Progress is uncomfortable. It demands defiance — the audacity to stand firm when the world insists you do not belong. It is lonely, yet never solitary, for this is the story of a collective. Women who refuse to wait for permission, who step into rooms never built for them and take up space. When those before them whispered of revolution, the world muttered its doubts. But today’s African women know better. Be they young, older, youngest, they do not seek approval; they prepare — arming themselves with knowledge, strategy, and unwavering resolve — to counter power’s unease with an unshakable presence, knowing that discomfort cuts both ways.



Soft power, hard message: we came to win



When Dede Ayite became the first Black woman to win a Tony for Best Costume Design of a Play in 2024, she proved that not all revolutions announce themselves with a roar — some move with quiet certainty, reshaping the world before it even realizes it has changed. This is the essence of soft power: influence that seeps in, undeniable yet effortless, cloaked in art, culture, and innovation. It is the subtle but firm assertion of dominance, the kind that does not beg for recognition but commands it. African women are rewriting the limits of possibility, not through force, but through undeniable excellence. South Africa’s Tyla, the youngest African singer-songwriter to win a Grammy in 2024. Ayra Starr, the first woman in 16 years to claim the MOBO Award for Best African Music Act. Kenya’s Ruth Chepng’etich, the first woman to shatter the 2:11 and 2:10 barriers in marathon history, clocking a staggering 2:09:56 at the Chicago Marathon.



The list — proudly, defiantly — goes on. But this is no sudden uprising. This audacity is inherited, this excellence is ancestral. Miriam Makeba, the first African to win a Grammy in 1966, her voice carrying not just melody but the weight of a continent’s power. Alek Wek, the South Sudanese-British model who redefined beauty on her own terms, forcing the world to expand its gaze. Ama Ata Aidoo, the literary giant who wielded her pen like a weapon, chronicling the struggles, triumphs, and unapologetic strength of African womanhood. You see, their victories were more than personal achievements; they were declarations.



The innovators: rule&#8211;breakers, history&#8211;makers



They call them African problems — we call them blueprints for innovation. The barriers meant to limit us have become the launchpads of our ingenuity. We do not endure adversity; we transform it. This is more than resilience — it is economic mastery, the audacity to build, shape, and lead on our own terms.



This instinct is ancestral. Our great-grandmothers were entrepreneurs before the word existed —traders who moved goods across vast terrains, innovators who turned raw resources into wealth, visionaries who sustained entire economies from the corners of their markets. That same spirit fuels today’s architects of Africa’s future.&nbsp;Charlot Magayi&nbsp;revolutionizes clean cooking with eco-friendly charcoal briquettes.&nbsp;Violet Amoabeng&nbsp;harnesses Ghana’s rich resources to build a pan-African skincare brand. The&nbsp;Shea Butter Boom, a billion-dollar industry, is powered by African women whose hands extract not just shea, but wealth, ownership, and legacy.



In one sweeping generation — defined by both legacy and emergence — Africa boasts two formidable women shaping the global economic stage.&nbsp;Bogolo Kenewendo, a trade and economic powerhouse, rises on the continent, while&nbsp;Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Oorganization, commands the world stage. One at home, one abroad—both leading with defiance, proving that leadership is not granted, it is taken.



The age of Africa’s renaissance: taking every lane



They say courage writes history, but history belongs to those who refuse to ask for permission—the rule-breakers, the system-shakers, the shift disruptors — the ones who turn struggle into strategy and problems into power.



This is not a moment. It is a reckoning. A Renaissance. Africa’s women are not waiting or knocking on doors never meant to open. We are architects of a new order, commanding space and designing structures that cannot be dismantled.



A salute to our foremothers, whose grit paved the way. A call to our sisters — rise, push, take every lane.&nbsp;



Without apology. With audacity. Unstoppable. And the world will see us.

Beautiful african women

Expert-Speak — Without Apology, With Audacity: We’ve Always Been Here

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50 Over 50 Global: 2025

Former legal professional Kemi Lewis stepped into the unknown with a belief in herself and her vision. She tells FORBES AFRICA about her journey to becoming a beauty entrepreneur.



It’s been around a decade since Kemi Lewis traded a thriving career in law to live out her childhood dream of making natural hair a norm for Lagosians, and she has never looked back. The success of her business, and the strength of her determination, has seen her go from two members of staff to 30 in three locations.



As she speaks from her first location in Dolphin Estate in the wealthy suburb of Ikoyi in Lagos, Lewis is still amazed at how far her dream has come. Growing up as the first and only girl out of four children, Lewis felt she had a responsibility to follow in the footsteps of her grandfather, who was a judge at the time.



“Law was intense in terms of the sheer amount of stuff you needed to learn to understand the cases. I did not absolutely love all aspects of the law but being the first-born child and a girl, you just get on with it and I thought I was going to give it my best. So, I studied it at the University of Lagos and went to law school in Abuja, and then got a Masters in International Business at the University of Dundee (in the United Kingdom),” says Lewis.



She was determined to take her legal career as far as she could but after securing a role with a public-private partnership company in Lagos as a legal advisor, she began to have second thoughts about her future.



“Back in 2013, I had a glowing feeling in my heart and I knew that I wanted to do something for myself. My heart kept saying something in the beauty and health sector but I was not sure what I wanted to do. A good friend of mine had opened a salon so I asked her for advice.”



“We had gone to college together so I’ve known her since I was 10 years old and she said to me, ‘you have always known how to do hair and right now, I’ve opened a salon and a lot of girls want to go with their natural hair’, so she said if you open a salon specializing in natural hair, it will do well. And it ignited something in me and the feeling in me was this is it, this is what I want to do,” says Lewis.



Her initial vision was to create a safe space where people who had natural hair would come and take care of their tresses. And this is how KLS Natural Beauty Bar was born.



“I wanted to create a space where when you come with your natural hair, you would be welcomed and your hair would be treated with the necessary care and respect, and you won’t be told to go and relax your hair. You would have the right products for your hair and, most importantly, you will have your hair styled according to your specific needs,” she says.



Until her eureka moment, natural hair in Nigeria was a hugely underserved demographic in the beauty industry which meant that Lewis had to overcome several obstacles to ensure her success.



“The initial reaction when I told immediate family was shock, horror and dismay. The question was, ‘what are you going to do with your law degree?’ Hair dressing was seen as a derogatory profession and for people who did not go to school. So, it did not have the prestige that my legal degree had and a lot of people thought I was making the wrong decision.”



The next challenge was getting the right space and, most importantly, convincing her stylists about her vision of working with natural hair. This is also why education and training is a big focus for her.



Lewis believed so much in her vision that she liquidated her life insurance policy and scraped together enough money to make her dream the success it is today. Ten years on and her lesson for entrepreneurs is rooted in what she learned in the early days of her business.



“Even if there are no laid-down steps to follow, if you want to do something, you just need to create your own steps and create your own market. Secondly, not everybody will believe in you and even if they don’t, as long as you have conviction in what you want to do and you believe in yourself, just give it 150%,” says Lewis.

Kemi Lewis image supplied

The Tress Test: How This Nigerian Entrepreneur Went From Law To Labor Of Love

The second session of the United Nations (UN) Habitat Assembly was held at the UN-Habitat headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, recently, under the theme A sustainable urban future through inclusive and effective multilateralism: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in times of global crises. Saudi royal, Princess Lamia Bint Majed Al Saud, the Secretary-General of Alwaleed Philanthropies and Goodwill Ambassador for UN-Habitat in the Arab region, was also present as she spoke to FORBES AFRICA about social and affordable housing on the continent as well as the role of philanthropy in economic development.



You were recently reappointed as Goodwill Ambassador to UN-Habitat, what does your role entail?



