Chimuka Moore

While women’s entrepreneurship faces many challenges in Africa, younger women entrepreneurs who are starting out often deal with even more hurdles. Fortunately, feminist organizations are keen to empower, educate, and connect young female entrepreneurs. Take a look at these two platforms that are helping talented young women in business to access the opportunities they need to succeed. She Leads Africa: She Leads Africa is a community that helps young African women achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. Run by Yasmin Belo-Osagie and Afua Osei, She Leads Africa has been featured on CNN, CNBC Africa, Forbes, and elsewhere. The platform offers knowledge and support to young, female entrepreneurs in Africa, and organizes networking events, courses, tools, and direct access to career and business experts. In addition, She Leads Africa currently offers a six-month accelerator program for talented women entrepreneurs who make the cut. In a CNN interview, the She Leads Africa fou...

Though it has become easier for women entrepreneurs to do business in Africa, gender equality remains a challenge. However, according to the World Bank, 50% of all enterprises in Africa are now women owned, and 25% of Africa’s women have set up their own businesses from scratch. (Read more about this on the Lionesses of Africa website .) Perhaps much of this success is down to the way feminist entrepreneurs support one another on the continent. In this post, I’ll share networks that seek to empower and connect women entrepreneurs in Africa. Alchemy Women in Leadership (A. WiL), Zambia Alchemy Women in Leadership (A. WiL) is committed to supporting a higher representation of female leadership in Zambia through capacity development, advocacy and partnerships. The initiative supports both current and future Zambian female leaders by offering training, mentoring, scholarship, and networking opportunities. Its Leadership Academy courses include Women on Board (Board of Directors...

Starting a business in Africa is an exciting but challenging prospect for women entrepreneurs from the U.S. and beyond. For this reason, and as an entrepreneur who has launched her own business ventures in Africa, I strongly advise finding a local partner to work with. In this post, I outline why women entrepreneurs should consider a local partnership in their country of interest, and share advice on how to find a reliable and worthwhile partner. Why Work with a Strong Local Partner? ●       They Bring Local Knowledge : As an outsider, it is easy to misunderstand a culture, but this can be disastrous for a business, not only in terms of political, linguistic, and social knowledge, but also with regard to market trends and cultural mores. It will be in a strong partner’s best interest to set you straight, and given that they are likely to have many years of experience in your given industry, it is certainly wise to heed their advice. ●   ...

For women entrepreneurs in Africa, it isn’t enough to simply launch your business. You also need to build your brand in order to attract your customers. Your brand encapsulates the identity of your business, and will ideally form a strong connection with your target audience. At Lionesses of Africa , Raksha Mahabeer suggests you develop your brand by asking, “Imagine your business was a person…. What would she look like? How would she talk? What would she say?” Here are some more tips from women entrepreneurs on branding your African business. Focus on What’s Meaningful When Building Your Business Brand: Raksha Mahabeer is co-owner of SummerTime , a creative studio specializing in design, branding, and marketing. She helps women entrepreneurs develop a meaningful, memorable, and consistent brand. At Lionesses of Africa , Mahebeer explains, “You need to have a clear vision of how to create your brand, and what your brand stands for and promises.” A meaningful brand, writes Maha...

In “A Beginner’s Guide to Social Media in Africa for Women Entrepreneurs,” we looked at popular social networks in Africa, and the importance of sharing stories, championing causes, and making connections on social media. Now, we will look more closely at social media strategies that can support and empower women’s entrepreneurship in Africa. Images Delight and Surprise: Images are widely shared in Africa, especially on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter, emphasizing the personal, and bringing causes and stories to life. But WhatsApp, which is often a favorite African social network, poses challenges for image marketing due to its reliance on personal messaging. The privacy that users value when chatting on WhatsApp makes it harder for them to share images widely. For a powerful example of WhatsApp image marketing, however, check out this famed Coca-Cola campaign . Inspired by the question, “Can you share a Coke on WhatsApp?” Coke’s marketing team built a robot that, upon recei...

Accessibility to social networks may be limited in Africa, but a reported nine percent of the population who do use social media often view it as important and empowering. Given that access to cell phones is widespread in the continent, use of social networks and messaging apps is increasing by the year among businesses, customers, schools, and students . In fact, the 2014 “Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology” report from the Pew Research Global Attitudes Project (as quoted in ventureafrica.com ) reports that about 78 percent of Africa’s internet usage is for social media. No wonder female entrepreneurs doing business in Africa are using social networks to support each other. In the first of this series of posts for women entrepreneurs looking to use social media in Africa, we’ll review some of the main social networks, as well as how women entrepreneurs are using them.   Social Networks Popular in Africa Facebook long dominated social networking in A...

More and more women entrepreneurs are seeking to do business in Africa, and given the potential the culture offers, this isn’t surprising. Africa’s population is predicted to reach 2 billion by 2050, and the country’s own female entrepreneurs are using their businesses to empower one another. But if you’re seeking to do business in Africa, it can be hard to know where to start. Below, I provide a checklist to support your first steps. 1. Adopt a Positive Attitude: For women in particular, it pays to maintain a “can do” attitude when working in male dominated industries in Africa. While women were once restricted to home and caretaking roles, today’s Africa offers more rich and diverse opportunities. (Just look to Forbes Woman Africa for examples of empowered female entrepreneurship today). There are some men in Africa that are also increasingly open to working with women—in fact, they often view women as being especially reliable. Yes, it takes patience, positivity, and per...