Spotlight on Senegal: Meet 8 women entrepreneurs building growth businesses and brands that customers love

February 2, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Spotlight

In the latest in our series of Spotlight features on individual African countries where women entrepreneurs are making their mark with their businesses and brands, we shine a spotlight on Senegal. From the finest luxury textiles, exciting cosmetics and skincare product ranges, nutritional baby food products, fashion and accessories, and a bookseller promoting African authors, Senegal is a country with a wide variety of growth-focused women-owned businesses that are well worth a visit. Meet 8 women entrepreneurs in our Lionesses of Africa community who are building growth businesses and brands that customers love, and who are putting Senegal on the entrepreneur map.

Salamba Diene, a cosmetics and food supplement champion in Senegal

February 1, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

BIOSENE SARL, a business processing agri-food and cosmetic products that are proudly made in Senegal

Salamba Diene is the founder of BIOSENE SARL in Senegal, offering a range of “caring” products and food supplements in the form of powders, leaves, capsules or various solutions, but also cosmetic products in the form of creams, oils or butters, for a single leitmotif: health - beauty for a “better life” and a “well-being” for consumers. BIOSENE collaborates with groups of women producers of baobab fruit, Shea butter, or cultivating exotic fruits (Hibiscus, mango etc.) and establishes direct links with source producers throughout Africa. The business has 59 employees.

Siny Samba, a Senegalese social entrepreneur combatting malnutrition

December 12, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Le Lionceau, a social enterprise producing nutritious baby food to build an inclusive, high impact food value chain in Senegal

Siny Samba, a food processing engineering graduate from Montpellier SupAgro, France, seamlessly blends her passions for cooking and supporting children in Senegal. Motivated by a commitment to contribute to her country's development, she returned to Senegal and founded "Le Lionceau" in 2018, a social enterprise producing nutritious, locally sourced baby food. Today the business employs 35 people. Through collaborations with smallholder farmers and women's groups, the company aims to build a sustainable and inclusive food value chain. Siny actively advocates for the importance of the first 1,000 days in a child's life, conducting awareness campaigns on maternal and infant nutrition. Her journey reflects a dedication to making a positive impact on children's well-being and fostering community development.

Mariama Dia, a Senegalese entrepreneur transforming local fruits into natural retail products

February 12, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Mariama Dia, founder Delices Casamançaises (Senegal)

Startup Story

Mariama Dia is the founder of Delices Casamançaises in Senegal. She is married and the mother of two children, and holds a masters degree in geography. Being from Casamance, which is a forest region located in the south of Senegal, she witnesses every day the destruction of fruits resulting from overproduction. This is what led to her decision to launch her business, Delices Casamançaises with the aim of transforming the fruits to allow consumers to enjoy 12 months of the previously only seasonally available fruits.

Nogaye Ndiaye Mourgaye, an entrepreneur professionalizing the beauty industry

December 26, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Fantaisika, a leading professional nail and beauty training academy in Senegal

Nogaye Ndiaye Mourgaye is a leading nail and beauty institute entrepreneur in Senegal. Today, she heads a business which includes Ongle Mania Senegal, a leading nail shop chain in the country, and Fantaisika, a renowned nails and beauty academy, her specialist training school in professional makeup and nail styling. Her achievements in the field of professional make-up are remarkable for their finesse and artistic rendering. She has built up a reputation as a specialist business services builder in ceremonial make-up such as artistic make-up for cinema or music videos.

Safietou Seck, a fashion entrepreneur from Senegal blending African and Western cultures in her designs

October 3, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Safietou Seck, founder of SARAYAA (Senegal)

Startup Story

There is a growing interest by textile lovers around the world in discovering handwoven fabrics from the African continent, and this interest is something that Safietou Seck, founder of SARAYAA, is tapping into with her business. Her clothing line effortlessly blends contemporary design with the inspiration of beautiful handwoven fabrics from the African continent.

Rokhaya Diop, an entrepreneur building a new approach to customer service evaluation in Senegal

October 3, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Rokhaya Diop, co-founder , NoterKo (Senegal)

Startup Story

Every business knows that getting feedback about customer service and measuring customer satisfaction is key to success. In Senegal, Rokhaya Diop and her co-founder of NokerKo, have launched a platform where users can rate the quality of customer service for public and private companies.