I work closely with UN-Habitat to advocate for sustainable urbanization, and to help address urban challenges and their implications on societies, economies, and environments in the Arab world. Obviously, a component of this is funding and resources, however, through Alwaleed Philanthropies, we see our role as a facilitator and convenor to sustainable change. In practice, this means leveraging our influence to connect governments, organizations, and communities to each other, and working with our partners to bring concrete solutions; something I will be continuing to do in my role as Goodwill Ambassador to UN-Habitat for the Arab Region.



I would also just add that with our global population continuing to grow, it’s critical that we take the steps necessary to ensure that all people are able to live in safe and sustainable settlements, which is why it is a privilege to be able to help advance UN-Habitat’s agenda and work towards delivering SDG11: sustainable cities and communities.



What are the highlights of your partnership with UN-Habitat?



The four-year partnership between Alwaleed Philanthropies and UN-Habitat has helped to advance the discussion on sustainable urbanization in the Middle East and demonstrate why it is so important for the region’s development agenda. And in doing so, we have seen a significant increase in resource mobilization and targeted, sustainable humanitarian support that has helped to create more resilient societies throughout the region.



I’m incredibly proud of every project we have been able to work on with UN-Habitat during this partnership, but some notable achievements that spring to mind are rehabilitating damaged housing and improving living conditions for 4,000 families of internally-displaced people in Yemen; upgrading seven health facilities’ water and sanitation capabilities in conflict-affected Iraq; and providing 25,000 people with water, sanitation and hygiene facilities during the Covid-19 pandemic in Sudan.



These are just a few of this partnership’s far-reaching impacts and we look forward to continuing to help deliver SDG11 and address the key challenges that many of the most vulnerable face today.



As Africa pursues goals towards affordable housing, what would you describe as ‘proper housing’?



Our belief is that ‘proper housing’ is about more than just a roof, it is an opportunity to better the lives and futures of people – housing is a precondition for access to employment, education, health, and social services – and it must be accompanied by the necessary infrastructure including water and waste management and sanitation services.



I firmly believe that the provision of this sort of housing is a basic human right and as the African continent continues on its development journey, it is critical that this forms part of it.



Through your experiences, what key lessons were learned through the process that other African countries can emulate to deliver social and affordable housing?



An important lesson that came out of our projects was the need to collaborate with relevant stakeholders. It is through pooling resources and expertise that we can overcome global challenges, which is why we partner with many of the world’s leading organizations. Involving authorities to explain our projects’ objectives and agree on the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder is particularly relevant to deliver adequate housing.



We also understand that for a project to have lasting, sustainable impact you cannot just drop the money and run – you must be in it for the long haul. This is why we work with communities to develop different tailored solutions to their most pressing challenges, from gender mainstreaming adaptation to community-based and self-help housing. Our vision of resilience cannot be met without investing in social transformation.



What are some of your housing projects in Africa?



We have a long history of supporting projects in Africa, to help address the Covid-19 pandemic which had such a devastating impact on the continent. However, when it comes to housing, our flagship project on the continent is undoubtedly the Nubian Vault. The project has helped to provide both housing and job opportunities in Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin, Ghana, and Senegal, by training young people to build Nubian houses. As a result of this partnership, families are now living in healthier houses and local revenue was generated and reinvested in the local economy, with 13,900 project beneficiaries.



What do you see as the role of philanthropy in development and how can partnerships work better towards the SDGs?



We truly believe that philanthropy is an integral part of the development landscape and is helping to address some of the world’s most complex challenges. There is the funding that philanthropic organizations provide; however, effective philanthropy is about so much more than the provision of funds. We adopt a humanity-first approach to philanthropy which is grounded in an understanding that to make a sustainable, long-lasting impact, the interests and needs of beneficiaries must be the foundation of everything we do. And this means actually taking the time to work with beneficiaries throughout the project lifecycle to ensure we maximize its impact and deliver solutions that will stand the test of time.



When it comes to delivering the SDGs, we have seen first-hand the positive impact that partnerships can have on accelerating development. And it is important that organizations within the philanthropic sector do not lose sight of the value of these partnerships and continue to look to work with stakeholders from a variety of sectors – from governments to development organizations – to help many of the most vulnerable meet the SDGs.



What does Africa portend to Alwaleed, anything in the pipeline?



We have multiple projects in Africa and are keen to expand our support on the continent. We obviously have the aforementioned Nubian Vault project, whilst during the Covid-19 pandemic, we partnered with the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation to support 10 countries in their efforts to address the repercussions of the pandemic – these included Niger, Senegal, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Mauritania and Cote d’Ivoire. Similarly, in partnership with the Carter Center for Global Alliance to combat the spread of guinea worm disease in Angola, Cameroon, Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia, we reached 1 million people and participated in the drop of cases, approaching the goal of global eradication.



Of course, there is always more to be done, and we are constantly in conversations with potential partners – many of whom are based in Africa – to explore ways of combatting some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Princess Lamia; image supplied

Princess Lamia: From Affordable Housing To Philanthropy In Africa

East African techpreneur Neema Iyer works at the intersection of data, design and digital to eventually enable products, policies and programs that take into account the needs of African women.



ARE GENDER DIFFERENCES AS RIFE on the world wide web as in the real world? When technologist Neema Iyer returned home to Africa after graduating from Emory University in the United States with a degree in epidemiology and statistics, she was bent on addressing gender from a technology perspective. 



Born to Tanzanian and Indian parents and raised in Nigeria, 34-year-old Iyer is today running Pollicy, a firm she founded in Kampala, Uganda, as a civic technology organization that works at the intersection of data design and technology and understanding how data can be used most effectively for improving service delivery through research, digital literacy, digital security and products. 



When she first touched down, she took up a job in Uganda where she worked in the ICT sector, but under predominantly white, male founders from the West. There was also a lack of touch points in governments with the African context. So Iyer decided she needed a fresh perspective using a gender lens.



“When you really look at it like a lot of technology, a lot of data, the systems are developed in Silicon Valley and I don’t feel that African women are particularly the end users when they design different technology,” says Iyer. 



Pollicy, funded mostly by grants from big tech like Facebook and Mozilla, more broadly focuses on gendered data and feminist data, that takes into account power dynamics and the person researching. 



“If you don’t have this kind of data, then it would be very difficult to make platforms or policies of programs that really take into account the needs of African women and what are the challenges and what are the gaps,” she says. 



For instance, field research or product development would usually involve talking to the head of the household or people in authority, which would usually be men. There are many other situations where women may not be allowed to take part in research, and Iyer thinks challenging this status quo is more important now more than ever. 



“Women in Africa are least likely to be connected to the internet, so there’s a very big digital gender gap. And they tend to have lower digital literacy, they tend to have lower ownership of mobile devices, they tend to have lower access to information. So, when you take all of these things into account, you can’t just have a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone.” Iyer notes cultural differences in even who can answer a phone call or who can own a phone. 



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These restrict women’s voices and participation. And even those can be online, as substantiated by online violence and gender disinformation. “It basically leads to the censorship of women, it leads to them leaving online spaces…if you don’t really think about these issues from the gender nuance, then you can replicate a lot of the discrimination that already exists in the physical world.” 



For her, these aspects need attention to meet the different needs of people, and to build products accordingly. Iyer is also interested in combining art and data. 



“So, moving beyond just spreadsheets and trying to make data more accessible to people.” 



For example, her team worked on a project in Uganda called ‘Create Your Kampala’, where they collected data from local communities on different social services, and then worked with them to create wall murals as a way to share back their data and get people involved in the conversation. 



“[We wanted to say] ‘you own this data; this is your data; how are you going to use it to improve your situation’?” 



