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.

Media Release

Highlighting the critical role of investment and the power of partnerships to address the gender finance gap for high-growth women entrepreneurs in Africa and the Netherlands, were the key focus of discussion at the 2nd Start-Up Night Africa event on 11 June 2024, in The Hague, The Netherlands. The event was once again hosted by Lionesses of Africa, a fast-growing social impact organization with 1.8 million women entrepreneurs across the African continent, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Netherlands, African Guarantee Fund, AFAWA, and Absa. Opening remarks were delivered by Lionesses of Africa founder & ceo, Melanie Hawken; Peter Derrek Hof, Ambassador Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, Director Social Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Nishdeep Sethi, Group Director, Structured Finance, African Guarantee Fund. Also providing a welcome address was Erik Parigger, Programme Coordinator Orange Corners.

Startup Night Africa, The Hague 2024

As a key driver of Lionesses of Africa’s ‘Access to Markets and Investment Programme,’ Start-Up Night Africa in The Hague aimed to connect Africa’s high-growth women entrepreneurs to European investment opportunities, and women entrepreneurs in The Netherlands looking to access African markets and partnerships. We showcased 10 inspirational women entrepreneurs in growth-mode at the event on 11 June 2024, all looking for new investment, markets, and collaboration opportunities. If you didn’t get to meet each of them on the evening, then take a look at their pitch videos below, which have all been published on the Lionesses of Africa website, and make those all important connections now.

Startup Night Africa, The Hague / Lionesses in Profile

As a key driver of Lionesses of Africa’s ‘Access to Markets and Investment Programme,’ Start-Up Night Africa in The Hague aimed to connect Africa’s high-growth women entrepreneurs to international markets and investment opportunities. We showcased 10 inspirational women entrepreneurs in growth-mode at the event on 11 July 2023, all looking for new investment, markets, and collaboration opportunities. If you didn’t get to meet each of them on the evening, then take a look at their start-up stories below, which have all been published on the Lionesses of Africa website, and make those all important connections now.

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.

Lioness Business Agility Series / Live Webinar / In partnership with Absa

This has been a tough 18 months for business, and there is still so much uncertainty to deal with. So how do you now make the move from just trying to survive the current ups and downs as a business and instead fast-track your success? It’s all about harnessing the power of digital transformation. That’s the topic for the latest in the series of Lioness Business Agility Webinars taking place on Wednesday 22 September at 9.45am.

Absa Lionesses Xpo

A wealth of opportunity is open for corporate buyers, CEOs and other decision-makers to connect and engage with 117 leading women entrepreneurs from a range of industry sectors in South Africa at the web-based Absa Lionesses Xpo, a sophisticated virtual exhibition platform, which went live on 29 October.

Absa Lionesses Xpo

Doing business with women entrepreneurs has never been more vital, as South Africa grapples with the ripple-effect of the extended lockdown and economic crisis. The challenge is to connect women business owners with potential corporate buyers. Against this backdrop, the Absa Lionesses Xpo has been developed to showcase a diverse array of products and services from 117 of South Africa’s exciting women-owned businesses on a sophisticated virtual platform that will be launched on 29 October. The initiative is a partnership between Lionesses of Africa and Absa.

VW Lionesses Den Competition

Volkswagen South Africa in partnership with Lionesses of Africa, are thrilled to announce the winners of the VW Lionesses Den competition. The panel of judges have selected the top three pitches after calling on women-owned businesses all over South Africa to share a two-minute pitch to win a total of R175,000 cash injection for their businesses. The winners will use the capital to invest in their businesses and in turn, help drive the South African economy forward.

Event Report

Many businesses are trying to relaunch following the recent lockdown in South Africa, and importantly ensure their brands are visible in an increasingly competitive marketplace. However, without having the luxury of big ad spend budgets to achieve that visibility and customer connection, some innovative thinking and reinvention is required. The 2nd Lioness Business Agility Webinar, in partnership with Absa, took place on 19 June 2020 - the aim was to bring together leading women entrepreneurs with years of experience in brand building, to share their very personal insights and experiences on how to build a brand to last, post the COVID pandemic.

