the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
by Lori Milner
Intention is a powerful tool to direct your attitude and actions. Unfortunately, sometimes intention is not enough. One always needs to consider another variable – impact. This is why, despite your efforts, you may not get the results you want personally and professionally.
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by Yolanda Matine
Finding and following my passion! For me this is a controversial topic because I believe few people have found theirs from the word GO and are already positively impacting people’s lives. I struggle every day to understand this phenomenon. At times I think only a few were privileged to be guided to their passions, but as for me I had to roam around to arrive at what I believe is my Passion (Cooking and loving the people around me through it). The question is how do we arrive at our passion ‘hustle free’?
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by Brigette Mashile
I have mentioned in past blogs that hiring is one of the biggest challenges of running your own business. Well, it does not get better. The obstacles just change in nature. It has been a year and a bit of me being at home and attempting to hire someone to help me. I got shocked every week by the failures of not finding 1 person who can help me. I mean, my brain had said there are many people at home I could possibly hire; a lot of people available to train…my brain was incorrect. Here is what I have discovered as barriers.
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by Anja van Beek, Talent Strategist, Leadership & HR Expert and Executive Coach
As we navigate year three of the pandemic and confront global difficulties that force us to live in a state of uncertainty, empathy in the workplace is now taking on a new level of significance and necessity. For team members to excel, be challenged, and feel like they have a purpose in their job, leaders must foster an environment and culture that allows them to bring their best self to the table. Leaders must constantly remember that the way you lead, the things you do and say, affect how others feel on the inside.
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Comfort Badaru Smithson
Book Review
A transformative masterpiece of a book by the visionary mompreneur, Comfort Badaru Smithson, entitled ‘From Passion to Profit, Artisans and Creative Entrepreneurs Building Together: A Guide to a Successful, impactful and Sustainable Business Collaboration’ is a must read for creative business and brand builders. Through her writing and insights, Comfort invites you to embark on a captivating journey that bridges the realms of creativity and commerce. This book is not just a guide; it's a roadmap to unlocking your true potential as a creative individual while building a profitable and impactful business collaboration.
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Chinenye Macuacua, founder, Powa Clothing (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Chinenye Macuacua is the visionary founder of Powa Clothing in Mozambique, a company dedicated to the art of upcycling, breathing new life into discarded clothing while also crafting fresh garments from dead stock fabrics. She embarked on her entrepreneurial journey in 2018, immediately after completing high school. Chinenye has been the driving force behind her one-woman business for five years, demonstrating both her passion for sustainability and her creative prowess. Her dreams extend beyond her solo venture, aspiring to build a community of empowered, eco-conscious fashion enthusiasts who share her commitment to breathe new life into the old. Specializing in the transformation of men's suits, Chinenye is drawn to the empowering aura that suits exude. This attraction fuels her dedication to upcycling this iconic clothing item, infusing it with renewed purpose and style. As Powa Clothing thrives, Chinenye envisions expansion, aiming to inspire and mentor young women, passing on her passion for upcycling.
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Gloria Avosuahi Adaba, CEO, Remould Global Ventures Limited (Nigeria)
Startup Story
Gloria Avosuahi Adaba is the CEO of Remould Global Ventures Limited in Nigeria, an environmental consulting, recycling, and exportation company started in 2020. She is a resourceful Polymer Engineer and Environmentalist, with over twelve years of proven hands-on experience in Waste Management, Recycling and Environmental projects, oil and gas technical safety, Front-End Engineering, and Detailed Engineering Design. As a result of her passion for human and environmental sustainability, and safety, and her work in organizations with Health Safety and Environmental standards; she has acquired broad international and multicultural experience in Waste Management, Recycling, and Oil and Gas Technical Safety Engineering.
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Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Aace Foods Processing & Distribution, on a mission to improve people’s nutrition and farmer livelihoods in Nigeria
Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is an expert on food ecosystems, entrepreneurship, and social innovation. She has over 25 years of international development experience and is the founder of LEAP Africa and African Food Changemakers. She is also the co-founder of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Ltd. and AACE Foods Processing & Distribution Ltd. Ndidi serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation, AGRA, Nigerian Breweries Plc. (Heineken), Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. India, Stanbic IBTC Group, the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, and the Bridgespan Group. She holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She was a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, a visiting Scholar at Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University, an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow, and an Eisenhower Fellow. Ndidi is a TED speaker, was recognized as a Schwab Fellow and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and has received numerous awards and recognitions including a National Honor by the Nigerian Government and the 2021 Harvard Business School Distinguished Alumni Award. She is the author of "Social Innovation in Africa: A Practical Guide for Scaling Impact," and "Food Entrepreneurs in Africa: Scaling Resilient Agriculture Businesses," both published by Routledge and “Walking for God in the Marketplace.”
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
Working as we do across all industries we often fall into the trap of generalising, assuming that what works well in one industry automatically delivers in another. If we group these further and say, split our membership neatly between the Manufacturers (the agricultural, manufacturing and mining worlds) and those in the Service Industry (take a bow, those who have built Consulting, Marketing, PR, Accounting and Law firms), there is so much advice within the great management books that has been written with Manufacturing in mind that cannot jump across the divide into the Service space, but why is this? Milton Friedman said: “The business of a business is business”, so just how different can these industries be?
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by Tsitsi Mutendi
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just a technological advancement; it's a transformative force that's reshaping industries and society as a whole. In this digital age, where data is the new gold, AI has rapidly risen to prominence, impacting various sectors. One area where AI's influence is significant but often overlooked is its impact on women in business. Women, who have long fought for equal opportunities in the corporate world, must recognize the potential of AI and leverage it to bridge gender disparities and excel in their careers. This article delves into the rise and rise of AI, its implications for women in business, and how they can harness its power to their advantage.