But the challenge is that a number of African countries are not moving as quickly as they should in using, supporting and protecting data. Data collection is expensive, there are many administrative hurdles, and it needs a lot of trustbuilding. Pollicy is about four years old and Iyer had hoped it would have made more headway in this time, thinking there would have been be so many competitors in the space by now. 



“When I look back, I don’t feel like so much has changed, like we’re still very much lagging in the conversations. A lot of the artificial intelligence conversations are dominated way more by other countries, and even though funders are trying to do more in the African context, there is just not enough happening. So, I would love to see more organizations coming out and doing much, much more work on everything from collecting data, to analyzing it, to processing it, to getting value from it… with a feminist lens.” 



Iyer asserts that data will really help drive innovation and improve services, because if people know where the gaps are, then they can improve business, creativity and products. There is, of course, the fear that governments could use these systems to oppress dissenting voices. 



“Everything we do is grounded in ethics and equity and inclusiveness, so that when you do build technology, it’s not used to harm marginalized people… we need to come together now to think about that and to come up with solutions… I feel like there’s this urgency that we need to come up with better laws that work for everyone.”



Another challenge Iyer notes is the need to make data as intersectional as possible. 



“You don’t want power to be concentrated… so really thinking about power dynamics when you use data, I think it’s that intersectionality of gender and class and tribe and ethnicity, so that you can really make equitable products from the data.” 



Iyer also hopes to expand beyond Africa’s borders and continue working with government and civil society to create a better world. “You know, crafting our futures together in a way that works for everyone; that’s equitable and that’s inclusive and we want to make our own decisions for ourselves; so I really want to push that narrative.”



BY INAARA GANGJI

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Driving Feminist Data For Change

An audit coordinator, Arora Akanksha is challenging the status quo, declaring herself as a candidate to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.







Arora Akanksha speaks to us from New York in a bright African print dress, one of the nine colorful outfits in her wardrobe that she brought back from her trip to the African continent in 2016.



Every time she wears one of these dresses to work, walking down the streets of Manhattan, she receives compliments, she says, with people alluding to her as “an African princess”.



Looking up from those streets in Manhattan, at the towering, 154-meter glistening slab of steel that is the United Nations (UN) Secretariat, her hopes and ambitions run as high, as she boldly attempts to foray into a slew of unprecedented firsts.



The Indian-Canadian, who prefixes her name with her family name, joined the UN in 2016 and is the audit coordinator at the United Nations Development Programme. Today, she is known to her friends and supporters – and the global media she has recently approached in her personal campaign – as the 34-year-old bidding for the top job at the UN.



In February this year, Akanksha announced her candidacy, challenging incumbent UN Secretary-General António Guterres in the UN elections to be held later this year.



Hired to serve on the UN’s financial reforms, Akanksha says, prior to that, she was a manager at accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Toronto, Canada. She was also the youngest audit professor at the University of Toronto, at the age of 28, teaching audit at the master’s level. She graduated from Canada’s York University with a Bachelor in Administrative Studies and has a Master in Public Administration from Columbia University in New York.



Aiming for more firsts, Akanksha, who spent her formative years in Saudi Arabia and India, says she is “the first woman and first millennial candidate for the position of the UN Secretary-General and the first known candidate to challenge an incumbent”. If she wins, she will be the youngest-ever and first female Secretary-General of the UN in its 75-year history.



In early January, Guterres, a long-serving international diplomat and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, presented himself as a candidate seeking a second five-year term. To succeed as Secretary-General, any candidate must finally win the approval of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France.



When contacted by FORBES AFRICA for a comment on Akanksha’s candidacy and details on all the candidates who have presented for the position of Secretary-General, Brenden Varma, Director of Communications and Spokesperson for the President, Office of the President of the General Assembly, says: “As of now, there is only one candidate whose name has been jointly circulated to Member States by the Presidents of the General Assembly and Security Council – and that is António Guterres of Portugal.”



The UN notes on its website regarding the selection and appointment process: “The position of Secretary-General is one of great importance that requires a person with the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, and a firm commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”



Given that Akanksha has only been with the institution for four years – and that currently she is in discussion with member states to support her candidacy – what are her chances, I ask, and how is she responding to the naysayers?



She is not daunted.



“My decision to run for this position is not influenced by some long-held ambition. I believe in the UN and I know it is capable of doing great work,” she begins. “My candidacy is to restore the UN’s trust, credibility and respect in the world and to bring it back to serving people in humanitarian crises, in development needs and in climate action.



“The naysayers will always be there, and for me, I love to engage with them where I am challenged that I don’t have the experience as the Secretary-Generals of the past. I always tell them I acknowledge that I don’t have the same profile as them, but I do bring a lot. I was an auditor for PwC. I have written guidelines for elections in Canada, and in seven years working in audit, I have excelled and proven myself to be a leader in Canada and internationally. What I bring is the perspective of taking a decision and implementing it. As millennials, we have moved mountains in every profession&#8230; And I bring the force of an entire generation. We are ready to take the baton and make the UN an organization that serves all of us.”



One of the critical issues Akanksha wants to bring to the fore is the refugee crisis, especially on the African continent that’s home to more than 33 million of the world’s displaced people. She says she has a personal affiliation for the cause, hailing from a family of refugees.



“All four of my grandparents moved from Pakistan to India after the partition [in 1947], so I know what it’s like to be in a position to have nothing and build life back for yourself.”



On Africa, she adds: “We need to depopulate the refugee camps through repatriation, local integration or resettlement… Local empowerment, government engagement and listening to the people directly are what is critical, so I am proposing a development approach that empowers people on the ground through universal education and internet access.”



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<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“As millennials, we have moved mountains in every profession&#8230; And I bring the force of an entire generation. We are ready to take the baton and make the UN an organization that serves all of us.”</blockquote>



Akanksha says her candidacy and her pressing call for a new UN has not been a surprise for her colleagues.



“My candidacy has been received well by the employees of the UN… Within the UN universe, people are expecting that we might be able to change things. Everyone is aware of the shortcomings but no one has dared to challenge the system and status quo. &nbsp;



“We need to shape the new world order, and we need a new UN, and specifically for Africa&#8230; Africans have always presented themselves with dignity no matter their hardships and been able to forgive and get to work collectively to move things forward… The UN has to give more to Africa, to give them adequate humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs.”



Akanksha’s daring candidacy has also found her positive endorsement as “the voice of young people”.



“Arora’s candidacy is important,” says Simone Filippini, a senior Dutch diplomat and President of the Leadership4SDGs Foundation in the Netherlands, when contacted for a comment by FORBES AFRICA. “She is a talented, smart young woman of the world. She has a clear view of what needs to happen to make the UN a more effective and inclusive organization in her perspective… We need disruption and Arora is a disruptor; she is courageous to challenge power and deserves admiration and support… I hope that she will be able to get the support of many, especially of the younger generation.”



Agrees Agustin Matteri, Senior Portfolio Manager, Climate Change Unit – Latin America &amp; Caribbean, UN Environment, about the need to spread the voice: “Her chances are high, but only if we make common people aware of the importance of the UN in their daily lives.”



At the moment, Akanksha is preparing to submit her vision statement and is on leave from the UN without pay until the conclusion of the election, but does she have a plan B if she does not win?



“I am in this to win,” she affirms. “I am so optimistic in the member states to realize that the world after Covid cannot go back to the old ways of doing things… I have no plan B other than serving those not served by the system.”

1Arora Akanksha for a new UN_01_16x9

The 34-Year-Old Aiming To Run The United Nations

Like wealth, fame, or even love, power is not static. As any of the 17 newcomers to the 2020 list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women can attest, a person can quickly gain power through elections, mergers, and acquisitions, or the stroke of a pen affirming a promotion. Likewise, as the women who’ve fallen off the Power Women list illustrate, power can just as easily fade when a company fails (we hardly knew ye, Quibi), a board wants a new direction, or a country wants a new administration.