Fatou Sarr, a Senegalese entrepreneur turning aloe vera into a natural cosmetics and food supplement brand

August 1, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Startup Story

Fatou Sarr is an entrepreneur and the founder and ceo of Takhar Aloè Véra which is a company producing and processing aloe vera into cosmetic products and natural food supplements. She is also the ceo of its market gardening business which focuses on agricultural production. Fatou was born in the region of Fatick in Senegal and her entrepreneurial journey started after she completed her scientific studies in high school, where she took professional training in computer networking. Today she is also a computer network technician.

Victorine Sarr Awuah, a world-class natural beauty brand builder from Senegal

June 20, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Lyvv Cosmetics, a leading natural cosmetics brand for women of colour

With over 8 years corporate experience, Victorine Sarr Awuah worked as a marketing executive for industrial giants Apple & Loreal. After being selected by President Barack Obama to be a Mandela Washington Fellow in 2015 under his flagship program YALi , she decided to start her own beauty company Lyvv Cosmetics. She holds a Master in Management - Specialisation in Strategy Marketing from ISG school of Management in Paris. With a passion to share and train young people, she has been volunteering as a mentor for programs like TEEP, AWEC. Outside of work, she loves to travel and has under her belt 156 countries visited. She is also a wife and mom of two beautiful girls.

Victorine SARR, a tenacious entrepreneur building an organic beauty brand for women of colour in Senegal

October 28, 2018 Melanie Hawken

Victorine Sarr, founder of Lyvv Cosmetics (Senegal)

For many women, putting a splash of colour onto their lips gives an instant feeling of confidence and glamour. In Senegal, one woman entrepreneur is building a proudly African beauty brand that is creating beautiful organic lipsticks specially designed for women of colour. Victorine Sarr, founder of Lyvv Cosmetics, is making women feel and look good, whilst also being kind to the environment.

Quote of the Day by Binta Coudy Dé

December 18, 2017 Melanie Hawken

Binta Coudy Dé, vice president & co-founder of Jjiguene Tech Hub — **Binta Coudy Dé**, vice president & co-founder of Jjiguene Tech Hub

“It’s in the most difficult times that we discover our capabilities. When you are passionate, you do not give up.”

- Binta Coudy Dé co-founder Jjiguene Tech Hub (Senegal)

Entrepreneur Advice from Angela Franklin - Vision is imperative!

October 3, 2017 Melanie Hawken

Angela Franklin, founder of Chez Alpha Books (Senegal) — **Angela Franklin**, founder of Chez Alpha Books (Senegal)

You need a clear vision to help get you ahead....

"Choose your team carefully. The people working for you may never have the same 24/7 commitment you have, but certainly they should share the vision and be committed. Also, remain forever humble in what you have accomplished through sweat and determination as it could be gone tomorrow. It is not the physical space of the business that defines your success, but the ability to transition this idea and the next one into reality. Vision is imperative!"

- Angela Franklin is the founder of Chez Alpha Books in Senegal. Angela has created a dynamic resource centre featuring a bookstore with new multi-cultural fiction and non-fiction books with an emphasis on writers from The Diaspora. In addition, her bookstore focuses on world literature and an array of academic resources, offering a go-to-resource centre for students and professionals of all levels, and is the only English language bookstore in Senegal.

Angela Franklin - The startup story of the bookseller of Senegal with a passion to promote the writers of the Diaspora

June 10, 2015 Melanie Hawken

Many bookstores claim to be so much more, but in the case of Angela Franklin’s business, Chez Alpha Books, this is certainly the case. She has taken the concept of a bookselling business and elevated it into a truly multi-faceted learning and resource centre for those with a love of the English language and a need to access learning materials and language training resources in English.

Aissa Dione – The startup story of an inspirational African textile revivalist who has captivated the world’s leading interior design brands

December 1, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Aissa Dione, founder of Aissa Dione Tissus, Senegal — **Aissa Dione**, founder of Aissa Dione Tissus, Senegal

Senegalese entrepreneur and textile designer, Aissa Dione, has made it her lifelong mission to revive her country’s ailing textile industry, and in the process, create products that are highly desirable the world over.