Ifeyinwa Ogar, a Nigerian food processing and bundling entrepreneur

July 14, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekeneder Cover Story

Roki Foods Ltd, a food processing and bundling company offering affordable, nutritious, and convenient food bundles for middle-income earners in Nigeria

Ifeyinwa Ogar is the visionary founder of Roki Foods, a company dedicated to helping middle-income earners in Nigeria save money on grocery shopping. With a robust background in commercial banking, Ifeyinwa brings eight years of experience as a Relationship Manager and Branch Manager. Her academic achievements include a degree in Psychology and a diploma in Economics, which have equipped her with a deep understanding of human behaviour and economic principles.

SHEO: A Guide to Female Entrepreneurship and Financial Freedom by Ashona Fyffe

July 7, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

Embark on a transformative journey towards entrepreneurship and financial empowerment with "SHEO: A Guide to Female Entrepreneurship and Financial Freedom,” written by Ashona Fyffe, a trailblazing entrepreneur and advocate for women's economic empowerment. Her book is a comprehensive roadmap designed to empower women to realize their entrepreneurial dreams and achieve financial independence. Drawing upon her own experiences and insights, Ashona offers practical advice, actionable strategies, and invaluable guidance to help women navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities of entrepreneurship.

Thato Schermer, a South African healthcare access champion

July 7, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Zoie Health Technologies, a digital health platform dedicated to making women's and family health & wellness in Africa more accessible

Thato Schermer is the co-founder of Zoie Health Technologies, a digital health platform dedicated to making women's and family health & wellness in Africa more accessible. She is a passionate young South African, enthralled by the possibilities for Africa's future. Thato is dedicated to business for the greater good, technology’s potential to solve problems in Africa, writing, and driving the cause of women’s empowerment. After completing her honours business degree at the University of Cape Town, alongside a Business French qualification from the Paris Chamber of Commerce and numerous international internships, she started her career as a management consultant at a global management consultancy. She worked predominantly in the digital practice, with her work spanning industries such as banking, infrastructure, and technology across regions including East Africa, Spain, Turkey, and Asia-Pacific.

Delegation, for sustainable growth - you have to learn to love it!

July 5, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department

Having watched in awe the truly inspirational Lionesses pitching at our Start-Up Night Africa event in The Hague last month (see here the event page with all their brilliant pitches), we recognised that here was a group of businesswomen all seriously engaged, knowing how to take their companies to the next level. They were all in growth or high growth mode and were obviously loving the journey.

Irina Samade, a Mozambican serial entrepreneur manufacturing accessories using natural resources

July 4, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Irina Samade, Founder and Designer, Rawá (Mozambique)

Startup Story

Irina Samade is the Founder and Designer of the Rawá brand in Mozambique. She has worked to build this brand for the past 4 years, and in addition to Rawá, she is also the Founder and Floral Designer of Frangipani Flores. She has worked in this area of business for 15 years and is now a 41 year old entrepreneur. Irina is passionate about flowers and the idea of being able to use natural resources in art, consciously using what nature offers and discards.

Lerato Zulu, a South African entrepreneur building a growing cleaning product manufacturing business

July 4, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lerato Zulu, founder, ChemWeb (South Africa)

Startup Story

Lerato Zulu is the founder of ChemWeb, a South African manufacturing business producing household and industrial cleaning detergents in accordance with the strictest Quality Management System as specified by ISO, thus ensuring consistent quality of the highest standard, while maintaining competitive prices. The company offers a wide range of cleaning products necessary for maintaining hygiene and cleanliness of households, hospitals, learning institutions and essentially all environments of work.

Chroma-preneurship: The Secret Palette of Business Success

July 3, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Marilize Jacobs

Imagine stepping into an office that instantly calms your nerves, or presenting your brand in a way that speaks volumes without saying a word. This is the subtle, yet powerful impact of color psychology or chroma-preneurship, a concept not widely recognised in traditional vocabulary, representing the ingenious application of colour psychology to entrepreneurial endeavours.

Expectation vs reality: how to navigate disappointment

July 3, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Marjon Meyer

How has life treated you so far this year? For most people life is a mix of uneventful days, days of great joy, but then also some days of frustration, disappointment, sadness and other negative experiences. One of the most difficult consequences of life is disappointment. Disappointments generally occur because an expected outcome or expectation did not realise. A huge amount of resilience is required to bounce back from these setbacks.

3 Non Verbal Communication Tips for Making a Confident Impression

July 3, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Laura Camacho, PhD

Have you ever noticed how the best professional photographers make brilliant first impressions and connect with models and ordinary people like you and me to get that stunning photograph? Today, I’m sharing 3 nonverbal communication tips I learned from a professional photographer and author, Nicholas Boothman. You probably already know that nonverbal factors are often much more impactful than your word choices.

Navigating the Future of Work

July 3, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Paula Quinsee

A recent Harvard Business Review article highlights a study indicating that 10% of U.S. jobs will be automated this year, with predictions that nearly half of all U.S. jobs could face automation within the next decade. Jobs most susceptible to automation are those involving repetitive and routine tasks, such as reading X-rays, truck driving, and stocking warehouses.

Celebrating a new generation of young women entrepreneurs building new businesses and creating jobs in South Africa

June 30, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Business Agility Webinar Report

The 3rd Lioness Business Agility Webinar of the year took place on 26 June, as always hosted in partnership with Absa, and this time focused on the theme of “YOUTH - celebrating a new generation of young women entrepreneurs building new businesses and creating jobs and opportunities for young people.” It’s an important topic because we need to recognise and support the work and commitment of young women entrepreneurs who are building successful, growth potential businesses and helping to drive economic growth in their communities. They are creating much-needed jobs with their businesses, whilst also creating proudly African products that the continent and the rest of the world wants to buy.

