10 young women who will lead African business in future

One of the biggest events that will define the future of Africa entrepreneurship is holding this weekend.

Organised by  She Leads Africa, an African-focused social enterprise, the event will feature 10 young female entrepreneurs who will champion Africa’s economic growth in the future.

The journey started with a business pitch competition was launched in June to “provide entrepreneur development, networks and funding for promising female entrepreneurs who have the ambition and drive to be the business leaders of tomorrow, building companies that will become pan-African and global leaders”.

After that, 10 talented young entrepreneurs were chosen from a list of 380 applicants from 27 countries.

“These finalists represent some of the best and the brightest entrepreneurial talent in Africa, and we look forward to seeing the outcome of the competition,” co-founder of She Leads Africa, Yasmin Belo-Osagie, said.

The inaugural competition has attracted seasoned African entrepreneurs including chairman of Etisalat Nigeria, Hakeem Bello-Osagie; CEO of Standard Chartered Nigeria, Bola Adesola; and Ngozi Edozien, former managing director for private equity firm Actis, who will mentor them.

Final prizes of more than $30,000 in cash and prizes. Non-financial prizes such as phones and tablets, brand consultation, free office space, access to prominent venture capitalists and angel investors, as well as additional tools needed in order to expand their existing start-ups and achieve their business dreams will also be available for winners.

TheCable spoke with these emerging female entrepreneurs about their thoughts and aspiration on the competition.

Winnifred Selby (Afrocentric Bamboo Limited)

A finalist of the Cartier Women’s Award, Winnifred Selby is a 19-year-old Set Africa Fellow and Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum. She is a graduate of the Joy Standard College, and is an outstanding leader and serial social entrepreneur who has created a team of dedicated young social entrepreneurs who work together to create new commodities and markets for young people. Winnifred serves as the CEO of Afrocentric Bamboo Limited, a Ghana-based company that takes advantage of the country’s abundant bamboo to address the transportation needs of rural dwellers and producing bamboo bike frames for the international export markets while training women entrepreneurs to use bamboo waste to manufacture charcoal briquettes.

“I hope to build my capacity and improve upon my business presentation skills, network with female entrepreneurs and investors from other parts of the continent and the diaspora and take advantage of the tailored business training and other mentoring and consultancy opportunities offered by She Leads to take my business to the next level,” she said.

Banke Kuku (founder, Banke Kuku Textiles)

“I have been fascinated with textiles as far back as I can remember. I was knitting at age five; I would always pick the floral dresses and draw patterns on everything with a felt tip pen! So going into the textile industry was a very natural and easy decision for me.”

Banke Kuku Textiles fuses traditional African with western culture to create, intricate, unique and luxurious fabrics for the interior and fashion industries.

“I applied to She Leads Africa for the opportunity to meet likeminded entrepreneurs and the expert panel to further develop my business,” she said “I hope to take away better understanding of my business model and expert advice from the mentors.”

Oyindamola Honey Ogundeyi (founder, Fashpa.com)

She has over 10 years experience in Technology & Consulting, with experience from Global Companies such as McKinsey & Co, Ericsson and Google.

Fashpa.com is filling the online-fashion gap that exists in Nigeria by redefining how fashion is accessed, providing affordable high-street fashion that is not readily available to offline shoppers.

“I look forward to taking advice, learning and feedback on how to build a successful business in Africa from a great selection of Investors, Mentors and Business owners as well as access to a network of female entrepreneurs leading the way in Africa.”

Elizabeth Kperrun (founder, Lizzie creations):

She is an entrepreneur passionate about creating a better life for underprivileged women and children. And that is essentially what Lizzie’s Creations is about. It sets out to create mobile applications targeted towards the education and enlightenment of women and children. So far, it has developed the award winning app “AfroTalez”, a story-telling app for kids. The company is currently working on the pilot episode of an interactive novel titled Choices.

“I hope to take away a wealth of knowledge about entrepreneurship and the growth of technology in Africa and the role women in general have to play in this field.”