Event report / Lioness Enterprise

At Lionesses of Africa, we know how tough this lockdown has been on women entrepreneurs in our community across the African continent. It’s more critical now than ever that we remain agile to survive and thrive - and importantly to stay connected with each other. So it was exciting to launch the first in a series of special Lioness Enterprise Webinars on Thursday 30 April in partnership with Absa.

Event Report

A packed audience of passionate, ambitious women entrepreneurs with growth on their minds gathered together in Johannesburg on the morning of 6 March for the second Lioness Lean In event of the year - and what an inspirational morning it was. The event provided the perfect early celebration of International Women’s Day, and what better way of marking the occasion than with a gathering of 150 amazing women entrepreneurs, all looking to share, inspire and connect.

Event Report

The first Lioness Lean In event of the year is always a special one, and this was certainly the case for 2020. On 7 February, women entrepreneurs came out in force in Johannesburg, gathering once again in the familiar surroundings of Volkswagen South Africa’s Sandton headquarters. The venue was the perfect spot for the event, with one of the best views of Sandton for attendees to enjoy.

Event Report

The UK-Africa Investment Summit on 20 January 2020 laid the foundations for new partnerships between the UK and African nations based on trade, investment, shared values and mutual interest. Billions of pounds of new commercial deals were announced highlighting the strength of the UK’s offer and existing relationship with Africa. The UK also announced new initiatives and funding which will: strengthen the joint trading relationship, support African countries in their ambition to transform their economies, launch a major new partnership with the city of London, turbo-charge infrastructure financing, and enable Africa’s clean energy potential. Women’s economic empowerment through entrepreneurship was also high on the agenda. The UK’s ambition is to be the investment partner of choice for Africa, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and ensuring the mutual prosperity of all our nations.

Event Report

On 17 January, Lionesses of Africa Founder & CEO, Melanie Hawken, joined other senior business and government leaders at a High-Level SDG Investment Roundtable in London, hosted on the margins of the UK-Africa Investment Summit. The focus of the roundtable was to discuss how to unlock private investment across the African Continental Free Trade Area to realize Sustainable Development Goals. 

Lioness Weekender Cover Story

Women entrepreneurs from the Lionesses of Africa community took part in a special business event on 16 January in London designed to champion African women in business, ahead of the UK-Africa Investment Summit next week. Start-up Night Africa! London saw 11 women Founders, CEOs and entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to a room of UK investors, buyers, influencers and media as one of a number of focused events organized in the lead up to the summit.  

Event Report | LionessLeanInENTERPRISE

Bringing a close to a packed Lioness Lean In Enterprise schedule for 2019 in South Africa, hosted in partnership with ABSA, the final event the took place on 4 December in the innovative environment of the Equinox Centre in Sandton, Johannesburg. Over the past few months, these special Lioness Lean In Enterprise events have aimed to bring high growth potential women entrepreneurs together in one room to talk about how they address their challenges with access to funding, markets, and opportunities. And importantly, because of the impact partnership with Absa, also potential solutions to those challenges.

Event Report

The topic of how to unpack constraints to gender equality was the primary focus of the Global Gender Summit held on 25 to 27 November in the beautiful city of Kigali in Rwanda. The event got underway with a glittering Opening Ceremony at the Kigali Convention Centre, featuring welcoming remarks from Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, and His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda. The morning’s programme set the tone for the event as a whole, with a high level panel discussion featuring both opening speakers, and including His Excellency Sahle-Work Zewde, President of Ethiopia; His Excellency Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission; and Ms Lerato Motsamai, Founder and CEO, Petrolink.

Event report 

On 11 November, in the heart of New York City, an audience of around 70 US asset owners and investment advisors gathered together for an event hosted by Morgan Stanley and the United Nations Capital Development Fund. The topic of discussion was how these asset owners could gender their portfolios and support women entrepreneurs through investing. Lionesses of Africa Founder and CEO, Melanie Hawken, was one of the guest speakers sharing her insights on the subject at this prestigious event.

