In the running for one of the biggest jobs on the continent, Senegal’s Amadou Hott is no stranger to public life. As a former Minister of Economy, Planning, and Cooperation in his home country, former Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Corporate CEO, he hopes to use all of those experiences to maximize development and impact on the continent. Excerpts from an interview with FORBES AFRICA in March:



Q. Having been a part of the AfDB, there is continuity attached to the President’s role you’re seeking. How has this journey been?



A. These are exciting times for Africa, and I feel it’s really the right time for me to step in, and following my 25 years of leadership experience across continents, in both public and private sectors, with the multilateral development banks, and having actually started and managed Senegal’s sovereign wealth fund–which is now one of the most credible sovereign funds on the continent–and having been in investment banking, mobilizing resources and capital for both the public and the private sectors, I feel I’m well-equipped now to really serve by leading this bank and supporting Africa, especially in this environment, where the needs are bigger than ever before. The young people are impatient to see their lives transformed. But, also at a time when geopolitics [has seen] the aid budget globally going down, we need a bank that is very innovative, that can really do more with less, but leverage and have a bigger impact than before…I am confident that once elected, I will be able to take the AfDB to the next level. The bank has done greatly for the last 60 years; each president has done something unique. Specifically, during the last 10 years [under President Akinwumi Adesina], we’ve seen big innovations, projects and initiatives. And I think we can build on that, to really accelerate whatever we are doing for Africa’s development.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5547-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-65031" style="width:566px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5547-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5547-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5547-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5547-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5547-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photographs by Manelisi Dabata</figcaption></figure></div>


To take a step back and reflect on your own personal trajectory, growing up in Dakar, from a young age, what were your influences?



A. I was born in a fairly large family, with several brothers and sisters, in the suburbs of Dakar, in difficult and relatively tough neighborhoods. My father was a truck driver, but he was keen to see us study. He would push us when we came back home from school and say, ‘you have to read everything you studied today’. We studied hard.



I received a scholarship from the government of Senegal, and went on to study in Strasbourg, and then in Paris. As a child, I loved mathematics. We had a blackboard in our room, where my siblings and I, and even friends from the neighborhood, would learn math.



I wanted to study overseas and become a professor. I wanted to do a PhD but I became a banker by accident. During the summer of 1995, I was playing football in Paris when I met a banker, played football with him and at the end of the game in the evening, I told him my background and he said ‘you should get into banking, you can teach later if you want but these roles in banking are exciting where you can use math and finance’, and I did.



Q. What charted your rise to becoming a public servant? Is this something you always wanted to do?



A. I had left to the investment banking world, and was called into government to start from scratch a sovereign wealth fund to invest in our economy–not a sovereign wealth fund that would invest overseas, but one that would leverage small money and build the projects, develop them, and make them bankable, then attract both domestic and international capital. I started with hiring a very good team and doing the first solar deals, the independent power producers, where we produce solar power and sell it to the utility, which many countries are doing now in Africa, but we started early on solar. That was in 2015 and we developed the project, supporting a local developer, then attracting an international developer&#8230;



Q. If you become the president of the AfDB, how will you navigate complex regional dynamics, and still stay a neutral and impartial continental institution?



A. My background and experience have enabled me to be able to navigate complex situations, and adapt myself to cultures globally. I haven’t had any issues making sure that I’m adapting myself also to the continent’s cultural, political, and economic diversity. This requires us to understand countries, but also regional dynamics. I think that is very critical, and I’m prepared and equipped to do that better than anyone else. Because, from 2004, even if I was outside Africa, all my interventions up to now have been focused on the continent. So, while I was a banker in London, at ABN AMRO, for example, I was focused on the continent. While in Dubai, I was a banker focused on the continent. In Nigeria too. And, then, at the AfDB as a vice president, working with both the private and public sector, increasing the investment with the private sector by 150% on the energy side within just two and a half years… all of that means you need to understand local cultures; you can manage staff in the most impactful way.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5439-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-65032" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5439-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5439-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5439-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5439-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5439-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_5439-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photographs by Manelisi Dabata</figcaption></figure></div>


Q. How do you view the African diaspora? People say Africa is going to the rest of the world, but it’s actually the world catching up with what Africa has in terms of talent and natural resources…



A. First of all, from the outside, in particular, within our diaspora, people always want to come back to Africa if they find the right opportunity, whether as entrepreneurs or working for an international organization or multinational, people know that the future is Africa. Within 10 years, we’ll have 500 million people aged between 15 and 35, and we know the natural resources the continent has. Some of them are very strategic for energy transition, including the critical mineral resources Africa has. In this new era, everyone would want to have a piece of that, but Africa needs to make sure also that its interests are defended, that it is transforming its natural resources as much as possible. And that it’s not just exporting raw materials. People talk about it, but I think it’s the time to do it. If you do not have the right energy systems, the right business environment, there is no way we can add value to our natural resources on the ground. Because you need energy, you need to ask for capital, you need to do your reforms and have the best business environment possible, such as what countries in Southeast Asia did in the 1960s and 1970s. You do the best reforms, you create the conditions and the people in our own continent will feel more comfortable to invest at home, and then you also attract international investors and FDIs.



 Q. &nbsp; As President, how would you elevate the discussion on infrastructure development?



A. It’s critical to have the right energy systems, to have affordable, reliable, as-clean-as-possible energy, in particular, electricity, and also focus on the system that will help us industrialize. This is critical, needing a lot of resources and reforms. The AfDB has launched a new initiative with the World Bank, called Mission 300, with the aim to provide access to electricity to 300 million people [in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030]. As president, I will focus on that and make it happen over the next five years. But then, you need the transport infrastructure, the digital infrastructure. There is no way the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement will become a reality without the connectivity, the road corridors, the rails, and the bank needs now to mobilize both public and private resources, with a big shift towards private sector mobilization. That’s very critical for the future, because we also want to create jobs, and jobs are created by private sector investment; not only the public sector.



