Nigeria, South Africa Lead Other African Nations In Women Entrepreneurship

Nigeria and South Africa have been ranked first ahead of other African nations in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship championed by women in the respective countries on the continent.

On Wednesday, August 14, leading Pan African entrepreneurship and innovation non-profit, the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF), announced the top finalists in its annual awards to celebrate women leaders and entrepreneurs in Africa.

Selected from a pool of many entries by women entrepreneurs from across the continent, the finalists are 22 in number and are drawn from 10 countries across 8 different categories.

The respective countries are Nigeria, with five finalists, and South Africa, also with five finalists.

Also, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia have two finalists each, while Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Mali have one finalist each.

In the young entrepreneur award category, the finalists are Beatrice Haule of AfriAgric Products (Tanzania), Lola Alli of Lagos Executive Cardiovascular Clinic (Nigeria), and Ola (Orekunrin) Brown of Flying Doctors (Nigeria); while in the tech entrepreneur award category, the finalists are Caroline Corbett of SmartBlade (South Africa), Rebecca Enonchong of AppsTech (Cameroun), Diane Temogne of Engineering Consulting and Services (Cameroun).

For the social entrepreneur award, the finalists are Sizani Ngubane of Rural Women’s Movement (South Africa), Efua Asibon of Dislabelled (Ghana), and Laurence Esteve of Zip Zap (South Africa); with Shantelle Booysen of Elim Spa Products (South Africa) making it solely as the global brand award category finalist.

Then, Evelyn Namara of Vouch Digital (Uganda), Caroline Pomeyie of ProFish (Ghana), and Affiong Williams of ReelFruit (Nigeria) emerged the agri entrepreneur award category finalists, while Mary Inzofu of Njia Empowerment Organisation (Kenya), Nambula Kachumi of WeCreate (Zambia), and Charlot Magayi of Mukuru Clean Stoves (Kenya) are finalists in the empowerment award category.

In the creative industry award category, Kapasa Musonda of Mangishi Doll Co. (Zambia), Genet Kebede of Paradise Fashion (Ethiopia), and Abby Ikomi of House of Irawo (Nigeria) made the final list; with Kristine Pearson of Lifeline Energy (South Africa), Oumou Sangaré of Festival International du Wassulu (Mali), and Joke Silva of LUFODO Group (Nigeria) emerging finalists in the lifetime achievement award category.

Promoting excellence in entrepreneurship and innovation among women-owned businesses in all sectors across all the 54 African countries in Africa is the aim of AWIEF, which celebrates the five-year anniversary from October 29 to 30, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa.

“Women-owned businesses are a vital part of our African economy and the women of Africa are our most valuable, untapped resource,” commented Irene Ochem, AWIEF founder and chief executive officer.

According to her, “each year the entries to the AWIEF Awards grow in number and this response signifies the importance of recognizing and celebrating women in Africa for their achievements and contribution to Africa’s economic and sustainable development.

“Women-owned businesses are growing on the continent and are a vital part of Africa’s future and contributing to the fact that seven out of 10 of the fastest growing economies in the world, are to be found in Africa. Africa is rising and we must make sure the women of the continent, the backbone of our communities and our families, are given the opportunities to rise as well.”

The AWIEF Awards panel of judges is made up of high-calibre industry experts and thought leaders spread across the continent.

Birgitta Cederstrom, Frost & Sullivan’s business development director for MEA and this year’s Head Judge for AWIEF Awards said “this year’s AWIEF Awards programme has offered a host of equally inspirational and terrific female entrepreneurs and innovators, driving growth for Africa.

“The judging panel has had some very busy weeks where we reviewed over 200 shortlists for consideration and we are delighted to see the high standard and quality of entries coming through to AWIEF.

“This is one of the most robust and independent jury based awards programmes that is currently offered in Africa, and we are thrilled to support female entrepreneurs with a worthy recognition as well as good PR and media exposure.

“We are hoping that investors are signing up for the upcoming award programme subscription that will be launched in 2020 to help identify the best female start-ups in Africa across key industries such as agriculture, technology, fintech, chemicals and healthcare.”