Neema Gerald, a Tanzanian entrepreneur building a full-service event and project management company

May 14, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Neema Gerald, founder and ceo, Penuel's Investment Ltd (Tanzania)

Neema Gerald is the founder and ceo of Penuel's Investment Ltd in Tanzania, a seven-year-old investment firm that provides a variety of services such as event and project management, as well as office equipment supplies. She is the co-founder of LN Extreme Beauty Ltd which has deep experience in the beauty and personal care industry, partnering with companies across the entire value chain to help their clients achieve their strategic goals. Her passion is to empower young ladies to know their identity and to unlock their potential, so as to be proud of themselves and have an impact in their society.

Dalia Ibrahim, a serial entrepreneur and education innovator in Egypt

April 30, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Nahdet Misr Publishing House, EdVentures, Ta'heal for VET Skills Excellence, a group of businesses empowering through learning

Dalia Ibrahim is an accomplished business leader, angel investor, mentor, and mother of three children. She is the CEO of Nahdet Misr Publishing House, a prominent learning company in Egypt; the founder and CEO of EdVentures, MENA's first CVC specializing in Edtech; and the founder of Ta'heal, which offers vocational education solutions. Dalia began her career at Nahdet Misr in 1994, a family business founded by her grandfather as a small publishing house in 1938. Over the past 28 years, she has transformed Nahdet Misr into one of MENA’s leading learning and capacity-building companies. Dalia has received recognition for her entrepreneurial journey several times, including being a finalist in the "Leadership" category of the AMBA & BGA Excellence Award, a finalist in the "Lifetime Achievement" category of the AWIEF Awards, acknowledgment as one of the "Top 50" most influential women in Egypt, and receiving the "Corporate Social Responsibility Award" for Arab Women.

Sany Weng San, an entrepreneur providing integrated office management services in Mozambique

April 23, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Sany Weng San, co-founder, MMO Facilities (Mozambique)

Sany Weng San is a successful entrepreneur and co-founder of MMO Facilities in Mozambique, and her exceptional leadership skills and dedication have earned her the Women Leadership Award. She founded MMO Facilities in 2018 to provide high-quality services to her clients and make their lives easier by providing top-notch integrated office management services. Under her leadership, MMO Facilities has become a leading provider of shared office spaces in Mozambique, serving a portfolio of multinational companies. Sany is committed to empowering women and has created job opportunities by hiring a team comprising 80% of women. With over 15 years of experience in the business industry, Sany's expertise in marketing, sales, human resources, procurement, budgeting, and project management has been instrumental in the success of MMO Facilities.

Neidy Carvalho, a Mozambican environmental consultant helping businesses become more sustainable

April 23, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Neidy Carvalho, founder & general manager, Imbe-Consultoria, Serviços e Soluções, Lda (Mozambique)

Neidy Carvalho is the founder and general manager of Imbe-Consultoria, Serviços e Soluções, Lda, also known as Imbe CSS. Her business, which was founded in 2019, is located in Mozambique. In the beginning, it was focused only on environmental consultancy, but then expanded to water treatment, HSQ and Energy sector (renewable and non-renewable energy). Imbe CSS helps other companies to become more green and environmentally aware in their day-to-day practices. It also provides environment permits, audits, monitoring and evaluations, environmental studies, assistance, and more as they need. The business has grown as it became more serious in its focus. Neidy considers herself persistent and studious, traits developed over the past few years. She now has almost 7 years of experience in the environmental area, and is surrounded with a young and vibrant team of 3 people. In the future, Neidy aspires to grow the business further, and help companies and others to be more sustainable as the planet requires of us.

Rebecca C. Sani, a Malawian entrepreneur building an organizational development consulting business

April 15, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Rebecca C. Sani, founder & Managing Director Resani Consulting (Malawi)

Rebecca C. Sani is the Founder, Managing Director, and Chief Consultant of Resani Consulting in Malawi. The name Resani incorporates her first name and her father's name as a tribute to his contribution to her professional development. She started off as an independent consultant who realized that she could not achieve the mission of Resani alone and therefore expanded her team. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing Management (USA), an MBA in Finance (USA) and a Master of Management (DISTINCTION, USA). She is passionate about building teams and helping organizations run more efficiently. She is also the Financial Director and Board Member of Good Shepherd International School.

Ornília Faife, a Mozambican entrepreneur helping clients to clean their environments

March 31, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Ornília Cândida Roseiro Artur Faife, founder of EnviroWorks Solucoes Ambientais, Lda (Mozambique)

Ornília Cândida Roseiro Artur Faife is the founder of EnviroWorks Solucoes Ambientais, Lda, a business located in Maputo City Centre which has 11 employees. It’s main customers are private and state entities. She is currently the manager of two companies: EnviroWorks Lda. and Connected Business Center, and is also opening a laundry in the Maputo province.