Q. &nbsp; How&nbsp;are&nbsp;you going to enable the entrepreneurial ecosystem for these young people?



A. I want to stress the importance of education and enhancing the skills of our young people to make sure they are ready for the economic opportunities our continent will provide… Number one, I would rather train almost everybody and have most of them stay on the continent to help build the continent&#8230; Number two, we cannot provide economic opportunities to everybody via the job market. Some of them will be entrepreneurs and self-employed innovators who will be creating jobs for others. And you need to support them with technical assistance, but also grant money or venture capital equity. The bank has what we call the youth entrepreneurship investment program and has already developed it in a few countries. We have got to make sure that becomes a reality, and adapt it to our countries’ institutional frameworks. The goal is to provide technical assistance and equity investment guarantees pretty early, so that the banking sector can be ready to finance those innovators. And then also work with the government so that the rules, regulations and framework for supporting startups are in place. In some countries, they are, but in some countries, we don’t have them yet. And I think the bank can engage in active dialogue with those countries so that while you’re putting in place the youth entrepreneurship investment banks, we are also fostering the right reforms and regulations. For me, that is extremely important.



Q. &nbsp; What are your plans for prioritizing climate change? What is on your agenda?



A. The bank has done very well in climate finance, and during my vice presidency. In 2017, 100% of the bank’s investment in electricity production was in renewable energy. For me, maximizing renewable energy is very important because the continent has the resources and you cannot easily export renewable energy, but you can produce gas or other technologies and export, instead of consuming it yourselves. But your systems cannot have only renewable energy. You have got to have a base load that allows you to maximize renewable energy. You can do storage as well, but all of that has limitations, so the system has to have the right energy mix to achieve two goals mainly, to make sure that we have access to affordable, reliable and the cleanest-possible energy; and then industrialize, and you cannot industrialize only with renewable energy. It’s still expensive to try to industrialize with say, green hydrogen. The day it becomes cheaper, Africa will be unstoppable in terms of having green industrialization. But it’s a process, and we cannot wait for that to happen. That’s why it’s very important to use gas, which is stable energy, which is also the least polluting of all the non-renewable energy technologies, and for me, industrialization, transforming our natural resources into something that helps us create jobs and increase the wealth for ourselves, is very important.



Q. &nbsp; A corporate CEO, a public servant, a DFI leader… which role have you enjoyed the most?



A. To tell you the truth, I have enjoyed all of them–as a banking CEO, a sovereign wealth fund CEO, as the vice president of the AfDB, and it has also been equally exciting as a minister. As the president of the bank, I would use those key experiences to make sure we are maximizing development and impact on the continent and that the bank is seen as the most friendly and most-efficient bank with the private sector and with the government. This is my goal, transforming the private sector business–if I can use those words–of the bank.



Q. You have worked with Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. What have your learnings been with the continent’s high-net-worth individuals?



A. I worked with Aliko and also with Tony Elumelu, another billionaire. Especially in Nigeria, what they all have in common is hard work and the boldness. If you work with them, you have got to work extremely hard. And of course, I also worked with Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the AfDB, very closely; these are extremely hard-working and driven people. If you work with them, you have got to do the same, otherwise, you’ll be left behind.



Q. &nbsp; One last question: if you win and go on to become President, are you going to continue to find time to play football?



A. (Laughs) Why not? Maybe I will organize a game or championship&#8230; and every year, we play football and then cooperate more and work more together. I haven’t played football over the last three months, but then, I have been walking and running. And even when I travel, I try to jog in the city for 30 minutes. When I am at home, my two daughters, aged 22 and 17, and my son, aged 12, sometimes organize football games with their friends, and they invite me and I run with them. Sometimes, they’re surprised!

IMG_5548

Amadou Hott On Africa: ‘Create Jobs And Increase The Wealth For Ourselves’

The managing director for Africa and Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute, Wanjira Mathai has led the green belt movement in Kenya as the former chair, the organization her mother, the late Wangari Maathai founded in 1977. From Nairobi, she spoke to FORBES AFRICA about issues such as climate change, youth leadership and landscape restoration – crucial conversations as she honors the 20th anniversary of her mother’s Nobel Peace Prize. here are exclusive excerpts from the interview.



Q. Twenty years on since your mother, Professor Wangari Maathai, won the Nobel Peace Prize, how much does she influence your thinking even now? 



A. We are working on a year-long celebration of the 20 years of the Nobel prize. In 2004, my mother was the first environmentalist and first African woman to receive the prize, and it has so many moments of resonance with things that we are still realizing 20 years later. We feel that it’s really important to unpack the power of that prize, the foresight that she had, a lot of the warnings that she gave us, and just the way she so effortlessly and brilliantly wove sustainability with the environment. That message still resonates, and she made history 20 years ago. The power, beauty, wisdom and genius of the Green Belt Movement is really showing up again in ways that we had hoped would continue. I’m really proud of what they’re doing now.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1757003682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64665" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1757003682.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1757003682-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1757003682-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">King Charles III (C) is guided by daughter of Professor Wangari Maathai, Wanjira Mathai (R) and a Government official (L) during a visit to Karura urban forest( Photo by Pool &#8211; Phil Noble/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Q. How far did this upbringing by a strong woman inspire you? Is being an environmentalist something you always wanted to do?



A. Actually, quite the contrary. My entire educational career was in public health, so I went in a completely different path. I was a scientist, and I remember feeling that we don’t all have to do the same thing, and it was really important that we do something different, because she’s done the environment thing. But I think, in retrospect, my mother planted the seed in all of us, actually in the family, but also in us as a country. A lot of what she said, a lot of what she did, a lot of what she wrote was often always for posterity.



[Growing up], we used to live in a rather small compound, and in that space, [my mother made us] plant something all the time. If people asked where we lived, they would [be told], ‘just follow the trees’, because it was the only compound, about a quarter of an acre, that was packed with green vegetation. It does influence your sense of what’s beautiful…



I was working very happily in Atlanta in public health, working on diseases I had never heard of. My mother would always say, a healthy environment supports healthy people. Everything she did and said was about the environment – the food we eat, the air we breathe. She was so clear the environment was central to who and what we are. And if we destroy the environment, we destroy ourselves. In public health too, we would come back to the same conclusion; we were dealing with diseases that had to do with polluted water or contaminated water, with the lack of sanitation, with mosquitoes carrying these diseases, all of them had to do with an environment in distress, or an environment out of balance. In retrospect, it showed me that my mother was right. The environment is everything. She colored the environment constantly with this deep sense of beauty and wonder, and I think that had to have an influence on us, that would manifest much later. Her message, her energy, her aura, her charisma, captivated the world in a way we never appreciated or understood then.



