the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
Kim Hayden
Book Review
Resilience is a key requirement in the life of any woman entrepreneur, and Kim Hayden, author and editor of the new book, Resilient Women in Life and Business, has some great insights to share on the subject. The book features insights and stories from 18 highly successful business women from around the world who share their current best thinking about life and business; and the importance of cultivating resilience.
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Ayanda Majola, founder, Yanda Cosmetics (South Africa)
Startup Story
Ayanda Majola is the founder of Yanda Cosmetics which is a local South African beauty brand that specializes in scientific skincare made specifically for sensitive skin. As well as being a beauty entrepreneur, she is also a medical science student. Her business is committed to bringing non-toxic, simple, effective and affordable skincare products made with clinically proven active ingredients that were carefully selected from her background knowledge in both Medicine and Science. Despite her young age and being a full-time health science student, Ayanda has been able to grow her brand in a short space of time. Her products are now available on Zando and Takealot which are the leading online platforms in the country and she has recently signed a deal with an international shopping platform that will stock and sell her products in the United Kingdom.
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Lombuso Mthethwa, founder, Moms Club Eswatini
Startup Story
Lombuso Mthethwa, founder of Moms Club Eswatini, has built a social enterprise and specialist support group helping Eswatini’s pregnant women and new moms through their healthy new parenting journeys. It provides antenatal classes, pregnancy yoga and Lamaze classes, together with a specialist online shop that provides everything moms need in those early weeks and months.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
This is the second of a three-part look at the fund management industry as it pertains to our inspirational 1.7 million members of Lionesses. We left last weekend with the shocking discovery that male attractiveness made a large difference in choice for both male and also female investors.(here). This week we look at one of the hot topics, that of the lack of female ‘cheque writers’ (i.e. actual investment decision makers) within the VC/PE industry and suggest a way to solve this.
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by Anja van Beek, Talent Strategist, Leadership & HR Expert and Executive Coach
The one constant thing we can be certain of is change. The world we were used to was flipped upside down. Here’s what you need to know about the human side of change to support your team. We all can relate to the term RUPT (rapid, unpredictable, paradoxical, tangled) coined by the Centre for Creative Leadership. Almost everything that has been ‘normal’ for us, changed. The uncertainty has reached new heights – as we are not sure what the future will look like - we only know it will be quite different from what we were used to. How can leaders support their teams? Follow these 10 practices and you are halfway there.
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by Paula Quinsee
There are times when we need have to have a serious conversation with someone, whether it is our partner, a friend or a work colleague. It’s one of those conversations where we need to be open and honest, not only with ourselves but also with the person in front of us. It could be about an incident, something they have said or done (or not done), non-performance or non-delivery. Many of us are uncomfortable when it comes to situations like this. I like to call these discussions courageous conversations.
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by Ashika Pillay
As women entrepreneurs and business owners, we are busy. Our minds are busy with tasks that range from ensuring home admin, that the grocery list is taken care of, the invoices that need to be sent, scheduling clients and meetings while also taking care of our minds and bodies. We are busy. With this level of complexity, it is easy to become caught up in endless cycles of doing - and the doing mind. A mind that is racing faster than our bodies or those around us can keep up with.
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by Eldari Visser
Which hill is the new successful opportunity for growing a business, or beginning a business? Can you tell? Last year for our holiday we had the opportunity to go to a very different area in wonderful, beautiful South Africa. We went more towards the steep mountains of an area that we call the Free State province - a different environment for a holiday. Usually lots of activities needed. Do yourself a favour and Google #Goldengatenationalpark, #clarens #Drakensbergmountainrange #Harrismith and #sterkfonteindam. You will quickly see the different green hills, steady rolling hills, massive rock faces, massive amount of waterfalls and water catchment area. The mountains are majestic and fierce, gorgeous yet frightening. Most impressive was the greens on all the hills. They looked idyllic and part of a greater story. I immediately saw a theme for our lionesses emerging from this beautiful scenery that surrounded me.
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Nomhle Maggie Mliswa
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Summerhill Farm, a high-impact, smart agribusiness employing 350 people and contributing to SDGs in Zimbabwe
Nomhle Maggie Mliswa, is the founder of Summerhill Farm in Zimbabwe, a business launched in 2007 and which today employs 350 people. She is a mother, a successful serial entrepreneur, and also runs a transport fleet and a Tillage service company that tills land for farmers. She is the only woman in the sector. The farm is a diversified entity driven by SDGs and involved in Smart Agriculture, contributing to employment creation, food security, transfer of skills, tourism, and commercial business. Norma (as she us known by friends) has received several social, business and agriculture accolades. As a coach leader, speaker, game changer and mentor, Norma interrogates issues of development, challenging societies, and institutions from their comfort zones. In August 2022, she was the guest speaker at a Baptist Woman Conference in Liberia sharing her farming experiences as a single parent and successful farmer.
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Alexandra N Nolan
Book Review
Alexandra N Nolan, entrepreneur and author of The Unconventional Entrepreneur: Launch a Successful Business & Live the Work-Life Dream, welcomes you to the spontaneous world of the Unconventional Entrepreneur! Alexandra was in her mid-20s - making a great salary - traveling all over the US. She really couldn't have had a better job, from what it looked like on the outside, but deep down she just knew that there was something more she was meant to do. Her book is the story of the journey to becoming an Unconventional Entrepreneur.