Adelia Chicombo, a Mozambican job creator in the service economy

March 11, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Continental Cleaners, Lda., a local company providing Industrial and Office Cleaning Services, and other highly specialist maintenance services in Mozambique

Adelia Chicombo is the co-founder and Managing Director of Continental Cleaners Lda in Mozambique, a specialist cleaning and maintenance business launched in 2016 and which today employs 300 people. Born in Manica, Adelia comes from a family of seven siblings, and her parent's earnings did not cover the family’s daily needs, a situation which forced them to seek alternative sources of income for the family. It was in this search that we were all directly or indirectly involved in conducting small businesses, including selling surplus vegetables produced in the backyard. Management awareness, in its broad sense, has always been in her mind. This is what led Adelia to take a degree in Management at the Faculty of Economics of Eduardo Mondlane University in 2008. Later in 2015, given her interest in the energy sector, she obtained a master's degree from the University of Cape Town in Energy Development Studies. In 2022, Adelia obtained her PhD degree. This degree was inspired by the awareness of gender issues, in particular the disproportionate impact that the lack of access to clean and modern energy sources has on women.

Lioness Launch / South African upcycling business, plasticity, launches its new Work Tote, an upcycled tote bag for working people

February 26, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Tessa O’ Halloran, founder, plasticity (South Africa)

Discarded plastic waste is a problem for the planet and for humankind as a whole, and the need to find sustainable solutions to transforming that waste into useful products has never been greater. In South Africa, ecopreneur Tessa O’ Halloran, founder of plasticity. is playing her part in finding those solutions. She is launching a great new Work Tote as part of her business range of upcycled products.

Beauty Monene, a South African plant hire business builder

February 19, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Monenebe Maintenance & Projects, a specialist cleaning plant hire business servicing South Africa’s mining industry

Beauty Monene was born and bred in Mamelodi in South Africa. She is the founder of Monenebe Maintenance and Projects, a business established and registered in 2006. She has a passion to define herself in business and giving opportunities to those in her community. Beauty is married with three daughters and has completed a BCom degree and a senior management diploma. She has worked in various entities in both finance and customers services, and her experience led her to establishing her business, Monenebe Maintenance and Projects. Today the business employs 39 people. In 2020, after the Covid pandemic hit, Beauty opened another manufacturing entity, and today she is mentoring her daughters in this business.

Alix Willemez, an entrepreneur in Cote d'Ivoire providing consumers with useful local online information

February 5, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Alix Willemez, founder, Mamafrica (Cote d’Ivoire)

Alix Willemez is the founder of Mamafrica in Cote d’Ivoire, a business that aims to make life easier in Côte d'Ivoire and to reduce dependence on word-of-mouth by offering consumers innovative and practical online services while supporting the development of local businesses. Today, the whole Mamafrica team works every day, through its different specialized websites, to bring quality information on health, leisure, to promote the employment of quality domestic staff, to highlight reliable real estate agencies and local craftsmen, and to support local NGOs.

Lioness Launch / Mozambican luxury accessory design house, Atelier Taíla Carrilho, launches its eye-catching new R.I.S.E. collection

January 29, 2023 Melanie Hawken

For style conscious people who want their accessories to stand out from the crowd, the newly launched R.I.S.E. collection from Mozambican luxury accessory design house, Atelier Taíla Carrilho is a must-have this year. Founder and designer, Taíla Carrilho, creates handmade, truly eye-catching fashion accessories for women and men, utilizing local materials and labour. The new R.I.S.E. collection is inspired by the act of being reborn after a fall.

Tamryn Lowe, a South African entrepreneur passionate about photography

January 29, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Tamryn Lowe, owner, Tamryn Lowe Photography (South Africa)

Tamryn Lowe is the owner of Tamryn Lowe Photography based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is an international award winning photographer with a passion for helping change the way women see themselves, as well as helping businesses receive more qualified leads through being intentional with their personal branding photos. While she founded her business eleven years ago, she spent the first four years also working for other photographers and the second four years in corporate - all while running her own business at the same time.

Lioness Launch / Mozambican people management consulting business, Mbira Advisory, launches new employee wellbeing service

January 22, 2023 Melanie Hawken

People management consulting specialist, Shádia Gafur Chachine, founder of Mbira Advisory in Mozambique, is passionate about contributing to the wellbeing of employees. Her business is launching a new service which makes a diagnosis to understand the bottlenecks related to behavioral and inter-personal skills of the company's employees. Thereafter, it creates programs and activities aimed at mental, physical and psychological health. Namely 15 mins of yoga, breathing exercises, simple postures; anti-stress exercises, conversations about different themes such as healthy habits and nutrition, experiences, blockages, fears and beliefs, etc.

