Success Stories for Women Entrepreneurs Entering Male-Dominated Fields in Africa: Post One – Divine Ndhlukula and Jennifer Riria

Areas like fashion and cookery, which have often been the preserve of women, have served female entrepreneurs in Africa well. But today, industries such as finance, tech, and manufacturing are no longer solely dominated by men. In fact, with a positive attitude and strong perseverance, women can achieve great success in these sectors. Here, I will share inspiring stories from two well-known women entrepreneurs in Africa who have both had huge successes in male-dominated spheres and who cite persistence as key.

Divine Ndhlukula entered private security because she saw the opportunity to do better, having experienced a lack of professionalism and delivery within the sector. Also, by building a large-scale security company in Zimbabwe, she sought to empower women who were struggling to find employment. According to Lionesses of Africa, she started up SECURICO in December 1998, equipped with one desk, one administrator (in addition to herself), and a staff of three security operatives.

Business was slow at first because clients needed persuading that a woman could successfully run a private security venture, and that the female security staff she employed would be capable and effective. But persistence paid off. Ndhlukula paved the way for more women to enter the male-dominated industry, and today, thanks to her strides, female security guards are nothing new.

Ndhlukula’s story is an important one for women entrepreneurs seeking to challenge gender roles in male-dominated industries. Note that SECURICO is now one of the largest and respected private security companies in Zimbabwe. (Read more of Divine Ndhlukula’s story at Lionesses of Africa.)

On entrepreneurship, Divine Ndhlukula says: “My advice to women all the time is: If you want a certain future, go out and create it. Conquer your fears, as that is what enslaves most women.” (Quoted via Adegoke Oyeniyi at enterprise54.com.)

Jennifer Riria, CEO of Kenya Women Holding, Kenya’s largest microfinance institution, grew up in poverty in a village on Mount Kenya, with nine siblings and a difficult family situation. But thanks to her mother’s insistence that she should live confidently, she decided that she wanted to enter finance to help Kenya’s struggling women. Not only did Riria end up in a male-dominated career, but she also entered the male-centered financial sphere because she wanted to help women who were struggling when it came to money matters. Now her community-driven organization gives loans to women and serves families through women. “We identify a woman in the family through whom we can provide access,” writes Riria in this piece at PassBlue by Elizabeth Walsh.

Jennifer Riria attributes her success to Women’s World Banking, a global nonprofit network dedicated to women’s finance. There, she was able to study finance and see how others enabled women financially. But it wasn’t an easy road. In 1992, writes Elizabeth Walsh at PassBlue, Riria was refused 2 million Kenyan shillings to credit loans for women. “Jennifer,” said the male banker, “do you want your women with their baskets to crowd my counters? Never!” Unsurprisingly, Riria left the bank angry, but when she entered a new bank, she was soon given help by a different male banker with a better attitude. The lesson? Persistence is key, even when it seems the world is against you.

Misogyny isn’t the only challenge. Members of Riria’s staff have encountered violence when collecting loans. One member of staff even died from such an attack, to Riria’s great sadness. But she is passionate about the incredible strides that Kenya Women Holdings has made for women in Africa. At PassBlue, she says, “High moments are when a woman walks up to me and tells me, ‘If it was not for Kenya Women, my children would never have gone to school.’ You just cry because you are so happy.”

On entrepreneurship, Jennifer Riria says, “Have the humility to accept your failure so that you can use that as a basis as you move on. I never say I have a problem. I say I have a challenge. A challenge is like a pearl [that] grows in an oyster, and it is an irritant to the oyster, but when they come out, they are precious. So you, as an entrepreneur, must find out what your pearls are. I use challenges as a basis to springboard to a better standard.” 

Look out for more tips and success stories from successful women entrepreneurs in Africa who entered male-dominated spheres in Post 2 of this short series. 

--Chimuka Moore