Lalita Purbhoo-Junggee, a sustainability focused social entrepreneur making an impact

August 7, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Eco Hustle, a business focused on innovation, sustainability and recycling in Mauritius

Lalita Purbhoo-Junggee is a social entrepreneur and award-winning business leader, and the founder and director of Eco Hustle in Mauritius, a business focused on innovation, sustainability and recycling. Lalita studied business entrepreneurship at UNISA and the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and, she is currently pursuing her MBA. She’s a member at the Obama Foundation, serving as country coordinator and she also chairs on the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) regional committee as Sustainable Coordinator. Lalita is a multi-award winner in the entrepreneurship field on the African continent and her accolades include: Seedstar winner for “Recycle Moi Africa” project, May 2022; listed among the 100 Most Influential Young Africans by the African Union Youth Program 2019; Winner of Africa most innovative idea - VivaTech 2019, Paris; National winner & Coup de Coeur Feminin; Total Startupper 2018/19; Women In Africa laureate for Innovative Start up 2018; National & Regional Winner for the 2018 Pan African Awards, SME Sector. On a personal level, she is a mother of three - two girls Elya 1 and Rya 9 and, a boy, Anshwyn, 13. Lalita is also wife to creative entrepreneur and young political activist, Nazeem Junggee.

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka, a champion for girls’ education in the Democratic Republic of Congo

September 12, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Malaika, a high impact social enterprise educating and empowering girls in their communities in DRC

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka is a Congolese/Cypriot philanthropist, an international model, and the Founder & CEO of Malaika. Founded in 2007, Malaika is a grassroots non-profit that educates and empowers girls and their communities in her home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo through a school, a community centre, and a comprehensive clean water program. A unique and fearless spokesperson and the face of leading beauty and fashion campaigns across the globe, Noëlla is a voice for the power of girls’ education worldwide. Noëlla has shared her insight at a number of world-class forums spanning the World Economic Forum in Davos to the university halls of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, and MIT. She is an Ambassador for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an Advisor at Concordia, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Segal Family Foundation.

Claudia Castellanos, an impact driven entrepreneur creating change through chillies

May 2, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Black Mamba, an award-winning, Eswatini-based, specialty food brand making a sustainable impact.

Black Mamba is an ethical business from Eswatini in Southern Africa, co-founded by Claudia Castellanos and her husband Joe, that manufactures specialty foods that are good-for-you, good-for-the-planet, and good for the rural communities they work with. The range includes chilli sauces, pestos, chutneys and jams, all made with organically grown ingredients and “no added nonsense”. Through a partnership with the local NGO Guba, Black Mamba trains small holders in permaculture and regenerative farming and buy their fresh produce to make our products. To date, 60 farmers are part of the value chain, and the direct positive impact reaches over 1000 individuals in Eswatini. Black Mamba has won several Great Taste Awards in the UK for its chilli sauces, and currently exports its range to countries such as South Africa, the US, the UK, Germany, Norway and Taiwan.

Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletters for Africa's women entrepreneurs.