Sometimes, though, power shifts gradually: a person is nominated for a position, but doesn’t yet have the job. She has taken the top job, but hasn’t had time to make her mark on the organization or execute the turnaround that is crucial for survival. Or perhaps she is clearly in charge but is methodical in growing market share, creating a company or investment fund that is large but not hasn’t yet reached the level that earns her a spot among the top 100 most powerful women around the globe.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2019/12/12/power-rising-these-are-the-women-to-watch-in-2020/?sh=36ec15567964">As we noted last year</a>, this is not to say that women who have not quite yet arrived aren’t powerful. In fact, their power is rising, and likely at a rate that could earn them a spot on the power list as soon as next year. To that end, these are the women to watch for 2021:



Janet Yellen:&nbsp;The former chair of the Federal Reserve last ranked No. 6 on the Power Women list, in 2016, but fell off the list when she was not renominated for the role. With the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicahaider/2020/12/01/bidens-economic-team-and-first-female-treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-supported-by-powerful-women/?sh=48c196272418">news</a>&nbsp;that president-elect Joe Biden has decided to nominate Yellen as his Treasury Secretary—a move that would make her the first woman to hold this particular Cabinet position—Yellen’s return to the power list is all but one Senate confirmation away. (And this, too, she should achieve, having already notched bipartisan support to become the first female Fed chair in 2014.)



Dana Canedy: A Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who is also the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, Canedy has long been respected by writers and media types for decades. (Her Pulitzer was for her work on the incisive 2001 New York Times Series, “How Race Is Lived In America.”) In July, she was appointed as the senior vice president and publisher of Simon &amp; Schuster, the eponymous imprint of one of America’s largest book publishers. Canedy is the first Black woman to have the job, and with Simon &amp; Schuster poised to merge with Penguin Random House (pending clearance from antitrust regulators), her influence could soon grow even larger.



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-764x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49219" width="271" height="362" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-764x1024.jpg 764w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-224x300.jpg 224w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-768x1030.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-1527x2048.jpg 1527w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-300x402.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-scaled.jpg 1909w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 271px) 100vw, 271px" /><figcaption>Pearlena Igbokwe. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Pearlena Igbokwe: In September, NBC promoted Igbokwe to chairman of the Universal Studio Group, a move that effectively handed her the baton of power from former group head (and Power Woman) Bonnie Hammer. Jeff Shell, the CEO of NBCUniversal, called Igbokwe “ideally suited” to run the company’s television studios and cited her “extraordinary taste.” Having overseen critically-acclaimed comedies like “Russian Doll,” &#8220;Superstore,&#8221; “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” and “The Good Place,” Igbokwe’s next decisions at NBC are almost certain to entertain.



Catherine MacGregor:&nbsp;Eight months after the board of directors at French utility company Engie pushed Isabelle Kocher out of the CEO suite, the company has appointed longtime oil and gas executive MacGregor as her successor. MacGregor will start the role in January.



Julia Cheek: The 36-year-old founder and CEO of at-home testing company Everlywell <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/leahrosenbaum/2020/12/03/at-home-health-testing-company-everlywell-raises-175-million-series-d-round-reaching--13-billion-valuation/?sh=244c28115702">announced</a> in early December that her company had raised a $175 million Series D round of funding—a capital injection that propelled the company to a $1.3 billion valuation. With the pandemic accelerating consumer demand for (and comfort with) at-home health testing kits, Cheek is confident Everlywell will continue to grow. “Hopefully,” she told Forbes, “we’ll emerge as one of the winners.”



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-1024x776.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49221" width="356" height="270" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-1024x776.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-300x227.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-768x582.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-1536x1165.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-2048x1553.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-600x455.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 356px) 100vw, 356px" /><figcaption> Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Anna Diamantopoulou, Kersti Kaljulaid and Cecilia Malmstrom: All three women are running to be the next head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). All three are already pretty influential within Europe: Diamantopoulou has had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniefillion/2020/11/27/anna-diamantopoulou-wants-to-lead-the-oecds-post-covid-recovery/?sh=6d59a5061c19">a long career in Greek politics</a>; Kaljulaid is the first woman have to ever been elected as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniefillion/2020/11/10/estonias-president-wants-to-lead-the-oecds-ditigal-revolution/?sh=52d9e4445a29">president of Estonia</a>; and Malmstrom was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniefillion/2020/11/19/cecilia-malmstrom-wants-to-bring-her-trade-expertise-to-the-oecd/?sh=39a9f9cf5337">Europe’s trade commissioner</a>&nbsp;for five years until 2019. Any one of the three would be the first woman to run the OECD, which is an intergovernmental organization whose goal is to stimulate economic progress.



Dr. Özlem Türeci: As the co-founder and chief medical officer of BioNTech, a German biotech company, Türeci was, until 2020, focused on researching and developing cancer treatments. But when her husband and co-founder, Ugur Sahin, realized in January that Covid had the potential to become a pandemic, their work shifted—as did their global profile. BioNTech partnered with Pfizer in March to develop a Covid vaccine, and last month, the two companies announced that their drug, which relies on mRNA technology, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2020/11/18/pfizer-biontech-says-covid-19-vaccine-is-95-effective-will-seek-emergency-approval-within-days/?sh=569b110441f7">is 95% effective</a>. With vaccine deployment set to be the dominant story of 2021, the effect Türeci’s work can only grow larger.



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-1024x681.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49081" width="353" height="234" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 353px) 100vw, 353px" /><figcaption>Nigeria&#8217;s Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Photo credit should read ERIC PIERMONT/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was Nigeria’s first female finance minister (and its longest serving) and spent 25 years working for the World Bank. She sits on the boards of Twitter and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and is poised to become the first female head of the World Trade Organization. It is for these reasons, and more, that Forbes Africa named her its <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/cover-story/2020/12/04/african-of-the-year-ngozi-okonjo-iweala/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">African Person of the Year 2020</a> and that we’re calling her a woman to watch closely in 2021.



-By Maggie McGrath, Forbes Staff

Federal Reserve Jackson Hole Economic Symposium

Power Rising: These Are The Women To Watch In 2021

In Lagos, savvy entrepreneurs in the beauty business face-off the Covid-19 economic crisis by glamming up their online offerings.



From always being fascinated by brushes and make-up products and their ability to enhance a person’s physical appeal, Rasheeda Adeosun, one of Nigeria’s leading make-up artists today, was close to this profession from the beginning. When she was about seven years old, her mother ran a hair-dressing salon in Lagos, where Adeosun would spend most of her time but the interest in taking up beauty as a career came much later in life when she herself became a mother, to three children.



“While I was pregnant, I was working for Lloyds in their headquarters in the United Kingdom and I fell really ill. After I had my twins, my husband said ‘your friends are always coming around asking you to do make-up so why don’t you do something like that’. Obviously being at home, I said I will give it a try,” recalls Adeosun. She posted her wedding pictures on Facebook and people began to take note of her talent.



“People were like ‘who did your make up’, and I said ‘I did it myself’. That is when business started booming. A number of bloggers, like Linda Ikeji, posted [about] me and that is when the customers started coming in.”



But the early days were a struggle. Unlike today’s standards in the beauty business – characterized by significant access to resources and industry entrepreneurs, who can provide mentorship, as well as practically no barriers to entry due to platforms like YouTube and Instagram – Adeosun had no one that would help turn her passion for make-up into a business.



“So, I used to work for nothing and sometimes I would only have £20 left but I always say to people not all free jobs are bad jobs and I did a lot of free jobs in the beginning but I always say I gained a client later,” says Adeosun.



