Diana Mbabaali Miiro, a pioneering landscaping entrepreneur creating green spaces in Uganda

October 2, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Diana Mbabaali Miiro, managing director, KeyScapes Limited (Uganda)

Diana Mbabaali Miiro is the managing director of KeyScapes Limited, a pioneering company in Uganda specializing in landscaping, potted plants artistries and gardening supplies. She is an ardent gardener with a mission to encourage Ugandans to live a healthy natural lifestyle, growing their own food organically in the small spaces of their backyards as CSR (Community Social Responsibility) under the Backyard Gardeners Uganda, a forum she founded on social media platforms. Diana previously worked in the Information Technology & Change department with Barclays Bank, now ABSA Bank, as Head, Service Management before joining the world of entrepreneurship when she discovered that she could make a living from her passion. She is a Vital Voices Fellow, Vital Voices Leadership Journey, a female future program graduate and an Academy for Women Entrepreneurs Mentor.

Irina Mayra Cremildo, a Mozambican entrepreneur making travel management easy for her clients

September 11, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Irina Mayra Cremildo, founder, Kusafiri Afrika LDA (Mozambique)

Making travel and tourism arrangements can often be stressful, particularly for companies and people with complex needs, but Irina Mayra Cremildo, founder of Kusafiri Afrika LDA in Mozambique, has the specialist services to make travel less of a chore and a real pleasure.

Roomila Roothoorodoo, an award-winning Mauritius-based creative audio-visual entrepreneur

September 4, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Focus Events Ltd, a specialist photography, audio-visual and event management services business in Mauritius

Roomila Roothoorodoo is the founder and director of Focus Events Ltd in Mauritius, a business providing specialist audio-visual and event management services. The company is also a Training Centre providing photography and videography courses at Floreal. Roomila is an active member of the associations, AMFCE, Association Mauricienne des Femmes Chefs d' Entreprises and YES, Youth Engagement in Society. She is currently in her final year for a bachelor degree in Business Administration and completing her Gold Award for the Duke of Edinburgh International Award.

Ana Belmonte, a Mozambican entrepreneur turning a passion for gardening into a business

September 4, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Creating a unique service offering is always a great starting point for a successful business, and Ana Belmonte is certainly doing that with Malachi Garden Service Lda. She brings her considerable expertise and passion for gardening to every job she undertakes for her clients, and her reputation for great service is growing as a result.

Mendy Lerato Lusaba, a Zimbabwean entrepreneur creating opportunities for domestic workers

August 27, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Mendy Lerato Lusaba is a social entrepreneur and a decent work advocate with special interest in the domestic work sector. She is the founder of Chris and Geo Placements a domestic placement agency based in Zimbabwe. Chris and Geo recruits and places marginalised and economically disadvantaged persons as domestic workers. To date, she has placed over 2000 workers whilst impacting over 4000 families. Mendy also runs a team of 19 contract domestic workers. She is also the founder of the Domestic Workers Association of Zimbabwe a network of Zimbabwean domestic workers working in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and United Arab Emirates. DWAZ runs the first domestic worker training centre in Zimbabwe offering trainings in housekeeping, cooking and baking, gardening and care work. They also have a domestic worker netball team for the mental health of domestic workers.

Marina Prinsloo, a South African entrepreneur training clients to build their authentic brand essence

August 7, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Marina Prinsloo, founder, TICIA Group (South Africa)

For anyone wanting to get ahead in life and in business, having a confident, authentic personal brand is essential, as it encourages better relationship building and creates more opportunities. Marina Prinsloo, founder of the TICIA Group in South Africa, is helping clients to become better versions of themselves through confident and authentic communication, engagement and personal positioning skills.

Sónia Lumeka, an Angolan entrepreneur telling stories through photography

July 10, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Sónia Lumeka, founder, Kaylina Photos (Angola)

Sónia Lumeka is the founder of Kaylina Photos in Angola. She is an artist, architect, writer and photographer. An introvert person who enjoys good reflection and quiet places, she was born and raised in the country and is married and the mother of three children as well as being an entrepreneur.

Mbalenhle Ndaba, a South African entrepreneur creating cleaning solutions for clients

July 10, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Mbalenhle Ndaba, founder, HomeMinder4U (South Africa)

For those who need specialist cleaning services in their homes and offices, help is at hand from entrepreneur Mbalenhle Ndaba, founder of HomeMinder4U in South Africa. Improving lives through cleaning is her passion and prompted her to launch her business offering a wide range of cleaning services in 2019 in Johannesburg.

Sasha Knott, a South African techpreneur building an innovative recruitment solution connecting companies to talent

June 26, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Sasha Knott, CEO, Job Crystal (South Africa)

Sasha Knott, the CEO of Job Crystal in South Africa, started her career in IT and moved quickly in her career finding her passion for entrepreneurship and combining this with technology that works for the customer and often disrupts industries. Sasha’s current plan is to make job seekers lives easier while helping SMEs find talent fast and effortlessly! With Job Crystal’s new system called Crystal which combines RecTech, AI, machine learning and UX functionality that makes it easy to find the needle in the haystack for SMEs looking for talent. The vision is to make a dent in unemployment.