Peace Samuel, an entrepreneur helping businesses to launch their products to market

January 8, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Peace Samuel, founder and owner, The Virtual Paragon (Nigeria & United States)

Peace Samuel is the founder and owner of The Virtual Paragon, currently registered in Nigeria and United States. She is a multi-skilled entrepreneur and has been featured on a number of business platforms. The Virtual Paragon is focused on helping businesses and experts launch their programs/digital products without the tech overwhelm or losing their authentic self. She started the company 6 years ago and it’s still growing. Peace has supported many businesses and they have gone ahead to grow and scale their businesses.

Marylou Bawden, a South African entrepreneur helping seniors to downsize their homes

January 8, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Marylou Bawden, founder and owner, Clear Path Senior & Speciality Moving Managers (South Africa)

Marylou Bawden is the founder and owner of Clear Path Senior & Speciality Moving Managers in South Africa. The business assists seniors to sort, downsize and move from their family homes into retirement villages. It also assists the family when their loved one passes away to sort and clear the family home. Marylou was retrenched at the start of Covid after being in the exhibition industry, and having previously been a business owner in the retail space she was looking for something new to start up. While the business is not a charity, the aspect of assisting and helping seniors in what is an enormously stressful time in their lives is the key purpose of the business and is enormously important to Marylou.

Rukudzo Mukwenha, a Zimbabwean entrepreneur creating a one-stop-shop for housekeeping solutions

November 20, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Rukudzo Hillary Mukwenha, founder, Hilsmag Corporation Private Limited (Zimbabwe)

Rukudzo Hillary Mukwenha is the founder of Hilsmag Corporation Private Limited, a research-based housekeeping solutions company in Zimbabwe providing solutions for both consumers and job seekers. She is also a passionate mother of four. Rukudzo is extremely motivated to constantly develop her skills and learn something new every day. She has an unapologetic interest in serving and empowering other young girls and women hence setting up of Hilsmag. She has managed to create a working value chain within her business which has been in operation since 2020. Rukudzo is a holder of a Bachelor of Accounting Sciences in Financial Accounting as well as a Human Resource Management Diploma from IPMZ. She is also a member of Junior Chamber International, Lionesses of Africa and PROWEB. The business has 6 employees.

Isabel Resende, a Mozambican entrepreneur turning a passion for people and gardening into business

October 30, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Isabel Resende, partner and Managing Director, Control Plus Services, Limitada (Mozambique)

Isabel Resende is a partner and Managing Director of Control Plus Services, Limitada, a Mozambican company dedicated to the provision of gardening services and pest control. It is composed of 10 employees, based in Maputo City, and has representatives in the central and northern areas of the country. She holds a law degree and a master's degree in Business Management. Her journey as an entrepreneur began in 2021, however, she has more than 10 years of experience in the job market.

Adérójú Ope-Ajayi, a Nigerian entrepreneur with a passion for fostering positive change in the sports industry

October 23, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Adérójú Ope-Ajayi is the Founder and Lead Instructor at Dolphin Swim School and Dolphin Aquatic Center in Nigeria. She is also a Sports Development Advocate with a passion for fostering positive change in the sports industry in Africa. Her mission is to help develop the sports industry in Nigeria by partnering with the right stakeholders, helping to build sustainable sports businesses, and providing knowledge to new entrants in the industry. She founded her business in 2017 and has over 15 team members. She brings over 17 years’ experience in sales and business development expertise gained in the corporate world to the business.

Diana Mbabaali Miiro, a pioneering landscaping entrepreneur creating green spaces in Uganda

October 2, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Diana Mbabaali Miiro, managing director, KeyScapes Limited (Uganda)

Diana Mbabaali Miiro is the managing director of KeyScapes Limited, a pioneering company in Uganda specializing in landscaping, potted plants artistries and gardening supplies. She is an ardent gardener with a mission to encourage Ugandans to live a healthy natural lifestyle, growing their own food organically in the small spaces of their backyards as CSR (Community Social Responsibility) under the Backyard Gardeners Uganda, a forum she founded on social media platforms. Diana previously worked in the Information Technology & Change department with Barclays Bank, now ABSA Bank, as Head, Service Management before joining the world of entrepreneurship when she discovered that she could make a living from her passion. She is a Vital Voices Fellow, Vital Voices Leadership Journey, a female future program graduate and an Academy for Women Entrepreneurs Mentor.

Irina Mayra Cremildo, a Mozambican entrepreneur making travel management easy for her clients

September 11, 2022 Melanie Hawken

Irina Mayra Cremildo, founder, Kusafiri Afrika LDA (Mozambique)

Making travel and tourism arrangements can often be stressful, particularly for companies and people with complex needs, but Irina Mayra Cremildo, founder of Kusafiri Afrika LDA in Mozambique, has the specialist services to make travel less of a chore and a real pleasure.

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