But that was a very long time ago. Today, she is one of the most sought-after make-up artists in the UK and Nigeria, with her established brand, OTS Beauty, boasting some of Africa’s leading celebrities like Tiwa Savage, as exclusive clients. The bridal look has undergone an overhaul. New-age make-up artists like Adeosun are the reason behind it. She has perfected her signature style which comprises of natural and contemporary looks in tune with the trend and she has gained a reputation of amping up the glam quotient of brides on their big day.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47303" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Rasheeda Adeosun of OTS Beauty</figcaption></figure>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;I used to work for nothing and sometimes I would only have £20 left but I always say to people not all free jobs are bad jobs and I did a lot of free jobs in the beginning but I always say I gained a client later.&#8221;</blockquote>



This has created a huge demand for her bridal make-up services, which constitute a bulk of her revenue. In addition to this, she can charge a premium for campaigns, video shoots and photoshoots. She charges a uniform price for both celebrities and regular clients, often bringing in anywhere from £3,000-£4,000 on a good month.



But like many industries, the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that entrepreneurs like Adeosun are now faced with an uncertain future as economies continue to implement physical restrictions in a desperate attempt to curb the spread of the marauding virus. Adeosun has seen her biggest cash cow all but vanish overnight. This has led her to pivot her brand to survive the new normal.



“I am now doing a lot of online stuff. Most of my following is not from the UK but rather from Nigeria and Ghana. So, doing online classes has helped. Even though it hasn’t brought in the type of money I am used to, it has helped me make ends meet. Also selling lashes online has helped me to bring in money,” says Adeosun.



There is really no business that has not faced the wrath of Covid-19 as more and more enterprises are being forced to shut their doors due to the nationwide lockdowns in place.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="682" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-682x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47304" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-682x1024.jpg 682w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-600x901.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-768x1153.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-1023x1536.jpg 1023w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503.jpg 1364w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px" /><figcaption>Nnenna Okoye of Youtopia Beauty</figcaption></figure>



Nnenna Okoye is an Accounting and Finance graduate from the University of Kent in Canterbury in the UK and is now a beauty entrepreneur. She is the owner of Youtopia Beauty, which initially began as an online beauty shop but has over the years morphed into a physical space offering everything from beauty products to skin serums. A bad case of acne, which lasted for over eight months, was the catalyst that helped her to pivot from her nine-to-five job and enter the scary world of beauty entrepreneurship.



“At the time I thought ‘what can you do with your eyes closed’ and you know you love doing and enjoy doing it and still make money from it. And products were the only thing I knew how to do but it was scary and I didn’t know where to start from,” says Okoye.



After failing to get local products that would help her with her acne problem, she had to resort to ordering the products from abroad.



That was when she had her eureka moment. From a beauty blog, she broadened her horizons into the world of beauty distribution and created an e-commerce site where customers in Nigeria could order online. Once business took off, she began introducing her own line of branded cosmetics, the first of which was her best-selling Youskin Vitamin C Serum.



“I felt that vitamin C is the most essential product in every beauty routine especially in Africa where we have exposure to the sun and a lot of pollution. We have about eight products in our line today,” says Okoye.



The company has had to make several changes to its business model over the years. Firstly, Okoye’s dream of creating the Amazon for beauty products was short-lived due to the logistical challenges in Nigeria.



“When I started, people did not have that trust to use their cards online and they had Jumia, which had an order without paying method but they are a much bigger company so they could afford to do that but we couldn’t. So, we had to devise a method where we could also do it properly,” says Okoye.



Her Nigerian consumers wanted to see the products and have a mini consultation before purchasing and it soon became apparent that Okoye would need to open a physical space in order to attract her consumers.



And that is exactly what she did. Youtopia Beauty now had a physical address and an online presence and the move led to an influx of sales.



Since then, the company has been enjoying unprecedented growth. In addition to Youtopia Beauty and Youskin, Okoye subsequently launched the Beauty Hub, a one-stop shop catering service for all the beauty needs of the Nigerian woman. Then disaster struck. Nigeria’s Covid-19 lockdown order came into effect in March and since then, Okoye’s beauty space has remained closed.



“Since the lockdown, we have seen a total decline in people walking into the Beauty Hub which has been disastrous. I shut down completely because we couldn’t do anything due to the curfew in place in Lagos. In the middle of May, I decided not to stop selling,” says Okoye.



Luckily, her major sales came from the distribution of her products, which were still being sold in essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets that were still allowed to open their doors during the lockdown.



“Because of the pandemic, people couldn’t go out and now people who didn’t care about their skin decided that this is the time to focus on skincare. So, we are selling out on our skin products with some of our lines selling about 100 soaps a day. I have actually seen my numbers rise in the skincare products category but not the make-up line and Beauty Hub,” says Okoye.



Kwame Opoku, CEO of Reset Global and a futurist, describes the trend of increasing sales in the beauty industry during a pandemic as the ‘Lipstick Index’. “Research has shown that historically, an increase in lipstick sales occurred during difficult times like the 9/11 crisis in 2001. This was first established by Estée Lauder who saw their lipstick sales double during this period and this is used as a reliable metric to gauge consumer confidence,” says Opoku.



Kika Osunde and Chioma Ikokwu are the owners of Good Hair, a high-end provider of quality hair products for the discerning and upwardly-mobile professional woman. The starting prices for their hair units can fetch up to a $1,000 a piece. Over the years, the brand, which the women started when they met in university over 12 years ago, has attracted the crème de la crème of society like the First Lady of Ghana and the wives of politicians.



“We saw a gap in the market. There were less than 10 people selling hair and it would sometimes take you up to a year to find a good supplier. So, the market was ready for us. Girls our age could not attain and have access to luxury hair. We always knew we wanted to be a luxury brand and fresh and we targeted young professionals, our aunties and affluent people,” says Osunde.



Their love for premium hair has been supported by their wealthy clientele over the years, which has resulted in the two diversifying their brand with a presence in the UK as well as launching the Good Hair Space in Nigeria with a beauty salon, a barbershop as well as a restaurant and bar.



Today, however, the hair market is a lot different. They have still stuck to their unflinching compromise for good quality hair but are no longer the only players in the space. Instead of only a few suppliers, there are now thousands of people selling hair. The proliferation of social media means it is easier to find suppliers from all over the world. Furthermore, cheap hair products from China provide affordable alternatives to premium hair which has created a mass market.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="682" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Facetune_09-07-2020-20-47-12.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47307" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Facetune_09-07-2020-20-47-12.jpg 682w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Facetune_09-07-2020-20-47-12-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Facetune_09-07-2020-20-47-12-600x901.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Facetune_09-07-2020-20-47-12-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px" /><figcaption>Kika Osunde</figcaption></figure>



“Even though the salon is closed, we are still selling hair to clients in Nigeria and the UK,” says Ikokwu. “In Nigeria, we offer a product and a service and in London, we only offer a product. So now, we focus on selling our products. We have started creating more content to increase the demand of our hair units and sales have surged during this period. We definitely fall into the lipstick index- the only thing that has changed for us is the delivery times as the post office wasn’t open six days a week anymore in the UK.”



For most entrepreneurs in the beauty space, content remains king. Providing engaging content to their followers either through tutorials and giveaways to keep online audiences engaged has become the new norm if they want to keep building brand loyalty. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to changes in every industry and for the beauty sector, these new changes will require entrepreneurs to put in more hours in front of the camera and utilize social media to remain connected to their consumers, until the world returns to a semblance of its former self.

CHI2

Nigeria’s Beauty Entrepreneurs: Making Up For Lost Business

Edith Cooper, who spent more than 20 years as an executive at Goldman Sachs, knows what it’s like to stand out in a workplace. Being one of few people of color in a sea of white faces over the course of her career hasn’t been easy. But rather than dwell on this reality, Cooper, who now sits on the boards of Etsy and Slack, has championed her differences. That’s what helped her rise through the ranks at the bank to eventually head its human resources department, an accomplishment she says was a result of her ability to connect with people of all backgrounds.



