"To successfully support Africa’s rise, we must support Africa’s women."
Susan Mashibe, founder and executive director of VIA Aviation (Tanzania)
Read moreQuote of the Day by Susan Mashibe
Susan Mashibe, founder of VIA Aviation (Tanzania)
100 LIONESSES: Featuring Susan Mashibe, a high-flying woman pioneer in aviation services
Susan Mashibe, founder and executive director of VIA Aviation (Tanzania)
Susan Mashibe is founder and executive director of VIA Aviation, an international fixed-base aircraft services operation and the first company of its kind in Tanzania. Susan is also the first woman in Tanzania to hold both a FAA certified commercial pilot and an aircraft maintenance engineering qualification. This passionate aviator left Tanzania at the tender age of 19 to learn to fly jetliners in the United States, later returning home to help reshape African private air travel. Today, VIA Aviation provides logistical support for corporate, diplomatic and private jets. Her clients include heads of state, monarchs, Fortune 500 executives, celebrities, and military flights. VIA was the first company to offer such services in Tanzania and East Africa as a whole. Susan was honored by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2011.
Read moreQuote of the Day by Susan Mashibe
Susan Mashibe, founder of Via Aviation, Tanzania
"As a successful female entrepreneur, I recognize that I have a responsibility to support those following in my footsteps, and to give back to the community."
- Susan Mashibe is founder and executive director of VIA Aviation, an international fixed-base aircraft services operation and the first company of its kind in Tanzania. Susan is also the first woman in Tanzania to hold both a FAA certified commercial pilot and an aircraft maintenance engineering qualification. This passionate aviator left Tanzania at the tender age of 19 to learn to fly jetliners in the United States, later returning home to help reshape African private air travel. Today, VIA Aviation provides logistical support for corporate, diplomatic and private jets. Her clients include heads of state, monarchs, Fortune 500 executives, celebrities, and military flights. VIA was the first company to offer such services in Tanzania and East Africa as a whole.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Susan Mashibe: What I learnt from Marissa Mayer
Susan Mashibe, founder and executive director of VIA Aviation
Susan was lucky enough to be mentored by Marissa Mayer the current CEO of Yahoo - what did she learn?....
“What Marissa taught me is to hire smart people who get things done. I saw how important it was to have a healthy team, but to be willing to dismiss bad apples before they contaminate the team. You also have to nurture your team well.”
- Susan Mashibe is founder and executive director of VIA Aviation, an international fixed-base aircraft services operation and the first company of its kind in Tanzania. Susan is also the first woman in Tanzania to hold both a FAA certified commercial pilot and an aircraft maintenance engineering qualification.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Susan Mashibe: Confront challenges with confidence and honesty
Susan Mashibe, founder of Via Aviation, Tanzania
Challenges are best met head-on with confidence and honesty....
"As a woman in business, and in a male-dominated field, I have encountered my share of obstacles; from the male airport officials who have blocked my entry to the aircraft I am working on, to clients to whom I must prove myself. I have also had to deal with corrupt officials who insist on being paid bribes for the simplest of tasks. When faced with these challenges, my approach has always been the same: to be confident and honest. I have confidence in my business, and the benefits we bring to clients and to the Tanzanian Government."
- Susan Mashibe is founder and executive director of VIA Aviation, an international fixed-base aircraft services operation and the first company of its kind in Tanzania. Susan is also the first woman in Tanzania to hold both a FAA certified commercial pilot and an aircraft maintenance engineering qualification. This passionate aviator left Tanzania at the tender age of 19 to learn to fly jetliners in the United States, later returning home to help reshape African private air travel.
Read moreUnlocking the potential of female entrepreneurship
Susan Mashibe, founder of VIA Aviation (Tanzania)
Source: The Guardian | by Anthony Demetriou and Nathan Gamester | 10 June 2015
Entrepreneurship can be an empowering experience that has impacts beyond economic development. Barriers need to be removed so more African women have tools to become entrepreneurs. Success stories like that of Susan Mashibe are still the exception rather than the rule, but it offers a model of what can happen when women have access to the tools for successful entrepreneurship.
Read moreSusan Mashibe - The startup story of a Tanzanian woman entrepreneur with an aviation dream
Susan Mashibe, founder of Via Aviation, Tanzania
There are not too many young 4 year old girls in the world who have a dream of a career in aviation and go on to launch a unique and highly successful technical and logistics company to support private jets in Africa - but the inspirational Susan Mashibe is one of those few!
Read moreVideo: Susan Mashibe interviewed on Bloomberg
Source: Bloomberg Philanthropies | Published on August 6, 2014
Two African entrepreneurs and a U.S. investor in African companies join the U.S.-Africa Business Forum Google Hangout to talk about the investing climate in Africa for startup companies and what is necessary to get up and running : do your homework and be persistent. With Susan Mashibe, CEO of VIA Aviation in Tanzania, Bobby Pittman, CEO of Kupanda Capital in Washington D.C., and Anthony Nwachukwu, CEO of SW Global, a software company in Ghana.
Read moreVideo: Susan Mashibe Africa's Women Aviation Pioneer
Source: rainmakerstelevision | Published on June 10, 2014
Susan Mashibe is the first Tanzanian FAA certified pilot and airplane mechanic. She returned to her home country to start an aviation business. Hear the difficulties she encountered.
Read moreVideo: Susan Mashibe talks about her entrepreneurial journey in aviation
Source: Initiative for Global Development IGD | Published April 2, 2014
Susan Mashibe is IGD's inaugural Jennifer Potter Emerging Leaders Fellow. Here she discusses her entrepreneurial journey in Africa's growing aviation sector.
Read moreTo support Africa's rise, support Africa's women
Source: Devex | By Susan Mashibe | 13 March 2014
From government officials to corporate leaders to philanthropists, the hot topic on everyone’s mind today is supporting the rise of Africa. But as we pour over population projections and examine different drivers of economic growth, too often, we neglect 50 percent of Africa’s population. How can we expect to support the rise of all of Africa, when we’re only supporting half the population?
Read moreIGD Awards Via Aviation’s Susan Mashibe Emerging Leaders Fellowship
Susan Mashibe, founder of Via Aviation, Tanzania
Forbes: Emerging Global Women Entrepreneurs
Susan Mashibe, founder of Via Aviation, Tanzania
Source: Forbes | July 9, 2011
Many years ago in Tanzania when Susan Mashibe was four years old, she remembers watching her parents take off in an airplane while she was left behind with her grandmother. “At that point,” she determined, “I decided if I knew how to fly, I would never be left behind again.”....
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