Burned: How Business Owners Can Overcome Burnout and Fuel Success by Julie Bee

June 30, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Book Review

Burned: How Business Owners Can Overcome Burnout and Fuel Success by Julie Bee is a step-by-step, practical guide for business owners to overcome, prevent, and leverage burnout in ways that fuel their growth and success. Burnout is an epidemic in the business owner community, and the guidance to overcome it by taking a vacation, getting more exercise, and incorporating meditation into their days isn’t the advice they need.

Soraya Voskuil, a South African entrepreneur building a personal development business specializing in transformative coaching

June 30, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Soraya Voskuil, Director, Elevate Coaching (South Africa)

Startup Story

Soraya Voskuil is a Director of Elevate Coaching in South Africa, a leading personal development company that specializes in providing transformative coaching and counselling services. She brings 22 years of corporate and personal expertise in all industries focusing on Personal and Leadership Development, Organizational Development and Productivity Improvement. She is an entrepreneur, counsellor, life coach, mother, with expertise in the fields of leadership, environmental change, inspiration, motivation, and emotional intelligence. Soraya has worked with various clients across multiple sectors such as banking, logistics, timeshare, catering, insurance, information technology, recruitment, retail, schools, government sectors and individuals on a personal level across the globe. Soraya has been successful in the sales and marketing, operations, procurement, accounts, payroll, HR, administration, teaching environment, having worked with staff in all positions to bring alignment to achieve the company’s vision. Her expertise in the fields of Leadership, Human Development, Relationships and Counselling will help to bring out the best and true character in people.

Arline Ferrão, a Mozambican entrepreneur building a green alternative to disposable bags

June 30, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Arline Ferrão, founder and managing partner, Kasunga (Mozambique)

Startup Story

Arline Ferrão is the founder and managing partner of Kasunga, a 100% Mozambican company and brand, committed to sustainability, offering personalized reusable bags and bags, produced with exceptional care, combining environmentally friendly materials and traditional African fabrics. Well-being and sustainability, in its environmental, social and human components, are at the center of its actions on different fronts. In addition to Kasunga, Arline is a psychologist focused on the area of mental health and well-being at work.

Merel van der Lei, an impact-driven SaaS female trailblazer

June 30, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Wyzetalk, a leading South African mobile-first employee experience platform enabling a connection for frontline workers

Merel van der Lei is the CEO of Wyzetalk, a leading South African mobile-first employee experience platform that enables a connection for frontline workers. With 20+ years’ experience, Merel has a wealth of knowledge in business and product strategy, employee engagement and designing impactful solutions, leveraging the power of feedback for continuous growth. Recognised as one of the SEG Female Trailblazers of SaaS in 2024, she leads with empathy and is solution and impact driven. Merel has made a concerted effort to bolster and mentor females in the industry as she effortlessly navigates the fast-paced and male-dominated landscape of the tech sector.

6 Habits to Create a Resilient Mindset

June 30, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Lori Milner

Resilience is hard-wired into us; it comes standard. It's not an extra you have to pay more for. Even though it's part of you, it can only be activated by choice. Not all situations are created equally, so I categorise resilience into Big R and Small r resilience. Big R resilience are those events that truly challenge us and can result from tragedy, unexpected change or loss.Then there is small r resilience, the daily speed bumps like having a difficult conversation, being let down, or not getting a great performance review. No matter how small it feels, it is real for you and does result in disappointment. Not all situations require the same level of resilience, but the small ones are as important to navigate as the big ones.

Artificial Intelligence and How It Is Regulated in Terms of Employee Screening

June 30, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Jenny Reid

The AI Act is a European regulation on artificial intelligence (AI)—the first comprehensive regulation of AI by a significant regulator anywhere. The Act assigns AI applications to three risk categories. 

10 Basics of Pitching to Potential Investors

June 30, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Helena Naitsuwe Amadhila

When pitching to potential investors, be prepared for all pitch levels such as 15 minutes, 10 minutes or 5 minutes. it's also important to be clear, concise, and compelling. Ensure that you follow these 10 basic steps:

Stepping Out of Comfort Zones, Embracing Change to Chase Your Dreams

June 30, 2024 Melanie Hawken

by Margaret Hirsch

Are you stuck in a job that pays well, puts a roof over your head and food on the table, but secretly, deep down, you really wish you could be doing something else?Something that would really fill your cup. I had this conversation with a friend recently. She has just turned 40 and is in a really good, well-paying job. She is top of her game but just feels that there is more out there. That’s exactly how I felt a few years ago and so I decided to make a change.

Shifting the dial for women entrepreneurs to access investment and new markets for growth

June 27, 2024 Melanie Hawken

Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa

This year, Lionesses of Africa marks another important milestone on our journey as social impact innovators. It is 10 years since we launched on the first Women’s Entrepreneurship Day in 2014 with a mission to empower Africa’s women entrepreneurs to fulfill their potential and drive economic growth on the continent. So much has happened since that launch, and our mission and vision has grown, as has the size of our Lionesses of Africa community - now 1.8 million women entrepreneurs strong, and still growing! We have much to reflect on and celebrate as we plan the next exciting phase of our entrepreneurial journey.

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