the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
Mabusang Malotane, founder and ceo, Shai Boi Project Management Pty Ltd (South Africa)
Startup story
Mabusang Malotane is the founder and ceo of Shai Boi Project Management Pty Ltd, a company founded in 2017 and registered in South Africa, Rwanda, and Mauritius. She is also the founder of Shai Chai Organic Tea, an organic luxury tea brand design and the ultimate in artisan-crafted teas, exemplifying the level of elegant ambiance. She has over 14 years’ of experience in the event and entertainment industry and the financial industry.
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Kathryn Malherbe
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
MED AI SOl PTY LTD t/a MedSol AI Solutions, a business creating affordable, diagnostic AI and Deep machine learning systems for breast cancer diagnosis
Kathryn Malherbe is the founder and ceo of MED AI SOl PTY LTD t/a MedSol AI Solutions in South Africa, a business at the forefront of the AI-driven healthcare market by utilizing cutting-edge technology and collaborating with researchers to produce innovative solutions. It’s focus is on patient-centered outcomes sets the business apart from other vendors in the market. The company launched in 2019 and today has 10 employees.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
“You don't want the institutions incentivized to go big and expensive when you could maybe have more impact, smaller and less expensive”, so said Margaret Kuhlow of the US Dept of Treasury at one of the side meetings at the recent World Bank Spring Conference (see here 1:30:05).
Anna Bjerde, the World Bank Managing Director of Operations confirmed the key message of the meetings (here): “A key component…is measuring outcomes rather than inputs and focusing on results that further our aim to improve people's lives and livelihoods.”
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Robyn O’Brien
Book Review
In Seeding Innovation: The Path to Profit and Purpose in the 21st Century, veteran entrepreneur, award-winning author, global strategist, speaker, and Rice University Innovation and Entrepreneurship professor, Robyn O’Brien, delivers an insightful and data-driven roadmap to authenticity and smart leadership in the face of accelerating technological, environmental, and social change. In the book, you’ll discover how to build resilience, authenticity, market share, and purpose into your business plan and move beyond box-ticking, virtue signaling, and one-dimensional metrics, in a way that strengthens your business model, enhances your bottom line, attracts investors, fortifies employee retention, and more.
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by Lori Milner
If you don't have a 'pause' button, you're probably a Striver. We associate being a Striver with a badge of honour. It's linked with traits like being a high achiever, disciplined, organised, and successful. It's the mark of the go-getter and having it all together. These superpowers may have led to our success, but as with anything, there is a shadow side.
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by Thembe Khumalo
Sometimes when you’ve taken a big leap, you are so conscious of the magnitude of what you’ve done that you don't think you can or should take any more major steps. That was me after leaving home at 22 years old - I was so determined to make my life work and validate the choices I had made, that I found it difficult to think beyond my immediate activities. This kind of paralysis can also hit entrepreneurs in the early stages of building their business, particularly when a huge risk has been taken to get to the start-up stage.
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by Yolanda Matine
Mentorship has always been a critical topic in most personal development discussions on career paths. There has been so much to gain from it that I started researching on how this methodology can be used in my entrepreneurial sally.
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by Nicolene Schoeman-Louw
The rapidly growing creator economy is providing South African entrepreneurs with exceptional chances to collaborate and expand their businesses. As companies from various industries are increasingly acknowledging the impact of influencer marketing, it has become crucial to comprehend the legal complexities of such partnerships to protect their interests and promote sustainable brand relationships.
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Victoria Munguti
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Hepta Pay, a fintech business helping dissolve the barriers to cross-border micropayments for members of the East African Diaspora
Victoria Munguti is the co-founder and ceo of Hepta Pay, a financial services company founded in 2020 and based in East Africa. She holds a master's degree in information technology (MSIT) with a focus on Data Science and Entrepreneurship from Carnegie Mellon University. Throughout her career Victoria has worked on different tech projects and entrepreneurial venture programs. She has also co-founded two start-up businesses in the domains of Data Analytics (Hepta Analytics) and Fintech (Hepta Pay) respectively. She has been actively engaged in the tech ecosystem, supporting entrepreneurs at different stages of ideation, startup, and go-to-market strategies, and scaling of successful startups into scale-ups in different countries of Africa.
