Justina Luelo
When I came across Human Centered Design it was love at first sight. The thought that I can innovate with Humans and for Humans was a new concept for me and I wanted to explore it. The idea of exploring HCD for new innovations and improve services and products was great but, the idea of working with people who are looking to innovate getting into the entrepreneur life style was even greater, well, why not?
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by Brigette Mashile
This week I read another meme which reminded me that it has been close to 3 years of Covid reality! I mean, I know but why are we counting? Who felt the need to remind us? This year, I no longer have a fear of Covid because of the amount of things, people and realities I have lost from it. It’s a ‘whatever happens’ kind of relationship now. Covid must Covid, and I will Brigette every day. I am so nonchalant about it because of the amount of times it has tried to trap me, for example:
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Awards & Accolades
Rwanda-based eco-friendly shoe brand, UZURI K & Y, which uses recycled tires from sub-Saharan Africa and employs local young people, has been announced as the joint winner of the 2021 Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge. Kevine Kagirimpundu, co-founder and CEO of UZURI K & Y together with Ysolde Shimwe, CFO & Co-Creative designer, were awarded the prize of € 100,000. Speaking about the recognition and award win, Kevine said: “We are honored to be the winner of the Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge. This opportunity provided us with mentorship and strategic guidance, and a platform for sharing our dream of bringing sustainable shoe options from Africa to the global market. We are dedicated to creating a real impact and inspiring young people today to build a cleaner future.” The other join winner was Lalaland, a Dutch-based platform that uses artificial intelligence to generate customized and comprehensive synthetic models of different ethnic groups, which was also awarded € 100,000.
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Khadija Elbedweihy
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
PraxiLabs, an award-winning business in Egypt providing STEM education through 3D interactive virtual science lab simulations.
Khadija Elbedweihy is the founder of PraxiLabs in Egypt, an award-winning tech business founded in 2016 and which now employs 30 people. She graduated top of her class four years in a row, and went on to receive her PhD from the University of Sheffield to be the youngest lecturer in her faculty, with a PhD focused on human-computer interaction and user experience. Together with her belief in adopting technology for improving education and enabling equal opportunities, Khadija founded and is currently managing PraxiLabs with an amazing team who have the same vision as she does. This is her true passion and daily quest. PraxiLabs aims to provide equal opportunity for an enhanced STEM education for students everywhere by providing 3D interactive virtual simulations of science labs that are accessible, usable, and affordable for educational institutions and students alike. PraxiLabs not only provides an immersive virtual lab experience, but adds enriched content that provides students with more understanding and knowledge according to their own pace and learning style.
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Bih Adelaide, co-founder, African Initiative For Health and Research Promotion (AIHRP) (Cameroon)
Startup Story
For victims of conflict and low income people who cannot access affordable healthcare in Cameroon, help is now at hand, thanks to social entrepreneur Bih Adelaide, co-founder of African Initiative For Health and Research Promotion (AIHRP). Her venture is now providing pro-bono health care services to those who need it most.
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Zara Kattiems, founder, Caroline 1942 (Nigeria)
Startup Story
The story of Caroline 1942, a Nigerian fashion brand created by Zara Kattiems, is one that encompasses uniqueness and also a relatable experience. Caroline 1942 is nicknamed after Zara’s grandmother, Caroline Miner, who unfortunately passed away, but her legacy took off in the spring of 2017 with the launch of a brand created ‘For The Timeless Woman.’ Today, Caroline 1942 tells the story behind the brand and still creates that sense of oneness with the women of the world with every design produced.
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Tolu Michaels
Book Review
Successful digital entrepreneur and author, Tolu Michaels, says that almost everyone believes that success starts with showing up, but many don’t know exactly how to do that in business. In her new book, Show Up, Tolu provides some great insights and advice on how to show up and stand out from the crowd.
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Impact Partner Content / Absa / by Justin Schmidt, Head of New Sector Development at Absa Retail and Business Bank
The road to recovery has felt like a long and winding one, with a few bumps along the way, but the South African economy has recovered faster than initially forecasted, and expectations are that we may reach the average pre-COVID-19 levels of economic activity as early as next year. Recovery has varied across industries with sectors requiring lower levels of contact, such as manufacturing and mining, recovering at a faster pace than those sectors that require higher levels of contact, such as tourism and hospitality.
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By Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
“More than 19 million US workers — and counting — have quit their jobs since April 2021, a record pace disrupting businesses everywhere.” according to McKinsey (here). What is going on and what can we learn from this to ensure that the same does not happen within our businesses?
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by Safiyyah Boolay-Jappie
“We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.” — Taoist Proverb
Maybe, like me, you were socialized to believe that working harder and hustling more were the keys to success? I can't quite trace back to where this settled into my psyche as the modus operandi, but I remember hearing from my parents that the devil would find work for my idle hands. I wasn’t a fan of the devil, so I kept busy. And then there was 80s and 90s tv with the 'I'll rest when I'm dead' battle cry.
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by Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho
In order to design a robust multi-level digital marketing strategy and create a cohesive content plan, incorporating the 3 elements of earned, owned and paid media is crucial. Earned, owned and paid media efforts are important to your overall business objectives and should intersect in your content marketing strategy.
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by Teboho Seretlo
2021 is gone and here we are in the first days of 2022, with 52 weeks at our disposal. The first weeks of January, that crazy time when we are tempted to put together some new year’s resolutions that we may never look at again until 2023 comes, and we do the same exercise again.
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by Zodidi Gaseb
How important is networking to small businesses? Ask a small service business where they get most of their customers, and they are likely to indicate some form of word-of-mouth marketing.
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