I had the sheer gift of working with my mother, traveling with her, meeting some of the most extraordinary leaders and humans around the world, and just feeling like I was the luckiest person in the world.



[When she passed], people were like, ‘how is it going to be to live in the shadow of this giant’, and I remember thinking in my heart and saying, ‘I’m not living in her shadow, I’m basking in her light’…



We set up the Wangari Maathai Foundation, focusing on youth leadership. It continues to carry the legacy work. And it’s actually the foundation that’s leading the 20-year celebration [of her Nobel prize], because we’re saying this is part of the legacy. The Green Belt Movement continues, I then moved to chair the foundation. Then I joined the World Resources Institute, leading the Africa strategy work, but I feel, in many ways, this is like the intersection of everything I’ve done, from the environment to public health work. I feel so energized, I feel lucky to have the global reach that I have as a global partnership director, but I also feel so grounded in the work that is happening, and that is a privilege.



Q. You were in Cape Town in November 2024 as a member of the Earthshot Prize Council which also includes names such as Prince William, Queen Rania, Cate Blanchet and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. What was the experience like?



A. The Earthshot Prize is bigger than any prize. 2030 is around the corner, and we need some really big, bold ideas that will lead to transformative change. All the finalists of the prize, 15 of them, become part of an ecosystem of support second to none. It’s not just the prize itself. They’ve been able to raise their visibility and the prominence of the work they do. It’s an ecosystem of support building catalytic, transformative change, and in the sectors that are most important in the environment. It’s a privilege to sit on the Prize Council, with some of the people I most admire. And it’s so normal – everybody’s grappling, everybody shares their opinions. You don’t have to all agree, but we all get to the same place in the end.



Q. What&#8217;s it like working with Prince William?



A. On the jury, he’s just a jury member like the rest of us. He gives his opinion, shares what he’s saying and you agree or not, and he literally makes it so easy. He’s a humble human and not there believing he’s doing it better than someone else. It’s the service. He’s actually also in awe of what the prize has achieved. He was really grateful for the council, but also spent a lot of time with the prize winners. He was very accessible and approachable. He was very generous.



Q. In 2024, you announced $17.8 million in funding for 92 local land restoration groups as part of the WRI&#8217;s partnership with the TerraFund for AFR100 initiative.



A. AFR100 is a pan-African country-led effort to restore 100 million hectares. It was a deliberately huge target as ambition has to be high, and that ambition was getting governments to make a commitment around how much they will restore. They all made commitments. And actually, we beat the 100-million-hectare target, but the real work is in where exactly is the restoration going to happen and who is going to do it etc. We saw the AFR100 transform into multiple other movements…



Q. With Africa&#8217;s great youth dividend, how do you get the youth to be so involved and compassionate about the environment? They seem to be so much more driven than the previous generations.



A. Anyone who’s watching Kenya right now knows that that generation is extremely activated, not necessarily because they care so much about one thing or the other, but it’s really about their deep sense of justice. They feel that accountability and integrity are the most important things. If your job is to deliver ABC, deliver it. If you don’t, they actually have the agency and the power to do something about it. My generation was different. We came from a dictatorial environment where we were actually fearful of challenging government authority. This generation doesn’t have any of that fear, and that’s really inspiring to see, because they perceive that you should be doing the right thing, public opinion notwith- standing. It’s a very refreshing sense of justice… They care about how they are governed. We have 70% of people in Kenya who are under the age of 35. It’s a very interesting time to see what’s happening. I’m really inspired by them. They need our solidarity. They need our commitment.



Q. You were named one of Time magazine&#8217;s 100 Most Influential African Women in 2018, 2020 and 2021. Last year, you were named one of its 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders. It must feel special.



A. It’s most generous. It’s an honor. It reminds you that you need to keep ploughing on and doing what you’re doing is important. But I also know that there are so many people do- ing amazing things. Maybe they don’t get seen, maybe they don’t get heard. So, it’s a privilege to be seen.



<a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/license/1756990692?adppopup=true"></a><a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/license/583479730?adppopup=true"></a>

2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Wangari Maathai

‘My Mother’s Deep Sense Of Beauty And Wonder’: On Wangari Maathai, 20 Years Since Her Nobel Peace Prize

Zimbabwean physiotherapist Dr Nonhlanhla Mkumbuzi is working to understand how injuries can affect female African players particularly, and how this might differ to those of athletes overseas.



Football may be played to the same rules the world over, but the game differs wildly from continent to continent in style and substance, and most certainly when it comes to the types of injuries sustained by players.



Understanding this is important, because it not only points to the treatment of injuries, but perhaps more crucially, how clubs and national teams can prevent them occurring in the first place.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HEADSHOT-A-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-62080" style="width:341px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HEADSHOT-A-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HEADSHOT-A-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HEADSHOT-A-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HEADSHOT-A-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HEADSHOT-A-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HEADSHOT-A-scaled.jpg 1706w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dr Nonhlanhla Mkumbuzi (photo supplied)</figcaption></figure></div>


Zimbabwean Dr Nonhlanhla Mkumbuzi is a sports physiotherapist and has a Ph.D. in Exercise Science, and is striving to understand how female African players, in particular, are affected by injuries, and how this might differ from a player in England or the United States (U.S.).



Mkumbuzi has an impressive CV, she is a lecturer in the Department of Sports, Exercise and Rehabilitation at Northumbria University in the United Kingdom and is editor of the British Journal of Sports Medicine. She is also a research associate at the Department of Human Movement Science at the Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha, South Africa.



So, there is no better person to tackle this subject.