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Mukundi Lambani, founder, Ambani Africa (South Africa)
Startup Story
Mukundi Lambani is the founder of Ambani Africa in South Africa, an innovative ed-tech company committed to promoting multilingual education and improving learning outcomes for children. Her journey into producing began in 2010 with the international 48 Hour Film Project. At just 23, she became the first African producer of the competition, organizing film festivals in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Gaborone. This initiative opened doors for over 200 filmmakers, some even making it to Hollywood and Cannes, thanks to Lambani's fundraising efforts. The business was registered in 2018 and started operations in 2020, and now employs 10 people.
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Jessica da Fonseca Sargento, founder, The Zen Living Project & Zen Coaching (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Jessica da Fonseca Sargento is the inspiration behind The Zen Living Project community and now Zen Coaching, founded in 2020 in Mozambique. She graduated in Law and has worked for large corporations over the last twenty years, as a lawyer, following the so-called “traditional” trajectory that society applauds: a steady job, a steady paycheck, and the allure of climbing the corporate ladder. Yet as Jessica climbed the ladder, she felt a growing disconnect between her daily tasks and her inner aspirations. – financial gains, positions, and hierarchical advancements no longer resonated with her and she began searching for knowledge and holistic training in the areas of yoga instruction, meditation, and life coaching.
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by Lori Milner
Consider a positive brand experience that stands out for you. It could be purchasing a product online and receiving your delivery ahead of schedule. How about a restaurant that created an amazing experience from start to finish? What experiences have you told friends about and done free PR because you were left with a lasting impression and impact?
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by Refilwe Sebothoma
I’ve always been adamant that I don’t like hosting, my sister-in-law suggested that I do this for Christmas last year. Eventually, I agreed, but of course, it was going to be at a restaurant. And I remember her explaining why it wouldn’t work because it also “doesn’t have that family thing”. I felt defeated and said it’s ok, I’ll host at home.
by Yolanda Matine
When I decided that I was turning my gift (cooking) into a business, every social media page I navigated into started showing me how the world of lunchboxes is so advanced in other places beyond Mozambique where we only have one well-referenced brand.
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by Teboho Seretlo
What does the term “ghosting” even mean? I looked it up on Google and this is what comes up: “Ghosting is when someone who used to be friendly or even romantic with you suddenly cuts off all communication without explanation. While most people think of ghosting in a digital context, meaning a friend or dating partner stops responding to texts, emails, calls, etc., it can happen across all social circumstances.” For me, where it says it can happen across all social circumstances, this is true. However, I daresay it happens across the spectrum, professionally too.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
As American Presidential hopefuls will tell you, life begins at 80 and so given the World Bank turned 80 this year, would there be a new lease of life, a new energy to tackle the world’s greatest problems?
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Book Review
With her first book, Making Waves, Helaine Knapp is an inspiration on what it really takes to grow a company over 10 years - sharing the real, raw, and gritty story - with an ending that will surprise you. Helaine wrote Making Waves to be the person she always wanted but never had in her corner as a founder - to provide structure, framework, confidence, listen and craft tactical solutions to founders and execs that need it in uncertain times.
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Sasha Knott
Lioness Launch
Job Crystal, a pioneering force in South Africa’s recruitment industry, proudly announces the official launch of Crystal AI in the United Kingdom. This strategic move marks a significant milestone for the company as it expands its innovative solutions to make recruiting faster, especially for the Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the UK and South Africa.
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Event Report
Lionesses of Africa’s latest Lioness Business Agility Webinar of 2024, took place on 17 April 2024, with 148 women entrepreneurs predominantly from South Africa joining the event online. Once again hosted in partnership with Absa, the webinar focused on the theme of “Women in manufacturing, creating jobs and local impact”. It’s an important topic and Lionesses of Africa believes in the need to recognise and support the work and commitment of women entrepreneurs who are building sustainable manufacturing businesses that are creating much-needed jobs and driving economic growth.
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Julie Roy
Book Review
In her new book, The Multi-Million Dollar Mompreneur: Your Guide to Business Mastery, Uncommon Freedom, and Legacy Wealth, author and entrepreneur Julie Roy shares some major takeaways from her journey to financial freedom and a fulfilling life. While offering insights and concrete action items to help anyone striving to propel their business, Julie speaks directly to highly motivated women who are seeking to harmonize high net-worth entrepreneurship and family.
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