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Lioness Business Agility Event Report
The first in the annual series of popular Lioness Business Agility Webinars for 2023 took place on Wednesday 15 February. Hosted in partnership once again with Absa, the theme of “New Year, New Growth” was firmly at the forefront of women entrepreneurs’ minds. With 100 attendees to kickstart the conversation, together with a speaker panel of highly experienced women entrepreneurs from the Lionesses of Africa community in South Africa, the discussion focused on how to achieve real and lasting growth this year. Specialist insights also came from Ronnie Mbatsane, managing executive, SME Business at Absa, who shared how the bank is supporting the growth of women entrepreneur-led SMEs in order to further stimulate economic growth and job creation.
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Nneile Nkholise
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Thola Inc, building a B2B agricultural produce procurement marketplace for Africa
Nneile Nkholise is the founder of Thola Inc, a business founded in 2021 and building the middle ground for mass continental farmer global trade access through a B2B agricultural produce procurement marketplace; that enables global companies to purchase forensic tested and verified climate sustainable goods from African farmers. She was born in Lesotho and grew up in South Africa and she studied towards a Masters Mechanical Engineering at Central University of Technology and Bachelor of Science majoring in Physics & Computer Science at University of Witwatersrand, all in South Africa. She is a product engineer with a specific focus in design engineering and has eight years’ experience in the construction and biomedical sectors, having developed biomedical products ranging from prosthesis to bio-implants. She was the co-founder of iMed Tech, a biotech company specializing in custom-made medical solutions using CAD and CAM techniques. In 2018, she co-founded 3DIMO, a venture backed company that automates livestock data analytics to monitor livestock health.
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Tessa O’ Halloran, founder, plasticity (South Africa)
Lioness Launch
Discarded plastic waste is a problem for the planet and for humankind as a whole, and the need to find sustainable solutions to transforming that waste into useful products has never been greater. In South Africa, ecopreneur Tessa O’ Halloran, founder of plasticity. is playing her part in finding those solutions. She is launching a great new Work Tote as part of her business range of upcycled products.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
This is a three-part look at the fund management industry as it pertains to our inspirational 1.7 million members of Lionesses of Africa. We start by looking at the current state of play. Then we will look at what everyone says is the obvious solution (such as more women in decision-making positions within the fund management industry) and then finally offer some of our suggestions as to what the solution might look like, or at the very least, what tools we need to move the dial forward. As usual, these are not academic articles, as we inject a more chatty approach to life. However, where necessary, we do direct to the source (many are academic and so peer reviewed) for your interest. We do not suggest that for one minute we have all the answers. However, if our views bring about #lesstalkmoreaction (our evening prayer), and actually start to close the funding gap, or increase the investment into the ‘missing middle’, we shall sleep a little easier. We would welcome your feedback, suggestions and even offers of assistance, because the current situation has been allowed to fester for too long, constricting too many inspirational businesses. Enjoy!
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Lungile Mbhamali, founder, (ban-twa-na) Craft (Eswatini)
Startup Story
(ban-twa-na) Craft, founded by entrepreneur Lungile Mbhamali in Eswatini, began 2017, a small, handcrafted business which collects and recycles plastic packaging waste from supporters and friends of (ban-twa-na) and also collecting in areas where waste pollution is to be found. After collecting the waste, (ban-twa-na) constructs various craft items such as bags, coin purses, key holders, laptop bags, make up pouches and also backpacks, mainly using recycled chocolate wrappers, chip packets and maize meal bags. Founder Lungile has been recognised for her entrepreneurial recycling efforts and featured in Forbes Magazine in October 2018, and also CNN. She has had the chance to train differently-abled women and men on toy and doll making, under the organization Palms for Life, has undertaken and delivered a few corporate orders, and also exported goods to South Africa and England.
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Bontle Tshole, founder, Baaa Health & Luminary Thrivist (South Africa)
Startup Story
Bontle Tshole is a healthy eating and responsible food advocate, and the founder of Baaa Health & Luminary Thrivist in South Africa. She started her entrepreneurial journey early on in her life through the time she invested in assisting her mother in the family business at age nine. Over time she grew to love business and the endless opportunities it offered to her. It was during her tertiary studies that she began what was then called Baaa Smoothie Bar, now Baaa Health, in 2017 and has grown its reach and capacity since then. Baaa is a health bar that is changing the narrative of access to healthy eating by promoting responsible food choices through the provision of healthy quality food, addressing UN Sustainability Development Goal 3.
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by Kathryn Main
The shift to a work-from-home culture due to the pandemic has brought up new questions about taxes, expenses, and deductions. In this article, we'll explore how the new work environment affects your tax return and what you need to know to stay on top of your taxes.
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by Kathy Mann
I burnt out in a spectacular fashion a few years ago. It broke my life dramatically and the experience took me by surprise. It acted as a catalyst to evaluate why I got so sick and what was wrong with my life. Of course, burnout is usually multifaceted and doesn’t have one simple source. I believe that one of the contributing factors was that my work was not aligned to my strengths.
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by Carla Wasserfall
We are all given and sometimes create a set of circumstances which is defined as “a fact or event that makes a situation the way it is” according to the online Cambridge dictionary. Often, we let the circumstances determine the outcome and results, this is due to our own limitations and giving up too soon. However, thanks to pioneers and inspirational leaders that have led the way to defy the circumstances, we now know there is always a new or different path.
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by Sonya Skipp
Artificial Intelligence tools are advancing, and they’re advancing fast. Across all industries and positions, AI tools are muscling in and managing to successfully do pieces of our jobs. But how does that translate to human resources? Can artificial intelligence tools take over the human factor we are so reliant on? Should HR professionals be concerned? We don’t think so.
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