the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
by Lori Milner
Saying no is challenging; most of us dread it because it questions our identity as being a good person. We fear saying no because we are afraid people won't like us or will let them down and disappoint them. We attach so much guilt and dread to this little word that we end up giving away our yes too quickly.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
Melinda French Gates writing in the FT recently and ahead of the IMF/World Bank spring meeting was quite clear (here): “There are two interlocking stories to be told right now about the forces shaping the economic outlook in the world’s poorest places. One is of billions of people on the cusp of crisis — reeling from climate change, pandemic fallout, skyrocketing food prices and crushingly heavy national debt burdens. The other is about the enormous unrealised economic potential of the women who live within these communities…”.
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Ifeoma Uddoh
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Shecluded, a female-focused fintech dedicated to creating economic prosperity for women through access to financial services.
Ifeoma Uddoh is a social entrepreneur and the founder of Shecluded, a female-focused FINTECH dedicated to creating economic prosperity for women through access to financial services. Since inception, Shecluded has been recognized internationally and was selected as one of NASDAQs milestone makers for its contribution to reducing inequality. Ifeoma is a Halcyon Fellow and her career spans over a decade in Consulting, Analytics, and Seed Funding for notable companies including PwC, and IROKO Partners Limited. Thanks to her hands-on experience with gender-lens financing, Ifeoma has featured on several entrepreneurship panels and master-classes hosted by First Bank, JohnHopkins University, Tekedia Institute, etc. She started her business in 2019, and today it employs 15 people.
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by Ronnie Mbatsane, Managing Executive, SME Business, Absa Relationship Banking
Struggling businesses will soon be able to apply for their share of the R50 million in grants to keep their businesses running. In a move aimed at supporting and growing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Absa will be providing up to R50 million in energy subsidy under its Green Asset Finance programme for qualifying SMEs.
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by Nicolene Schoeman-Louw
Many litigants often find that getting recourse at Court only partially resolves all issues between them. It usually calls for referring the matter back even after it was concluded and is typically where a contempt of court application would follow.
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by Lori Milner
When making progress on self-care goals, having a good intention is not enough. In my work as a coach and trainer, I know people genuinely have every good intention to show up on the calendar without guilt to make time for their self-care goals. They make promises to themselves, intending to honour them, but ultimately these agreements get broken. The excuses are coming from a good place — my boss needed something, I didn’t have enough time or my bed was too warm.
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by Kathryn Main
What is branding, exactly? Contrary to popular belief, branding is far more than just a logo. Your customers’ first impression of your company is formed through your brand. Therefore, your brand experience should be encapsulated and epitomised in your branding. This can be achieved through various elements such as…
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by Eldari Visser
I recently read an article with a lengthy discussion about people that are early risers and the positivity around that. Early birdies and worms. How a person can get lots more done in the early hours of the morning and that it is good for your body, soul and mind to jump up, get some sunshine at the early stage of the sunrise in the morning, feeling fresh and get so much more done. Right!
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Stacy Igel
Book Review
If you want to know how to protect your assets, from your brand, to your customers, to your cash flow, then Embracing the Calm in the Chaos: How to Find Success in Business and Life Through Perseverance, Connection, and Collaboration by Stacy Igel is a great read. This book will walk you through the highs and lows of creating a business: how to rise up from the midst of discouragement, what it’s like to hire and fire employees, collaborations with celebrities and philanthropic organizations, and the rollercoaster ride of making deals and partnerships.
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Kenechukwu Augusta Okafor
Startup Story
Kenechukwu Augusta Okafor is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Gusta-Vines Global Limited and Africa Medical Marketplace Enterprise in Nigeria. She is passionate about women's empowerment, Africa, growth, and quality, accessible and affordable healthcare at the grassroots level. Kenechukwu has strong skills in organizational management, customer service relationships, and building positive human relationships.
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Rebecca C. Sani, founder & Managing Director Resani Consulting (Malawi)
Startup Story
Rebecca C. Sani is the Founder, Managing Director, and Chief Consultant of Resani Consulting in Malawi. The name Resani incorporates her first name and her father's name as a tribute to his contribution to her professional development. She started off as an independent consultant who realized that she could not achieve the mission of Resani alone and therefore expanded her team. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing Management (USA), an MBA in Finance (USA) and a Master of Management (DISTINCTION, USA). She is passionate about building teams and helping organizations run more efficiently. She is also the Financial Director and Board Member of Good Shepherd International School.