“We have been conducting research on female African football players since 2020 because there is simply not a lot of information out there,” Mkumbuzi tells FORBES AFRICA. “In fact, there is not a lot of research on female athletes worldwide in general.



“The decisions we are therefore making for our female football players is largely based on data from the men’s game. You could ask why it matters, football is football, but men and women are inherently different.



“To go further, women in Zimbabwe are different from women in New Zealand or Panama, so we can’t just cut and paste data from one group of people to another and hope for the best. That does not lead to very good outcomes.



“We want to develop rich data that comes from African women football players that can be used to help other female African players, assisting with things like training, injury prevention, the menstrual cycle and so on.”



The very high prevalence of crippling ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries in Europe and the U.S. is not seemingly replicated in Africa on the same scale. On this continent, it is the ankles that suffer. “Generally, the trends show female athletes in general are at increased risk of getting ACL injuries versus males,” Mkumbuzi says. “Some studies suggest females are eight times more likely to pick up these types of injuries. But that is not so much the case in Africa.



“There could be many reasons, including under-reporting, or the fact that players don’t 



have the money to get an MRI scan to diagnose the injury, and we just call it a general knee injury.



“The fixture list is also not as congested in Africa as it is in the developed world, so our players are not playing every three or so days like they do in Europe and the U.S.



“The data we have collected in the last three years shows we have had more ankle injuries, so it would make sense for us to create injury prevention strategies for those instead.”



The research covers several other subjects, all with an aim of providing information to clubs and member associations on where to invest in ensuring the comfort and safety of female players on the continent, providing African solutions to African problems.



Mkumbuzi admits that funding for the research is “ad hoc and tenuous at best” but intends to continue as long as she can, having recently provided recommendations based on player interviews on how to best manage the sensitive topic of the menstrual cycle.



A total of 281 footballers from 11 countries were interviewed to understand the shortcomings in current policy and facilities available to players, with the hope that it can effect change. For Mkumbuzi, it is the continuation of a life-long passion to marry sports and science.



“I decided I was going to be a sports physiotherapist in 2002. I was watching the (men’s) World Cup in South Korea and Japan. I think Brazil was playing someone, and I just decided I was going to be that person who runs onto the field when people are injured. The word physiotherapist was not even in my vocabulary back then.



“I have spent most of my adult like on a sports field in one capacity or other, and hope that through this research we can shine a spotlight on the issues facing African female footballers specifically and develop plans to help them. “This is not just research for players, but for national associations too so that when they are putting together budgets for their women’s teams, they can provide adequate support in all these areas.”

Football – 2023 Hollywoodlbets COSAFA Womens Championship – Namibia v Botswana – Lucas Moripe Stadium – Pretoria

Data-Driven: The Zimbabwean Physiotherapist Helping Female African Footballers

Collin Benjamin was an unknown when he left his native Namibia in the 1990s, becoming one of the best African imports into the German league. Back in Windhoek, he wants to improve the professional football club landscape with the virtues learned from his Germany stint. 



There have been thousands of African footballers who have left the continent to seek fame and fortune on the football fields of Europe, where the earnings can be eye- wateringly plentiful and international glory beckons.



The likes of Samuel Eto’o, Abedi Pele, Didier Drogba, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have been turned into worldwide icons by their exploits and remain massive role models.



But the cycle of moving overseas to play and then returning home to share the knowledge and expertise gained has been largely limited, making it always heartening when this is competed.



One such example is Collin Benjamin, who was an unknown when he left his native Namibia in the 1990s to try his luck in Germany.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="809" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Collin-Benjamin-image-supplied-809x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-61913" style="width:421px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Collin-Benjamin-image-supplied-809x1024.jpg 809w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Collin-Benjamin-image-supplied-237x300.jpg 237w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Collin-Benjamin-image-supplied-768x972.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Collin-Benjamin-image-supplied-1214x1536.jpg 1214w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Collin-Benjamin-image-supplied-1618x2048.jpg 1618w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Collin-Benjamin-image-supplied-scaled.jpg 2023w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 809px) 100vw, 809px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Collin Benjamin, coach of Namibia ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix</figcaption></figure></div>


There have always been close footballing contacts between the southern African country and its former colonizer and the contacts helped Benjamin find a club in the semi-professional ranks. There is little glamor there but players head in that direction in the hope it proves a springboard.



This is what happened to Benjamin, who went on to spend a decade playing in the Bundesliga and became one of the best African imports into the German league.



After his career at Hamburger SV and 1860 Munich, he worked as a junior coach in Germany before deciding to go home to Windhoek.



Since then, he has worked his way through the coaching ranks with Namibia’s junior teams and on to the senior side, when he qualified for this year’s Africa Cup of Nations.



It was only the fourth time Namibia reached the finals, and in the Ivory Coast, they set new standards, winning for a first time and also qualifying for the knockout phase – something they had not done before.



Benjamin felt the urge to return home, knowing his experience could be a force for good.



“Namibia is my country that gave me the chance to become a footballer. I returned to Windhoek in 2016 because I wanted to give something back to the country with my academy after my almost 20 years in Germany,” he explains to FORBES AFRICA.



“The fact that we were now able to give something back with the achievements at the Cup of Nations finals and that I can do this job makes me very happy and grateful.” Benjamin has had to deal with limited facilities, much changed from his time in Germany with their abundant resources.



Namibia’s small population also means a restricted pool of talent to choose from plus the country’s administrators have been reportedly fighting each other over the last decade, leaving the professional club landscape in tatters.



Benjamin says, however, that there was a fire burning within all his players, just as there was with him when he was starting out.



“You know, less talent, more work, and just the hunger. They all want to get out of Namibia and have an opportunity to play outside in another country.”



That spurred Namibia to a successful tournament in the Ivory Coast, including an upset win over Tunisia, who were at the last World Cup finals in Qatar.



“Basically, it was that hunger, wanting to succeed, knowing that clubs elsewhere cannot see them at home. The only platform they have to make a name for themselves is the national team.”