Event Report

There is nothing quite like experiencing exciting products and services up close and in person, not to mention meeting the inspirational women entrepreneurs who are their creators. On the morning of 7 November, Lionesses of Africa, in partnership with Absa, hosted a truly memorable Demo Day showcase of 23 of the most exciting, high growth businesses and their world-class products and services. A packed audience of 100 buyers, corporate decision-makers and bankers gathered together at the Houghton Hotel in Johannesburg to meet these women entrepreneurs who are being tipped to take their businesses to the next level in 2020.

Event Report

It was another city first for Lionesses of Africa on Wednesday 30 October as the latest Lioness Lean In Enterprise took place for high growth potential women entrepreneurs in the city. Once again in this important series of events, it was hosted in partnership with ABSA.

Event Report

On the morning of Friday 25 October, around 80 leading women entrepreneurs from Luanda gathered together for the first in a series of popular Lioness Lean In networking events in Angola. The event was hosted by Lionesses of Africa and Standard Bank Angola. The event built on the host of events that have been held already in Africa’s leading cities on the continent by Lionesses of Africa in partnership with Standard Bank Group over the past five years. As always, the focus of the event was on women entrepreneurs sharing their startup stories, inspiring each other with their experiences, and of course, lots of networking.

Event Report

The most recent city stop on the Lioness Lean In Enterprise tour of South Africa was Durban, home to some of the most diverse yet exciting businesses, created by women entrepreneurs with growth in mind. Lionesses of Africa once again partnered with Absa to encourage these women business and brand builders to share, inspire and connect for greater business success.

Event Report

It was a long anticipated event, but when the first Lioness Lean In event in Lagos, Nigeria took place on Thursday 17 October at the Wheatbaker Hotel in Ikoyi, cohosted by Lionesses of Africa and Sigma Pensions, the atmosphere was buzzing. Around 120 leading women entrepreneurs from across the city came to be inspired, motivated and to connect for greater business success. It was a recipe for a great event - and it didn’t disappoint!

Event Report

A cold sea breeze may have been blowing across Cape Town on the morning of Friday 4 October, but it did nothing to deter the spirits of the 100 women entrepreneurs who gathered at The Argyle in Woodstock for the latest Lioness Lean In event. The welcome was warm, the breakfast and hot coffee gave a much needed boost, and energy levels were high as the conversation and networking got underway.

The global news media was abuzz this month with the Royal Visit to Africa by their royal highnesses, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Lionesses of Africa had the opportunity to meet with the Duchess and talk women’s entrepreneurship in Africa during the final leg of their visit to Johannesburg. The occasion was a special reception hosted by Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Africa, Mrs Emma Wade-Smith OBE, at her official residence in the city.

Event Report

The women entrepreneurs of Port Elizabeth in South Africa may have had to wait a while for a Lioness Lean In event to be hosted in their city, but when the first event arrived on 27 September, they turned out in force. It was a celebration of entrepreneurial spirit, tenacity and the power of women entrepreneurs to connect and collaborate for business success.

Event Report

On a warm and bright morning in Francistown, Botswana, local women entrepreneurs gathered at the latest Lioness Lean In breakfast event, to share their entrepreneurial experiences, learn from one another, and of course, to network and generate new business opportunities. It was a morning of inspiration and friendship building that will continue long after the event itself.

Event Report

On the morning of Wednesday 11 September, 70 women entrepreneurs gathered together for the latest in the series of popular Lioness Lean In networking events in Windhoek, once again hosted by Lionesses of Africa and Nedbank Namibia. As always, the focus of the event was on women business builders sharing their startup stories, inspiring each other with their experiences, and of course, lots of networking.

Event Report

A gloomy rainy morning in Johannesburg did not deter a packed audience of 150 women entrepreneurs from gathering together for the September edition of the Lioness Lean In event, held at VWSA headquarters in Sandton. As always the atmosphere was lively, warm and filled with the sound of women doing business, the hallmark of a good Lioness Lean In event.