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Tania Tome
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Ecokaya, a one-stop-shop for building an entrepreneurship and leadership eco-system in Mozambique
Tania Tome is a serial entrepreneur, international speaker, elite coach and mentor, keynote speaker, and best-selling author in Mozambique. She is in demand as a catalyst for entrepreneurship and leadership in Africa and Lusophone countries. She brings with her more than 20 years of experience having co-founded Ecokaya and working with Ecokaya Corporate for the last 5 Years focusing on training, coaching, mentoring, and lectures in many countries. She also co-founded Womenice which focuses on women’s economic and leadership empowerment, and the fintech startup company focused on emerging markets. She is a published author, board member, and strategic advisor for several non-profit and social enterprise boards.
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Lilian Okech
Book Review
Lilian Okech is the author of The Spirit of Warriors, a book about how a young woman draws from her experience as a refugee and designs a successful life. She shares how she spent the first 15 years of her life in a refugee camp in Uganda, and her journey to the United States. She also shares how she survived sickness as a child, sexual abuse, constant hunger, and forced marriage to become a successful entrepreneur. This book will excite, inspire and most importantly help you to truly cultivate the spirit of a warrior.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
Loyalty programs are all about one thing - keeping and increasing your top value customer base whilst avoiding the race to the bottom through cheaper pricing (which as we know, has no winners, although Walmart would probably beg to differ). If through skillful marketing you are also able to persuade customers that they are ‘saving up’ for the free cup of coffee or flight or… in the age of inflation and high interest rates, then that’s a serious home run!
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Regina Augusto Charumar, founder, Geração Consciente (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Regina Augusto Charumar is a social impact entrepreneur, an Environmentalist, PhD student in Sustainability, Teacher, Jurist and founder of the environmental movement Geração Consciente. Geração Consciente is a non-profit environmental volunteering movement, made up of hundreds of young volunteers, who carry out environmental activities throughout the country. With the aim of raising environmental awareness, educating and raising awareness in society, she carries out campaigns to clean and restore the mangroves, clean the beach and public spaces, plant trees in schools and communities, lectures, environmental workshops and raise awareness. The Geração Consciente environmental movement was created on May 2022, and has already carried out hundreds of environmental activities across the country. The goal is to build an environmentally conscious generation.
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Ornília Cândida Roseiro Artur Faife, founder of EnviroWorks Solucoes Ambientais, Lda (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Ornília Cândida Roseiro Artur Faife is the founder of EnviroWorks Solucoes Ambientais, Lda, a business located in Maputo City Centre which has 11 employees. It’s main customers are private and state entities. She is currently the manager of two companies: EnviroWorks Lda. and Connected Business Center, and is also opening a laundry in the Maputo province.
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by Rochelle Roos
In the business world, knowing how to successfully manage workflow or flow is key.
Simply put, flow is the movement and delivery of customer value through a process. Not having a good grip on flow means that an organisation cannot sustainably deliver value to its customers. In short, bad workflow means a constant struggle to accomplish more and faster which results in added stress.
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by Nicolene Schoeman-Louw
Daily we are having conversations around a new world and cryptocurrency, the metaverse, NFTs and Blockchain (to name a few). To many of us, this may seem like fiction or perhaps a trend that will fade. Therefore, many of us do not pay too much attention to it. However, ever-evolving technology is not just a trend, and it is something to stay informed of as our businesses would need to evolve and adapt to remain relevant.
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by Kathryn Main
When it comes to naming your business, is your first thought to use your name, child’s name, initials, or joining your nieces’ names? I ask this because 70% of young people I mentor want to use one of the previous ideas to name their business. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that, but does it convey the correct message to your potential customers and talk to what your business does?
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by Lori Milner
Imposter syndrome is not based on logic. The most successful people still experience the feeling that everyone will find out that they know nothing, that their success is based on luck, and that they don’t deserve to be there. It’s a debilitating pattern and one that can keep you playing small if you buy into your own story.
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