Start-up Night Africa - The Hague
The Start-Up Night Africa event in The Hague on 11 July 2023 will celebrate the opening of the European office of Lionesses of Africa. The focus of the event will be on the critical role of investment and the power of partnerships to address the gender finance gap for women entrepreneurs in growth mode in Africa.
Lionesses of Africa is a fast-growing social impact organization with over 1.7 million women entrepreneurs across the African continent.
With support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Netherlands and the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank (FMO), Lionesses of Africa has set up the Start-Up Night Africa event in The Hague. This initiative aims to showcase high-growth, women-owned businesses from Africa and connect them to investment and market opportunities in The Netherlands. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Liesje Schreinemacher, will deliver the opening remarks at the event, together with Lionesses of Africa founder and ceo, Melanie Hawken.
Minister Schreinemacher: ‘We know women entrepreneurs pay loans, provide a good rate on return and are critical for realizing development impact and building resilient economies and regions, therefore investing in their businesses makes a lot of sense. This night's event especially reflects the Dutch focus on cooperation with African partners by investing more sustainably on the continent.’’
The programme for Start-Up Night Africa in The Hague has been developed to provide a platform for women entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses to an audience of potential investors, corporate buyers, government representatives and entrepreneur eco-system representatives. The aim is to connect impact-driven women-owned businesses from across the African continent to both investment for growth and new market opportunities.
Speaking about Start-Up Night Africa and its aims, Lionesses of Africa founder and ceo, Melanie Hawken, said:
“With the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and FMO, Start-Up Night Africa in The Netherlands is an important example of how we can empower women entrepreneurs across the African continent, providing them with access to investment, markets, knowledge and partnerships. By doing so we can help the continent to accelerate its achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our mission at Lionesses of Africa here in The Netherlands and Europe is to help women entrepreneurs to fulfill their potential by partnering on impact-driven programmes and initiatives that will unlock inclusive prosperity, investment and growth in Africa.”
The women-owned businesses being showcased at Start-Up Night Africa include:
Taeillo, an e-Commerce furniture and lifestyle business (Nigeria)
Wonderbag, a sustainable energy cooking solution (South Africa)
Premier Credit, a Pan African Challenger bank for SMEs (Zambia)
Lupiya, a digital financial services business (Zambia)
GBRI Business Solutions (Eatfresh), a growing agribusiness (Tanzania)
Oryx Desert Salt, a sustainable, natural desert salt business (South Africa)
Pure & Just Food, a climate-smart agribusiness specializing in dried fruit products (Ghana)
Exotic EPZ, a macadamia nut agribusiness (Kenya)
Habeshaview, an advanced technology/multimedia platform streaming accessible, affordable content with Amharic, English, French and Arabic subtitles (Ethiopia)
Carmen Stevens Wines, an award-winning wine producer (South Africa)
The Start-Up Night Africa event will also introduce a short video showreel featuring four young women entrepreneurs pitching their businesses virtually from Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan and DRC who are part of the Orange Corners initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A panel discussion will address the challenges and opportunities for women’s economic empowerment through entrepreneurship in Africa, and the important role of investment to address the gender finance gap. Panelists bringing their insights to this important discussion will be Malado Kaba, Director of the Gender, Women and Civil Society Department at the African Development Bank; Steven Collet, Deputy Director-General International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Huib-Jan de Ruijter, member of the management Board and co-Chief Investment Officer at FMO; and two of the African women entrepreneurs showcased at the event.
The Start-Up Night Africa event will also provide the platform for the official launch of the Lionesses of Africa European office in The Netherlands, which is on a mission to catalyze partnerships between governments, academia and the private sectors to build and deliver impactful, sustainable and scalable solutions that empower Africa’s women entrepreneurs. Lionesses of Africa aims to contribute and add value to social impact innovation in Europe for the benefit of women entrepreneurs on the African continent.
The event will close with a wrap-up conversation on stage between Melanie Hawken, co-founder, Lionesses of Africa and Steven Collet, Deputy Director-General International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to highlight key take-aways from the event and to call for action from the audience to help stimulate further investment and partnership opportunities for economic growth.
For more information about Start-Up Night Africa, The Hague, on 11 July 2023, send an email to: events@lionessesofafrica.com