That quality would continue to work to her advantage: As Goldman Sachs evolved, so did its staff. Diversity was reflected not only in employees’ skin colors and genders, but also in their ages and geographical origins. Cooper was awakened to the fact that if the company was going to thrive, it would need to create an environment wherein its multifaceted staff could feel comfortable embracing their differences and, in turn, learn from them.&nbsp;



“If you can figure out an environment where people can thrive together, it’s powerful,” Cooper says. But it’s a process that takes time, especially if newer, more inexperienced employees aren’t equipped with the proper skills to navigate this balance between professionalism and open expression. 



That is in part what inspired Cooper’s new startup,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.withmedley.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Medley</a>, which she launched with her daughter Jordan Taylor, a former chief of staff at Mic and Harvard Business School Baker Scholar, to provide a community in which young professionals can gain the skills they need to bring their most authentic selves to work without fear. In light of the heightened tension surrounding ongoing racial injustice that’s inevitably seeping into workplace communication, it’s an ideal time to learn this skill.



Taylor has also had her fair share of experiences being the “only one in the room,” but as an emerging leader, rather than an established executive like her mother. Graduating in the top 5% of her class and being one the first 20 Black students to be named a Baker Scholar meant she was constantly figuring out how to relate to peers in predominantly white spaces. She figured it out, but Medley is a platform she wishes had been around when she was finding her voice among people whose backgrounds were much different than hers.



Medley groups young professionals in their 20s and 30s with other like-minded members whose workplace values, concerns and priorities align. The professionals that make up these eight-person groups differ, however, in terms of gender and ethnic background, which Cooper and Taylor hope will translate to increased empathy that members can apply within their respective workplaces.



“This idea of people being able to bring their true selves to work and to be able to talk through what that looks like is at the core of what Medley is offering,” says Cooper.



In addition to full access to workshops, panels and conversations led by experts across industries, members commit to a 90-minute virtual meeting each month, facilitated by a Medley-certified coach and focused on addressing and reflecting on ongoing experiences in their personal and professional lives. Cooper credits Medley’s robust network of coaches to the guidance she gained from Merche Del Valle, former global head of coaching at Goldman Sachs and a certified lifestyle, nutrition and wellness coach.



Merging personal wellness and professional development in group discussions is a priority. “You can’t just look at your career in a vacuum,” says Taylor. “In order to meet your potential, the ability to have a more holistic approach is incredibly important.”



To ensure that people of all socioeconomic backgrounds have the ability to join the community, Medley offers a sliding scale fee ranging from $50 to $250, depending on the financial situation of prospective members. Cooper and Taylor are also in conversations with companies interested in partnering with Medley to give their staff reimbursement for membership.&nbsp;



With the help of investors including Away cofounder Jen Rubio, dtx company founder and CEO Tim Armstrong and MIC cofounder and former CEO Chris Altchek, who contributed more than $1 million to the project, Medley was ready to launch in May 2020 as an in-person membership hub in New York City. Shelter-in-place mandates halted the launch, but also presented an opportunity for Medley to instead be virtual and incorporate international members. The more springing corporate workers that can benefit from the community’s aim to build the next generation of confident, communicative professionals the better, the mother-daughter team notes.



“Medley gives people an opportunity to be a better human in relation to the people they work with and quite frankly in society,” Taylor says.



&#8211; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/briannegarrett/">Brianne Garrett</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/leadership">Leadership</a>

960×0

The Mother-Daughter Duo Behind A New Inclusive Community Teaching Budding Professionals How To Better Engage At Work

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;We have grown past the stage of fairy-tale. As women, we have one common front and that is to succeed. We have to take the bull by the horn and make the change happen by ourselves.<cite>&#8211; Folorunso Alakija, Billionaire Businesswoman</cite></blockquote>

Quote 2

Quote Of The Day

Zimbabwe-born, Canadian-resident Natasha Heschélle, who was once homeless on the streets of Paris, has now produced a new web series that merges many genres.



From being a migrant worker in Paris to sleeping at a shelter run by a Catholic priest, Natasha Heschélle’s career has taken her through some of life’s most uncertain experiences.



Now a film producer and actress in North America, her inaugural series, Zahara – The Return, premiered in April on Amazon Prime Videos, reaching viewers in the United States far from her country of birth, Zimbabwe.



Heschélle says her life story has been that of determination and sacrifice.



Like most of her countrymen, hers too started with separation from her family. Her mother, Marisa Moyo, left the country at the height of President Robert Mugabe’s misrule in 2004, and found a new home in Canada.



“I was seven when my mother left. Her move helped send me to a good school and take care of the rest of the family. I lived a privileged life compared to my peers. I could afford going shopping in South Africa and Botswana; only the privileged few could do this.”



Most Zimbabweans at this stage were living in penury but the worst was to come in 2008.



Heschélle often skipped school to attend dance classes, leaving her family unimpressed.



“When my grandmother died, I suffered severe depression and this worsened as my dreams of becoming a dancer were not materializing. I decided to move to Canada to live with my mom. During the application period, I temporarily moved to Paris in 2013 with the plan to work and pay for my dancing classes.”



That plan didn’t work.



“I ended up homeless and on the streets as I ran out of money with no job, until a priest took me into a shelter where I lived for three months. For a week, I slept at Gare du Nord street in central Paris and with no basic French language skills, things could not be any better. I had to wait until my Canadian documents came out in 2014 when my mom paid for my air ticket,” she recollects.



Once in the Land of Maple Syrup, her dreams started taking shape.



“I got a job, went to acting school, the Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology, along the way landing my first acting role as a supporting actress in a film produced by a Tanzanian. Unfortunately, that movie was not aired due to the producer refusing to pay casting staff.”



Heschélle drew inspiration from her mother.



“My role model is my mother; she is the strongest person I have ever met. She pushes me not to give up. Through her support, I produced my own television series.”



Her television drama, Zahara – The Return, is a three-part romance web series, which showcases rebellion and racial tensions.



The 23-year-old even has advice for budding filmmakers.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Being a producer takes courage, it takes risks. As an actress in Canada, I am a visible minority and I have an accent which has worked against me.</blockquote>



&#8220;I have lost so many roles due to this reality, so I have learned to speak with the North American accent, it’s not easy. I don’t want to lose my accent because that is my identity, but if I have to work in North America, I have to make that transition.”



Says the University of Free State’s Film Studies Professor and film critic, Nyasha Mboti, about the series: “It is a merging of genres playing on racial politics and the horror genre. For black people, the horror genre is increasingly holding an emerging fascination due to the fact that their lives blur the line between horror and biopic, tragedy and comedy, and highlight that there is a thin line between horror and everyday life.



“Black directors, in order to have cross-over appeal, are starting more and more to fictionalize and stylise the racialised horror of everyday life, turning it into a genre that audiences can enjoy.”



– By Trust Matsilele

Tasha aheadshot 2

A Story Of Separation And Return

Assumpta Uwamariya makes wine out of beetroot and has become a sparkling role model for other Rwandan women. 



The beautiful hill country of Rwanda is typically not known for its wine industry, but is reputed for its innovative entrepreneurs. And 30-year-old Assumpta Uwamariya is one such, making red wine from an unconventional source – beetroot.



Based in Rubavu district in western Rwanda, Uwamariya started off farming different types of vegetables, and at first, decided on making juice out of beetroot.&nbsp;



August 2015 marked the beginning of what she describes as a “tough journey”. She had no working space of her own and could only produce 20 liters of juice.