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by Marilize Jacobs
Resilience is an intelligence that can help founders overcome hardship.
Exhaustion has overtaken me, and I’ve grown weary of the incessant buzz surrounding artificial intelligence, or AI, and the health risks of air fryers. Don’t get me wrong, AI is remarkable. But I long for conversation that delves into the less chartered human territory: How people think and behave.
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by Anja van Beek, Talent Strategist, Leadership & HR Expert and Executive Coach
Have you ever calculated how many of your 24hrs you are in “work-mode” – whether thinking, doing, or responding to a quick mail at a family braai? I have noticed that many people, at one point or another, struggle to find time to cope with the demands of modern-day life, especially as we are surrounded by technology. The reality is that leaders also need to fill their own cup. Many of my clients say they feel overwhelmed by what we need to do and achieve in a day. They also say, “there is just not enough time in one day” (sounds familiar?) and sometimes they even feel run-down, frustrated or anxious.
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Gladys Chibanda, founder, Krafted Ink (Zimbabwe)
Startup Story
Gladys Chibanda, founder of Krafted Ink in Zimbabwe, is a visionary entrepreneur dedicated to merging sustainability and culture. With a mission to combat textile waste and promote cultural diversity, Krafted Ink transforms discarded textiles into eco-friendly gift packaging and stationery, celebrating the rich heritage of African fabrics. Gladys's leadership propels the company towards a greener, culturally enriched future, one product at a time.
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Arashnee Ramjuguth, founder, Refresha Trading Enteprises (South Africa)
Startup Story
Arashnee Ramjuguth is the Founder of Refresha Trading Enteprises based in Durban, South Africa. The business is focused on providing clean purified drinking water to the community of South Africa. Refresha Trading Enterprises is a LEVEL 1 BBBEE owned custom bottled water company offering a range of products and services. Arashnee’s mission is to ensure clean, purified drinking water is affordable and accessible to the South African people. Her business aspires to be the go-to place to create an impactful branded bottled water experience by helping its clients to grow their personal brand or businesses through branding water products.
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by Ronnie Mbatsane, Managing Executive for SME Business & Sanah Gumede, Managing Executive for Strategy and Customer Value Management at Absa Relationship Banking
The past few years have been difficult ones for South Africans. We have faced the COVID pandemic, intensified load shedding, civil unrest and natural disasters to name a few. Not only have these challenges interrupted our daily lives, but the environment has changed significantly as a result with profound social and financial implications for individuals as well as businesses. According to the Africa Report, a significant portion of South Africa’s young people are now unemployed, with women making up two-thirds of the job losses during the pandemic.
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Heather Kernahan
Book Review
If you feel stuck and like you have hit a wall in your business, then you need to read Unstuckable, the must-read new book by global tech executive, strategic adviser, and sought-after speaker Heather Kernahan. She pours her two decades of leading start-ups, scale-ups, and tech empires into her game-changing UNSTUCK model and shares her insights and wisdom for others to use.
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Antsa Ramaroson
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Curly Aho, a business dedicated to the care and enhancement of afro and textured hair in Madagascar.
Antsa Ramaroson is the co-founder of Curly Aho, a company and a social movement dedicated to the care and enhancement of afro and textured hair in Madagascar. She started with the online community in December 2017, but the business officially started in 2020 with the opening of the natural hair spa, and today it has 30 employees. Curly Aho means “I have curly hair” in Malagasy (native language) and consists of the Curly Aho Community, an online community of 50 000 members, and a support group to encourage inclusive beauty and curl confidence. Texture, a natural hair spa, is dedicated to give access to personalized treatments and curl education and Loharano is a plant-based haircare brand rich in plants of Madagascar, famous for their benefits in hair. Antsa has been featured as one of the Top 50 African Business Heroes 2021. She is a hairdresser and a certified curl expert.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
The last few weekends we have returned to a common undercurrent in many of our articles written almost weekly since early 2020, namely the tremors hitting the world and rushing towards our beautiful businesses (our most recent here and here). From Covid warnings in early articles, or the Ever Given container ship blocking the Suez Canal (here) it’s been almost a continuous fear of the next thing to hit us, up to the present day, where supply chains are still stretched; inflation and interest rates are high (and very ‘sticky'); US$ debt of many African countries still too large and with higher interest rates now impacting our daily lives, all US$ being sucked out of the economies to pay the growing interest bills; global warming is of course omni-present and looms over us…it seems to go on and on. With all of this we could certainly be forgiven for looking at these storms and simply shutting up shop and finding a shady spot under a Baobab tree from which to rest out our days.
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by Cheryl Benadie
It's a brand new day. You've snoozed the alarm at least three times (if you're that kind of morning person) and dragged yourself into the shower. Before you can barely grasp the soap, a deluge of your undone action lists stream into your consciousness. A slow mumble begins to build in your mind about how you wish you were headed to a beach instead of having to brace yourself for the traffic and yet another miserable day of chasing a never-ending task list.
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by Lori Milner
How would you rate your last conversation out of ten – ten being where the other person felt seen and truly heard and one being where you were so focused on your own inner chatter that you don't even remember what was said? Now, if you scored less than an 8, it's time for a new set of skills. I'm not going to tell you to nod and show you are paying attention because a great listener doesn't need to prove they can listen. A great listener must show the other person they have been heard. A great listener helps other people share more.
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