Benjamin has looked to harness that as best he can. “My approach is basically to look at what you have talentwise but also your personality. I’m of the opinion that I was not the best player, but I could make it and go and play in Germany just because of basic hunger and work ethic. I believe that you have to work if you want to achieve. I felt I had to get the team centered and create an ambition in them. They had to know that they should work towards something, and only through work you can achieve those goals. We had to become a lot fitter and play with more aggression and just learn to make things difficult for your opponent. So, it was basically just those principles. Those are kind of like my life principles that I’m just trying to instil in them.”



Moving from Germany has not proven easy because Namibia is hampered not only by a small pool of players but also a lack of facilities. Their two stadiums in Windhoek have both been ruled unfit for international matches by Confederation of African Football inspectors. Namibia have had to host their ‘home’ matches in South Africa.



“It’s not something that I’m going to hide, I do get frustrated. The whole parliament have been congratulating us, influential people, politicians, but we don’t need that. We want them to use their influence to at least have a stadium where we can play our matches, so that these players actually have something to dream about and people to cheer for them. If you want to compete on this continental stage, you need to win your home games and for us that’s not possible as long



as our stadiums are banned because they need to be upgraded.” But his job is still a thrill. “I don’t want hero status. For me it’s about something completely different. In Germany, with my easy nature, I was certainly seen by everyone as an African, and many of the boys in the team probably thought of me as ‘He’s not African, he’s European’. I am of course African. But I have internalized German virtues such as discipline, I try to mix and bring together the best of both cultures. So far, the combination has worked very well. I didn’t have a career plan before. My only goal was to further develop football in Namibia. And we’re not done yet,” warns Benjamin.

Football – 2022 Hollywood bets Cosafa Cup – Namibia Training – Princess Magogo Stadium

The Sportsman Kick-Starting Change From Germany To Namibia

Tall and in colorful five-inch Louis Vuitton heels, epitomizing grace and success, Sabrina Elba, the model, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), activist and founder of S’ABLE Labs, was in Johannesburg on March 8, when she spoke passionately to a packed ballroom of female powerhouses at the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit, on the challenges of being a black female founder, about African botanicals and her work with husband and Hollywood icon Idris Elba. 



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A multi-hyphenate, Sabrina Elba launched S’ABLE Labs with her husband Idris Elba, aware that quality products for melanated skin were lacking. Her company works to build a more ethical and transparent supply chain focused on the wellness of the planet and its people by partnering with local farmers in West Africa, Somalia, and South Africa, among others. Here are excerpts from the interview:



Q. You’re from Vancouver, now based in London with Idris Elba. You are of Somali heritage and Idris Elba’s parents are from Sierra Leone and Ghana. Besides the shared history, you have common goals, such as climate change, farming and food security in Africa and been on several platforms together. How have you both managed to revitalize your interest in Africa?



A. We’ve always been passionate about Africa, and it’s actually one of the reasons we connected the way we did; him being from West Africa and myself from East Africa; we always had this passion to give back. I came back to visit a lot and he did too; we were in love with Africa. And the reason we actually ended up in agriculture together, is because we both have this mission, this big dream to see Africa for its full potential. And it’s one of the reasons we work with IFAD as well, because we both agree that the aid model can be very cyclical. And IFAD is just one of the amazing organizations that looks at adaptation for rural people, that has long-term solutions, that builds independence, that presents Africa as an investment opportunity, and that was something we were super passionate about. So, we actually bonded on this, which is crazy that we both get to do the work together now. And I’m so thankful to be back whenever I can. It’s funny because everyone’s like, ‘oh, don’t you just love going East?’, I’m like, ‘no, I love going everywhere’. I genuinely love the continent. It’s such an amazing place, and we love Johannesburg!



Q. You’ve been married for over five years now – we’ve all seen pictures of that beautiful ceremony in Morocco. You have said before that you’ve always been encouraged by your husband’s entrepreneurial sense. You’re also a celebrity who cares, because you have set up not just ‘another beauty project’. You’re using African ingredients, going back to the roots of our traditions, for your skincare brand. Tell us how this journey has been, inculcating African culture.



A. I’ve definitely grown an entrepreneurial bone. I didn’t think I had one. I wanted to be a lawyer my whole youth. And then of course, I met this amazing guy and was like, ‘maybe I’ll go to London for like two years and see what that’s like’; I never went back to Vancouver. And I watched Idris be his own boss, start business after business, because he was so passionate about the things he was doing he wanted to do it himself to have that power and control to navigate the spaces he was in, in a way that has fundamentally built his personality, his persona, and I admired that. But when it came to starting the skincare business together, I was in a place where I had done so much work with agriculture before, with IFAD&#8230; And I was in a place where I came around to beauty as a concept because I was so frustrated with my skin and being now able to showcase these amazing botanicals from all over the continent, and showcase them in a way that really boosts their efficacy with other ingredients. 



For example, we have the African resurrection plant in one of our new products; combined with okra and retinol, people get this beautiful marriage of botanicals. Science has become such a passion of mine. And African botanicals are so powerful. They exist in the harshest climates, and are more powerful than other antioxidants we’re seeing around the world. So, it’s this notion that people should start looking to African founders and black founders as the experts that lead in a lot of these issues around skin. And I’m excited to see that change. There’s this weird conception that ‘oh, there’s a black founder behind this brand, I guess it’s only for black skin’. Just because it’s a black founder doesn’t mean you put our group of consumers in this tiny hole. If you go to a retailer in the U.S., you’ll find products catered towards African skin or black skin or black hair in a separate section… So, the retailer’s then telling the customer ‘these products aren’t for you; it’s for a different set of people’. And I think that has done more harm than good… We discovered, through the work we’re doing, how abusive the agricultural sector is. If you look at shea in West Africa, it’s unfair wages, unsafe working conditions.