The turning point came in 2016 when she was chosen the best young innovator at the YouthConnekt Africa Awards, bagging $5,000. That enabled her to hire labor, buy new equipment and acquire more knowledge through training.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="805" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Assoumpta-Uwamariya-arranging-bottles-of-wine-in-her-wine-shop-at-Mahoko-Centre-in-Rubavu-District-on-Thursday-January-19-2017.-Emmanuel-Ntirenganya-1-1024x805.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-44547" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Assoumpta-Uwamariya-arranging-bottles-of-wine-in-her-wine-shop-at-Mahoko-Centre-in-Rubavu-District-on-Thursday-January-19-2017.-Emmanuel-Ntirenganya-1-1024x805.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Assoumpta-Uwamariya-arranging-bottles-of-wine-in-her-wine-shop-at-Mahoko-Centre-in-Rubavu-District-on-Thursday-January-19-2017.-Emmanuel-Ntirenganya-1-scaled-300x236.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Assoumpta-Uwamariya-arranging-bottles-of-wine-in-her-wine-shop-at-Mahoko-Centre-in-Rubavu-District-on-Thursday-January-19-2017.-Emmanuel-Ntirenganya-1-scaled-600x472.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Assoumpta-Uwamariya-arranging-bottles-of-wine-in-her-wine-shop-at-Mahoko-Centre-in-Rubavu-District-on-Thursday-January-19-2017.-Emmanuel-Ntirenganya-1-768x604.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Assoumpta-Uwamariya-arranging-bottles-of-wine-in-her-wine-shop-at-Mahoko-Centre-in-Rubavu-District-on-Thursday-January-19-2017.-Emmanuel-Ntirenganya-1-1536x1207.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Assoumpta-Uwamariya-arranging-bottles-of-wine-in-her-wine-shop-at-Mahoko-Centre-in-Rubavu-District-on-Thursday-January-19-2017.-Emmanuel-Ntirenganya-1-2048x1609.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



For a long time, she was making wine from beetroot but later, expanded production to also make wine from fruits such as pineapple and banana. Beetroot wine remains her principal product with the highest demand.



But it was a journey filled with impediments.



&nbsp; “For many, it was too good to be real and their assumption was that I imported [wine] from other countries and just packaged it,” she says.



Even more discouraging to her were comments that a woman had no place in the wine business.



“Money knows no gender. Is it profitable, am I passionate?” That is all that matters, she says.



“I was subjected to mockery from people who consider agriculture an area of the backward and the primitive.”



That didn’t dampen her spirit as she had already had a taste of the industry and knew how profitable it was. She says more young people should be encouraged into the sector.



&nbsp;“We recently went for a field trip to Kenya where a group of 80 young people traveled to visit industries with the government footing the bill.”



Uwamariya sees agriculture as the cornerstone of Rwanda’s economy.



“When you try agriculture, there’s no turning back. I also never thought I would stay in it this long but now I’m proud and determined.”



Her brand, Karisimbi Wines, is also available in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uwamariya’s aspiration is to expand the reach of her products across the globe in the next five years.



Prior to wine-making, she had tried her hand at various businesses. Today, she produces 300 liters of wine every week and has bigger ambitions.



The entrepreneur takes pride in having made money at a young age but her greatest satisfaction lies in showing others what young women are capable of.



“I believe that men and women are equally able and I think it’s high time people started to see that women can be broad-minded, self-reliant and visionary just like our male colleagues,” asserts Uwamariya.



&nbsp;The positive feedback from her consumers motivates and keeps her going in the face of challenges.



When asked what she would have done differently if she could turn the clock back, Uwamariya says she would have entered the agricultural sector even sooner than she did.



But she has invested her time well.



&#8211;Steven Muvunyi

Assumpta Uwamariya showing a beetroot ( in her right hand) at Mahoko Centre in Rubavu District, on January 20, 2017 (Emmanuel Ntirenganya)

Red Riches: This Entrepreneur Makes Wine From An Unconventional Source – Beetroot

At the 2020 FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit in Durban on March 6, for the first time on the same stage, South Africa’s minister Dr Naledi Pandor and her entrepreneur-daughter Dr Aisha Pandor revealed their secrets to continued success.



It’s not often we get to witness a famous mother and daughter on the same stage sharing their lessons on success and legacy. And this duo was certainly doing so for the first time.



At the 2020 FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit in Durban, South Africa, on March 6, Dr Naledi Pandor, the country’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, and Dr Aisha Pandor, CEO and Co-founder of SweepSouth, engaged in a stimulating and thought-provoking panel discussion titled ‘How To Raise A CEO’.



“Thank you very much to FORBES WOMAN AFRICA for the opportunity to be here with Aisha. I don’t often get a chance to see her. So it’s lovely to see you Aisha,” opened the much-loved minister, to laughter from the audience in the large ballroom at the international convention center in Durban.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="517" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2778-e1586614377306-1024x517.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-44166" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2778-e1586614377306-1024x517.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2778-e1586614377306-300x151.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2778-e1586614377306-600x303.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2778-e1586614377306-768x388.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2778-e1586614377306-1536x775.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2778-e1586614377306.jpg 1623w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Gugu Mfuphi, Dr Aisha Pandor, and Dr Naledi Pandor </figcaption></figure>



The panel’s moderator Gugu Mfuphi began with a comic disclaimer that Dr Naledi has four children and that Dr Aisha is certainly “not the favorite”. As the audience lapped up the moment, the minister, with a broad smile, shook her head in disagreement, saying: “They are all my favorite!”



<figure class="wp-block-pullquote"><blockquote>“It was very clear – just nurture them in a wide range of things. That’s really important.”<cite>&#8211; Dr Naledi Pandor</cite></blockquote></figure>



There was more laughter and life lessons in store, as the audience got to see the lighter side of the minister.



“As a mother, what I tried to do is nurture her where she wished to grow, but also, to encourage her to have as much experience in a range of areas as possible. We would encourage academic work. We also encouraged sport, creativity; all my kids had to do speech and drama at school, it was very clear – just nurture them in a wide range of things. I think that’s really important,” said the senior Pandor.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="711" height="883" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2806-cropped.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-44176" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2806-cropped.jpg 711w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2806-cropped-300x373.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2806-cropped-600x745.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2806-cropped-242x300.jpg 242w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 711px) 100vw, 711px" /></figure>



While she mapped out her daughter’s career path, she later came to an important realization.



“She was really good in science. I love science but I’m bad at it. So I thought ‘God gave me Aisha, she’s going to achieve you know, because she was good at math and science’. And so she did very well at school, and went into the science faculty, did very well at the undergraduate level, was invited to carry on with an honors degree. She did very well and was asked to proceed to her Masters prior to finishing the honors. So, I was over the moon. It’s my dream, right? She continues from Masters into the PhD track, and completes her PhD with much fanfare and celebration on our part because now I’m thinking ‘here’s our senior research partner’. All these things I’ve been talking about science and technology, my child is going to live the example. Well lo and behold…”



The minister went on to offer more life-changing anecdotes about her daughter.



“One day, Aisha comes with her husband – who happens to be a software engineer – they tell us about this plan they’ve cooked up; that they’re going to start this tech start-up. And so I say to her ‘what about your research career?”. And she goes ‘this is what I want to do”. I say ‘what, but you’ve got a PhD, you could be a professor at the University of Cape Town, what are you talking about?’ And she says, ‘no mom, we’ve designed this program, we’ve started our company’. They began to tell me and her father all about it. Both of us were livid. I must tell you we thought ‘these kids are going to be a problem for us, they’ll be coming to beg for money and everything’. Few years down the line, and here we are! I’m very proud of her. I’ve learned my lesson. Let your children go where they wish to go!”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="681" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2807-1024x681.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-44169" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2807-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2807-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2807-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2807-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2807-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forbes-LWS2020KZN-2807.jpg 1623w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Dr Aisha Pandor</figcaption></figure>



Aisha, along with her husband, learned quickly that being a CEO will require significant sacrifice.



