The Market Matters 2017 African Agribusiness Entrepreneur of the Year Award has just been presented to Ms. Monica Musonda, founder and owner of Java Foods in Zambia.  Ms. Musonda and Java Foods’ contribution to Africa’s agribusiness sector and food security was officially recognized during the Closing Banquet of the 2017 Making Markets Matter Executive Training Program for the African Agribusiness Sector in Somerset West, South Africa, on 11 May 2017. Java Foods joins a list of 8 other pioneering African entrepreneurs in receiving this honor.

Zambian businesswoman Monica Musonda has been awarded the MEDays 2016 Forum “Champion of the South” award by the Amadeus Institute, an independent Moroccan think-tank, at a ceremony in Tangiers, Morocco. The recognition was for her creation of her innovative company, Java Foods, which is a model for a new generation of business leaders.

Do you want to be a spectator or a participant in your country? Monica Musonda narrates her journey into entrepreneurship as a Zambian woman. Working for the richest man in Africa, her former employer Aliko Dangote asked “Where are the Zambian Banks & Factories?” Monica reflected on how Nigerians run their economy and this inspired her to actively participate in her own country’s economy.

Zambian entrepreneur Monica Musonda is the founder of Java Foods who produce the eeZee instant noodles brand. In a recent webcast, ''Secrets for a Successful Start-Up' webinar organised by The Tony Elumelu Foundation, Monica shared some of the lessons she has learnt in business and answered questions posed to her by participants. Below are 5 key lessons she has learnt in business.

Source: How We Made It in Africa | by Kate Douglas | 12 June 2015

In 2012 Monica Musonda left her 15-year career as a successful commercial lawyer to return to her home country Zambia and set up a food processing company, Java Foods. The company supplies the market with the eeZee instant noodles brand.

This inspirational and award-winning entrepreneur is a testimony to hard work, perseverance and a can-do attitude to building a major food brand, Java Foods, and also improving the nutrition of a country and a continent.

This month, the Choiseul Institute of France has just published its inaugural list of Africa’s 100 Most Promising Young Business Leaders Under the Age of 40, and making the rankings are seven women entrepreneurs, our Lionesses of Africa.

TechTrends, the Zambian web-based Technology Publication recently  attended the Bongohive Insaka in Lusaka who hosted as their guest speaker Monica Musonda, the founder and CEO of Java Foods, a Zambian based food processing company known for it’s highly affordable ‘eeZee’ brand of noodles.

Read their interesting article in which Monica shares some of the best ways for any start-up business to progress and stresses the need for one to have passion in whatever business you want to start. 

Find the TechTrends article here.

Check out the Forbes list featuring Monica Musonda.

- Monica Musonda, is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Java Foods in Zambia.

How we made it in Africa’s Dinfin Mulupi conducts a fascinating article interview with Monica Musonda in which she shares her plans for the company she founded, Java Foods; as well as the opportunities she believes exist in Africa for entrepreneurs; and finally she shares what she learnt working for Africa's wealthiest entrepreneur, Aliko Dangote.

Read the interview with Monica Musonda here.