I mean, people are dying, children are dying. For what, for shea beauty products on our bathroom counters? It was the silliest thing I’ve heard, and we didn’t want to contribute to that. So, we do our own sourcing… we do clinical studies for each of the products so we can show how efficacious they are. So, it’s not just a farmer walking into a room saying ‘buy my ingredient because it’s this powerful’, he can actually have clinical data sheets to now back up how powerful it is, which was so important to us, because most brands will come in and test the formulation together, but we really wanted to show the strength of these ingredients on their own and then the strength of the product. And then, we have these amazing results and people tell us ‘your new product [leads to] 120% reduction [of ] hyper-pigmentation, how do you do that’ and we say ‘it’s African botanicals’… that’s become such a point of pride for us to be able to sit in a room and talk about how okra is good for your skin. We’re just trying to give it a bit more light, shine and context in what we’re doing. Because if you look to your auntie, your great grandma, they know what they’re doing when it comes to skin and wellness. They are true innovators.



Q. What were or are the challenges of being a black beauty founder?



A. Sometimes, I walk into a big meeting or an investor meeting, and they won’t see me as the CEO, they’ll want to have a meeting with Idris. And I’m like, ‘no, no, I’m right here, what do you want to talk about, I can talk numbers too’. But it’s just that you really have to step up your presence to be able to hold your own in rooms like that. I am privileged also to say the brand has had a lot of traction, because it is founder-led. Although, sometimes, that can work against skincare, when there’s a celebrity every week launching a brand. And I’m like, ‘just go away, if you’re not passionate about this, go away’. But at the same time, it’s given us access through a lot of doors, and I’m forever thankful for that. And we’ve been able to grow the brand. And I say we’re moving at the speed of trust, because we have these small conversations in rooms, and we really talk about how the products are efficacious. And, and how we look at hyperpigmentation, a holistic view, and we have these amazing, intimate conversations, and we build a bigger community. And then we take that same method and have a great intimate conversation again, it’s a lot more work, but I think that’s the way to do it. And I think with a skincare brand, you have to really trust the brand and understand the ethos because you know, you are putting it on your face.



Q. Would you and Idris move to Africa and live here?



A. It’s in the 10-year plan for sure, but the hardest part is, where? Because I’ve been to so many amazing places in Africa. And still, I’m probably not 50% of the way through it because it’s so huge, just massive&#8230; I think the way South Africa has been so accepting of Idris and has put Idris on this sort of platform, you’ve shown so much love to him. Really, Johannesburg is in his heart, it honestly is and I think it makes me love it even more. I spent all day yesterday at Woolworths and Pick n’ Pay. And because you’ve the best snacks, and I’m not kidding, I’m taking back speckled eggs by the pound. They are so good. People don’t realize how good the food in South Africa is overall, but the snacks and the chakalaka, so good… But we have to come back together, Idris is definitely a bit jealous that I am here.

Sabrina Elba; image supplied (1)

Model-Activist-Entrepreneur Sabrina Elba: ‘People Should Start Looking To African Founders As The Experts…’

As Twitter’s first ever Chief Marketing Officer, <a href="https://twitter.com/leslieberland?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leslie Berland</a> began her tenure in 2016 with an unconventional strategy, enlisting employees from across the organization to provide input into the company’s new brand identity. Never mind that many of them didn’t even think the company needed a brand identity at all. But Berland was determined to focus on employee input before launching any public facing marketing strategies. The approach paid off. Six years later, Berland still believes Twitter employees are the company’s north star. 



I spoke to Berland about this as well as Twitter’s efforts to combat harassment on the platform, how they’re elevating marginalized voices and of course, the enormous responsibility the platform takes on during world events. 



Amy Shoenthal:&nbsp;Tell me about your career path, going from a pretty high profile role at American Express to being the first CMO of Twitter.



Leslie Berland:&nbsp;I was at American Express for ten years. During those last few years I was focused on finding ways for American Express to innovate with younger companies.



When Twitter called to recruit me, it felt very much like a once in a lifetime opportunity. There hadn’t been a seated CMO at the company yet. It was 2016 and the world thought Twitter was dying. We were struggling to define who we were and where we were going.&nbsp;



Shoenthal: That sounds like a risky jump, going from a very established company where you had been for ten years to what perhaps seemed like a floundering tech company at the time. Berland: It definitely felt like a fork in the road decision. I don&#8217;t think those types of choices come by very often where you&#8217;re looking at two amazing but extremely different paths.So I made the jump. I loved the people. I deeply respected <a href="https://twitter.com/jack" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jack</a>. I loved the challenge. And I thought the potential impact was extraordinary. 



I was very much drawn to the ability to help shape and turn around a company with a group of employees who were committed to building for the future. The importance of the platform adds a weight to working here still, as you can see with everything going on in the world today. I am and have always been extremely confident in the staying power and the growing power of Twitter, even in the moments where everyone thought we were taking a different turn. I think it’s existential, necessary, critical and magical. Every day I’m grateful to be here. It has been every bit the ride I thought it was going to be with some extra twists and turns.&nbsp;



Shoenthal: Tell me about those extra twists and turns. How did you work through them?



Berland: There was so much happening at the company when I joined. Jack had just come back as CEO and the leadership team had changed quite significantly. There were amazingly talented people working in marketing but without a CMO, the marketing teams were siloed throughout the organization. It needed building and focus and organization early on. But you can’t come into an opportunity like that and boil the ocean. I couldn’t fix everything and build at the same time.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The biggest challenge was the perception. People define Twitter in so many different ways. But it was very clear that the confusion over those different definitions was holding us back. So I pulled a small team together to do some brand identity work. We did most of that work completely in house.



We eventually centered on this simple statement: “Twitter is what’s happening.” It wasn’t a splashy brand campaign. It was a way to center and anchor how we saw and understood ourselves.&nbsp;



The feedback from the industry at that time was, wow, Twitter finally knows what it is. It shows the power of prioritizing what’s important, trusting your people, not over layering with process. Once we set and established that foundation everything else came together naturally.



When you are at companies like ours, the employees are critical. The employees are the biggest supporters but also the biggest critics. We need the feedback from our people. Sometimes I see companies fall into the trap of doing all these external campaigns but they haven’t taken the time to allow the employees to absorb what it means. When we do anything externally, the first filter is the people. They are the litmus test of what we do and how we do it.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Jack and others recognized that I was so focused on our employees in the brand identity work we were doing, they actually suggested I expand my role to be the Head of People. That role is intense and meaningful. It was an enormous learning experience for me as somebody who cares deeply about the culture of this company.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Shoenthal: I want to talk about Jack a little bit since you mentioned how close you were. Jack Dorsey just left Twitter, what does that mean for you and for the company?