“I lived with my parents for probably four years after starting our business. We eventually ended up selling everything we had, to fund the business,” she said.



“Our parents brought us up to have the right moral compass. Education and the idea of learning and knowledge have been very important. My parents gave us freedom in the decisions we made based on the fact that they knew they had given us that grounding.”  



Watch the full panel discussion below: 



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="#LWS2020KZN: Mother &amp; Daughter - How To Raise A CEO" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kqJiWcLTgGY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>

Forbes LWS2020KZN-2791

How To Raise A CEO: A Mother And Daughter Share Lessons

Chika Uwazie helps small and medium businesses find the right people and scale up with more sophisticated human resource systems in Nigeria’s booming economy. 



Nigeria is projected to add no fewer than
200 million people to its current population of 196 million between 2018 and
2050. The country is also expected to surpass the United States (US), according
to a 2019 Nigerian economic outlook report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
With such a swell in its population, the need to find the right talent has
become a strategic imperative for organizations. 



That is where Chika Uwazie comes in. The
31-year-old tech entrepreneur helps SMEs automate their human resources (HR)
tasks to ensure they have the right processes in place to help them scale and
be successful. Her own journey to success has been far from easy. The
Georgetown University graduate, who spent 10 years as a competitive cheerleader
in the US, made the decision to relocate to Nigeria after her little sister
died due to complications from sickle cell anemia. 



“When everything happened with my sister, I
was at a crossroads. I had finished Georgetown and when you finish from a big
school like that, you go into consulting with one of the big four. I said I
don’t want to do that because that was not enough. I used to always get excited
and light up when I spoke to my sister and we spoke about potentially starting
something in tech and building a tech company,” says Uwazie.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="233" height="300" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/53743431_10101002861460225_7087836493951008768_n-1-233x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42567" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/53743431_10101002861460225_7087836493951008768_n-1-233x300.jpg 233w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/53743431_10101002861460225_7087836493951008768_n-1-300x386.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/53743431_10101002861460225_7087836493951008768_n-1-600x772.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/53743431_10101002861460225_7087836493951008768_n-1-796x1024.jpg 796w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/53743431_10101002861460225_7087836493951008768_n-1-768x988.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/53743431_10101002861460225_7087836493951008768_n-1-1194x1536.jpg 1194w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/53743431_10101002861460225_7087836493951008768_n-1.jpg 1492w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 233px) 100vw, 233px" /><figcaption> Chika Uwazie. Photo provided</figcaption></figure></div>



After her sister’s death, Uwazie decided to
take the leap and build a company that was not only profitable but also made an
impact. She started a tech company called TalentBase, a HR software company
that provides an affordable and easy-to-use HRM platform solution enabling HR
managers and growing businesses to simplify and organize their HR processes.
Uwazie was determined not to let the vision she shared with her sister die. But
first, she needed funding.&nbsp; 



“As you know, it is very hard for black
people to raise money in the US, the bars are extremely high. I felt it would
not necessarily be easier in Africa but I felt I would have more support if I
came back to Nigeria to start a tech company and so that is why I came. And I
felt like I wanted to have an impact. Tech is so oversaturated in the US and I
felt like in Nigeria, there are so many things that need to be done.”



After almost a year of knocking on the
doors of prospective investors, Uwazie got her big break through a colleague at
Google who connected Uwazie with 500 Startups, a Silicon Valley-based venture
capital firm, which provided funding and support. The program required Uwazie
to stay in San Francisco for six months, after which she was able to
successfully raise more angel investment a year later to scale her business.
This year, Uwazie stepped down from the CEO position at TalentBase to move on
to her next venture, Career Queen.



“In Africa, and not just Nigeria, there is
a human capital problem. Throughout the time I was running TalentBase, everyone
kept complaining to me about how it was difficult to find good talent and this
is why I started Career Queen, which is my second wind of entrepreneurship. It
has been a crazy growth cycle and I didn’t realize how challenging recruitment
is in Africa,” says Uwazie.



She spends most of her time recruiting
C-suite executives and executive assistants for organizations in Africa, with a
particular focus on women. And according to Uwazie, the numbers don’t lie.



“It has been proven, companies that hire
women are 30% more profitable than those who do not have women in the team. The
aim is to also get women a seat at the board table. A huge part of my vision
now is starting this movement among women, making an impact in organizations
and finding great talent for organizations.” 



Only if there were more who thought like
her.

GettyImages-1135564516

Female tech entrepreneur helps SMEs automate their human resources

Ghana is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies this year, according to the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the IMF. Its projected growth in 2018 is between 8.3-8.9%.
The Ghanaian workforce is young, with 57% of the population under the age of 25. This means millions of new graduates enter the workforce each year. One woman who understands the struggle that awaits this unsuspecting group in corporate Ghana is Human Resources (HR) entrepreneur, Rita Kusi.
Kusi is the founder and CEO of Keeping “U” Simply Intact (KUSI) Consulting, a marketing, training and recruiting company based in the United States (US) and in Ghana. She is also the Managing Director of threesixtyGh, a social enterprise company with an online presence showcasing innovative ventures in Ghana and the people behind them.
Born in Bolga, Northern Ghana, Kusi’s family gained access to the US through the US Visa Lottery in the early 80s. The family relocated to the US in 1991 where Kusi remained until 2013. And that is also where she amassed a wealth of experience working in several sectors.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entreprenuers/2018/04/24/cracking-the-code-and-bridging-the-gender-gap/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Cracking the Code and Bridging The Gender Gap</a>
After college, Kusi worked a number of temporary jobs, from telemarketing in Atlanta to door-to-door sales in Maryland. She even tried her hands at customer services and working in cafes.
“I think for me having held all these jobs opened my eyes and I realized especially what I wanted to do in corporate America,” says Kusi.
All these experiences came together when she applied for a new role as HR assistant. When she did not hear back from the company regarding her application, Kusi took the initiative and called the hiring manager.
“So my dad told me to call and get feedback and as I called my CV happened to be in front of the hiring manager and he invited me in for the interview. I knew nothing about HR but I was just really looking for a job and I ended up getting that job and it was the longest I ever stayed at any job so that was a sign,” says Kusi.
She had finally found her calling in HR but it was not until a nostalgic visit back home that she would merge all her US experience together, ushering in a new life as an entrepreneur.
There were no real training programs at the time focused on improving the quality of customer service in Ghana. Kusi seized the opportunity to provide quality HR training programs, which she hoped organizations would pay for. And they did. This was the birth of Kusi Consulting.
From training services, the company has morphed its offerings into recruitment services and Kusi is now diversifying into skills-training as well as business process outsourcing, where the company handles the pay roll function for other corporate clients. Her timing couldn’t be more perfect. Hiring the right people is critical for companies to reduce employee attrition and enhance returns from HR. Companies face challenges in accurately perceiving and assessing an employee’s quality attributes prior to hiring that employee. This problem is more pronounced in African economies, which involves novices who do not have prior work records attesting to their raw skills, learning abilities and motivation. And this is where Kusi comes in.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2018/02/13/remembering-corporate-legend/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Remembering A Corporate Legend</a>
She believes a specialist HR function is imperative in every organization to ensure maximum output by each employee. However, she has had some difficulty convincing corporate Ghana.
“It has been challenging operating here especially being a female because it is literally a man’s world and in this country, it’s all about who you know… There is that challenge of how do I make myself look older and more respected?” she says.
But ever resilient, Kusi refuses to back down. She hopes to create her own temp agency where she has skilled staff inhouse which she can outsource on demand to other companies. Her newly-formed team is just as passionate about the business and with that focus, she is rebranding her company to be a leader in HR not only in Ghana but across Africa.

Tag: Woman

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