Dr Hajira Mashego, a South African business founder making fitness and exercise more accessible

April 17, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Dr Hajira Mashego, founder, Fitness Junction (South Africa)

Dr Hajira Mashego is the founder of Fitness Junction in South Africa. She is a qualified sport physiotherapist who studied further to complete a Master’s Degree in Public Health (with a focus on fitness) and a PHD in Human Movement Science (also focusing on fitness). She has vast experience in sport physiotherapy, exercise science and sport management and has served a combined 26 years in the health, wellness and sports sectors. Hajira resigned from a senior management government position, took her pension contributions and established Fitness Junction, a gym company in February 2018. The company has been bootstrapped and has grown organically, now employing 14 people. Fitness Junction is a provider of commercial, corporate and home gyms.

Abira Mahumane, a Mozambican entrepreneur with a niche business focused on invitations and gifting

April 17, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Abira Isabel Mahumane, founder, Bibi Invites e Flores (Mozambique)

Abira Isabel Mahumane, graduated in Financial and Insurance Management and is an entrepreneur and founder of the brand Bibi Invites e Flores in Mozambique. She started her business in 2019, a company specializing in invitations and gifts for various occasions, which operates in e-commerce. She has always been passionate about art and decided to turn this art into work. She now has three employees who carry out various tasks with great passion for its growth.

Heleen Henriques, a design focused furniture sales business builder

April 10, 2022 Melanie Hawken

MOBI Lda, a home and office furniture solutions business for the Mozambican market

Heleen Henriques has the title of Financial Director at MOBI, and being one of the co-founders, she has a hand in most parts of the business operation. She has an architectural degree from the University of Cape Town where she met her husband, Sérgio, who is her partner in business and in life. In 2006 she left South Africa for Sérgio’s native Mozambique, learned Portuguese and slowly assimilated the new culture. With him she co-founded architectural firm Estúdio Quatro Arquitectos in 2007 and MOBI Lda. In 2011. Most recently Heleen led MOBI’s successful bid in Standard Bank’s competition “Acelere o seu Negócio” which has a cash investment and mentorship program as prize. MOBI is a job creator and employs 18 people in the business.

Aurora Matavel, an award-winning Mozambican entrepreneur building a successful eco-cleaning business

April 3, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Aurora Matavel, founder and CEO, SCS, Lda (Mozambique)

Aurora Matavel is Founder and CEO of SCS, Lda (Mozambique). She is an experienced and award-winning entrepreneur. The business of SCS, Lda is focused on providing ecological cleaning services and integrated pest control that preserve the environment. She founded the business 2 years ago and now employs 5 people, many of them women from the Local Community. She has 5 years of experience in business and as customer service with one of the main banks in the country.

Lioness Launch / South Africa’s BWGL Group (Pty) Ltd, launches its new range of 100% Natural and Environmentally Friendly Cleaning Products

November 28, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Sibongile Mthimunye, founder, BWGL Group (Pty) Ltd (South Africa)

Both businesses and households know the importance of maintaining clean, safe and healthy environments for people to work and live in. That means ensuring they are cleaned regularly with effective products that are good at cleaning and disinfecting, and also kind to the environment. In South Africa, entrepreneur Sibongile Mthimunye, founder of BWGL Group (Pty) Ltd, is launching a range of powerful yet environmentally friendly cleaning products for every type of environment.

Lorna Mashiba, an entrepreneur with a vision to become Tanzania’s leading art gallery

November 20, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Lorna Mashiba, founder, Rangi Gallery (Tanzania)

Lorna Mashiba is the founder of Rangi Gallery in Tanzania, a virtual platform that connects African artists to Intercontinental art enthusiasts. As the founder of Rangi Gallery, she aspires to grow, empower and transform local talent beyond its borders.

Refilwe Sebothoma, a visionary South African entrepreneur in PPE

November 7, 2021 Melanie Hawken

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.

Chaimaa Elghani, an entrepreneur providing co-working inspiration in Morocco

November 7, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Chaimaa Elghani, founder, GO4Work (Morocco)

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.

Joan Mugenzi, a Ugandan entrepreneur coaching people to be the best versions of themselves

November 7, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Joan Mugenzi, founder, Imagine Me Africa (Uganda)

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.

Robyn Keet, a South African socially conscious entrepreneur giving back to the creative community

October 30, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Robyn Keet, founder, Inner Voice Creative (South Africa)

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.

Ruthida Kajumba, a transformation coach helping people live their best lives

October 24, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Ruthida Kajumba Consult, a Ugandan specialist coaching consultancy helping clients redefine their success

Achieving success, overcoming overwhelm, and finding happiness and fulfillment can be difficult for many people, particularly during these challenging times. Ruthida Kajumba, founder of the specialist Ugandan coaching consultancy that carries her name, is on a mission to help people live their best lives. Ruthida is a Fulfilment After Success Expert, a Keynote Speaker, Author and ICF credentialed Professional Transformation Coach. Other certifications are Success Goals, Happiness, Fulfilment, Life Purpose and Public Speaking. She focuses on helping busy individuals to redefine their success so they can overcome overwhelm and live their best everyday life with inner peace, joy, meaning, happiness and fulfillment. Backed with nearly 20 years of relevant life and entrepreneurial business experience, she founded her consulting business in 2018. Her areas of expertise are Authentic Success, Mindset, Overcoming Overwhelm, Happiness and Fulfilment.

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