Berland: I am extremely grateful for the years Jack and I worked together.&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/paraga?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Parag</a>, our new CEO, worked very closely with Jack. I have been absolutely inspired by his leadership throughout this change. The way he has shown up, his focus, his decisiveness, his authenticity, his openness is exactly what we need in the next chapter. I love working with him and I have full confidence in where he’ll take us.&nbsp;



Shoenthal:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/twitter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter’s</a>&nbsp;social media has always been great but you’ve really been on fire lately with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/05/twitter-users-facebook-outage-instagram-whatsapp/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Hello, literally everyone”</a>&nbsp;when Facebook and Instagram were down, and “<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-were-sorry-or-youre-welcome/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">We’re sorry, or you’re welcome</a>” when announcing it was retiring the Fleets product feature. Can you let us in on any of the social marketing team’s secret sauce and how they’re able to quickly post such sharp and witty reactions to real-time events?



Berland: It’s funny because we haven’t always been so amazing at this. Our Twitter presence used to read like a marketing handle. Our purpose was serving public conversation but we weren’t actually being conversational. We spent so much time going back and forth debating what our tone was, and then one day we said we’re just going to start talking.&nbsp;



The first tweet that shifted to this was when we tweeted, “you up?” The amount of texts that came in asking if we were hacked was hilarious, and the amount of responses we got on the platform was astounding. It was such an important moment.&nbsp;&nbsp;



We are fortunate that we are able to see all the conversations on Twitter as they unfold. The team is just so incredible in knowing the pulse of what’s happening every day. They’re incredible with their writing, but also with just having fun.&nbsp;



A lot of companies worry that every tweet has to be well designed and perfect and make it a piece of marketing collateral. As a company we are weird, messy and silly but raw and authentic. Once we moved into that, it became our voice. Unshackle the teams and let them do what they do best. And of course make sure social media teams are diverse so you have lots of different perspectives so we’re not talking to ourselves. That’s critical.&nbsp;



Shoenthal: Speaking of diverse teams, how are you working to advance inclusion in an industry that&#8217;s taken so much heat for its lack of it?



Berland: I give all the credit to my colleagues and every single person at the company that pushes this culture forward. It is not a one person job.&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/DalanaBrand" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dalana Brand</a>&nbsp;is our Chief Human Resources Officer and she’s amazing. This is something that has always been very ingrained at Twitter but over the years we’ve become much more intentional and goal-oriented about it. Now we have put the resources, people and time behind it.&nbsp;



<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/02/twitter-hires-god-is-rivera-as-global-director-of-culture-and-community/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">God-is Rivera</a>&nbsp;runs culture and community.&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/GodisRivera" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">She</a>&nbsp;is all about elevating diverse voices on Twitter through events, experiences and conversations. We try to be very present and engaged so we can learn and truly serve those customers better – we’re always improving. It’s hard to build that trust, especially at a company like ours where people come onto the platform every day and interact with something different.&nbsp;&nbsp;



During the Black Lives Matter resurgence last June,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Twitter/status/1274087688321200128?s=20&amp;t=aNZz7yzmdsWvGq_1kBQZmg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">we put tweets on billboards</a>. It was a series of simple tweets but the concept speaks to what we’re trying to do, which is elevate voices. Our teams have become so much more diverse over the past few years with our goal setting and our amazing I&amp;D team and the leaders working to keep people engaged. For us it’s not a ‘nice to do,’ it’s a must-do. We must look like all the communities we serve around the world.&nbsp;



Shoenthal: Twitter hasn’t always been a pinnacle of inclusion though. It’s been criticized for allowing harassment and bullying, specifically directed towards women. I know the company has recently taken more steps to combat this, can you comment on the actions that have been taken and what, if any, additional plans are in the works to help deal with this issue?



Berland: This was a huge problem when I started in 2016. To look back at the progress we’ve made is extraordinary and powerful. But this is always-on work that doesn’t end. I do give massive credit to engineering, product, trust &amp; safety and all the teams who do very important, very draining work.&nbsp;



Every employee at Twitter cares about this. People need to come to Twitter and feel safe. Everything from the controls we’ve created to who can engage with your tweets, to the more automated work tracking what’s said on the platform, addressing abuse and harassment, all the way to the time it takes people to respond when you report a tweet. This is something that touches everybody at the company in all of our work and will always be ongoing as the world continues to evolve and change. We learn and we grow and we evolve as well.&nbsp;



Shoenthal: Speaking of how the world is evolving and changing, it’s been a dramatic few days. Quite often, Twitter is the first place people turn to watch world events unfold in real-time. I noticed the&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1496698664747687942?s=20&amp;t=1W3KB8t1db0rEUPXMRnXhg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter safety thread</a>&nbsp;about considerations when tweeting in conflict zones that was posted immediately when the attacks began in Ukraine. Can you share anything in terms of the role Twitter is playing during world events like the one we’re experiencing right now?



Berland: During times like these, we feel the weight of our work. Across the company, we feel that responsibility, that care and that empathy every single day. We have teams working on exactly what you’re referencing in regards to safety. We’re thinking through things like how do we ensure that we educate people and keep them safe while allowing these critical conversations to continue? How do we ensure that only credible information is surfaced, and people get access to the information they need? We need to make sure the foundation of Twitter is running so these critical conversations can happen. We take this seriously because we understand how much is at stake.



By Amy Shoenthal, Forbes Staff

Twitter’s #HereWeAre At Cannes Lions

How Twitter’s CMO Takes A People-First Approach To Leadership

One of America’s most successful self-made women, Hollywood actor Jessica Alba’s journey to entrepreneurship began 13 years ago. Her business, The Honest Company, debuted on the Nasdaq in May this year. In this exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA, the Los Angeles-based star speaks about living consciously, taking ownership and her new YouTube series, Getting Honest.



Q. Being a newcomer to business when you first started, how did you pick up the tricks of trade and enterprise? What were the significant challenges? 



A. One of the biggest challenges I faced early on was doubting myself – doubting that I could do it if I didn’t have a business degree. I navigated through it by listening, learning and trusting myself on what matters most. I think there is also this assumption that starting a business is easy when you are a celebrity, but success in one industry doesn’t necessarily open doors in another. I had the drive and I had the idea, but I still needed the funding and the infrastructure. When I was pitching room after room of (mostly) men to raise initial seed funding, I was also pregnant with my second child. Some thought I should be a spokesmodel for other brands, others thought I should start smaller. That’s the part of business where being an actor helps: rejection. The more I was rejected, the more I honed my pitch. I am also really driven by my curiosity, I’m constantly asking questions and I surround myself with people who have different strengths than I do, so I’m always learning and growing.



Q. The Honest Company has just debuted on the Nasdaq. Where do you see it in the next five years?



A. We are currently in a quiet period&#8230; What I can say is we are excited to be able to continue to shift the clean lifestyle conversations in the industry – driving our mission forward – inspiring everyone to love living consciously. We made the decision to become a public company because it will help enable us to do just that – driving further accessibility and product innovation, so that we can meet consumers however they want to shop – every day, at every age and through every life stage. The possibilities for an ‘Honest’ world are significant.



Q. What were your own learnings, and the things you would do differently if you had to do it all over again?



A. I think that when you are building a business, doing something you truly believe in, you just want everything to be perfect from day one, but that’s impossible to achieve. The process of building a business is complex and comes with a lot of trial and error. You learn to pivot as yougo.SolookingbackonwhatIwoulddodifferently, I would try to be a little kinder to myself in the process. I&#8217;m such a perfectionist and I was learning on the job so I was really hard on myself if something didn’t go exactly as I thought it should.



Also, I know now that I didn’t need to be insecure about being the only woman at the C-level. I think if I did it all over again, I would really own that this business was my idea and be proud of that. It took me a long time to stop being shy and apologetic and take more ownership over the conversation. I started this company, I had the vision and I brought the right people together to make it happen.



Q. What are the top three challenges facing female entrepreneurs?



A. The first is a lack of representation. When you don&#8217;t see people like yourself in the room, it can be hard to feel like you deserve to be there. That creates a feeling of insecurity that can hold women back.



Secondly, women get less funding from investors. Not only do they get funding less often, but when they do, they get fewer dollars. There&#8217;s a comfort level investors have with what they know and they are used to seeing male entrepreneurs.



Unfortunately, when it comes to investment, it’s not just about having a great idea or a great business, it’s about whether or not you can get the people in the room to believe in you and women have historically been at a disadvantage.



Finally, there’s an unfair expectation around ways women should and should not act. There are social norms that people associate with women and a way they expect women to behave. In business, however, to get things done, you need to be assertive and exhibit boss behavior – it&#8217;s what moves the needle but society doesn&#8217;t necessarily appreciate this type of behavior when it comes from a woman. The way people want to see women act doesn&#8217;t always align with the traits you need to push your idea, vision and business forward.



Q. Be it cinema or business, what are the fundamental traits that you need to bring to the table to shine in both? 



A. You have to be prepared and bring your best self to work everyday, but you also have to be able to go with the flow and pivot when necessary.



Q. With Covid-19 lockdowns, how did your business fare?



A. The Honest Company was built around the ethical values of transparency, trust, sustainability, and a deep sense of purpose. As part of these values, we have always been focused on the importance of omnichannel and accessibility; during the Covid-19 lockdowns, this approach helped us to maintain the strength of our business. We manage an agile global supply chain of highly- qualified, third-party manufacturing and logistics partners that allows us to scale quickly and effectively. Because of this, we were able to mitigate disruptions caused by the pandemic.



As an essential business, we were able to get our products to our customers regardless of Covid-19 lockdowns due to our omnichannel strategy. Additionally, as a nimble, modern company with internal labs, we have the ability to pivot quickly to adapt to and meet the consumer&#8217;s needs through modern innovation. Because of this, throughout the pandemic, we were able to pay close attention to trends and respond as they evolved, shifting focus toward sanitization, wellness, and self-care. In fact, in less than six months after the onset of Covid-19, we created and launched a new Stay Safe cleaning collection, a complete set of cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting solutions. We will continue to take a similar approach as everything continues to open back up as well.



We also continued to prioritize our community and give back efforts. During Covid-19, these efforts focused on our ongoing partnership with Baby2Baby as well as our March of Dimes partnership. I am proud to say that since the launch of the company, we have donated over 25 million products to families in need.



Q. Are there any upcoming personal creative projects, besides new films?



A. During Covid, I launched my YouTube channel and a series called, Getting Honest, where I sit down with guests from different industries and we have intimate, funny, raw, real conversations about whatever is on our mind at the moment. We often do something fun, like a skincare or makeup routine, while we are chatting. It’s a really casual but entertaining way of talking about all the things – motherhood, business, health, family, etc. I’ve had some amazing guests like Alex Rodriguez, Kate Hudson and Molly Sims and many more to come. It’s been such a fun, creative way to create this community and use my platform to have really honest conversations around what matters most to people.



Q. What does the word ‘impact’ mean to you?



A. It means making a difference and leaving the world better than you found it.



Q. You were the official spokesperson of the ‘for Tomorrow’ project for sustainable innovators with UNDP and Hyundai. Your advice to the next generation of female leaders on the African continent?



A. As I reflect back on my own journey, I wish someone had told me early on that no one would give me permission to lead or to challenge the status quo. So my advice to the next generation of female leaders is don’t wait for someone to give you permission. Trust your gut and, if you believe in your idea, go for it. Don’t let one rejection stop you from achieving your goals. In fact, let the hurdles motivate you. And always remember what the great Eleanor Roosevelt said: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Category: The Interview

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‘Need To Be Assertive And Exhibit Boss Behavior’: Jessica Alba Exclusive

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