Top businesswomen roar at Lionesses of Africa network session
Dozens of Zambian female entrepreneurs today lit up the Lionesses of Africa Lean In Breakfast, an event that aims to empower African women by sharing useful and relevant information regarding business and entrepreneurship.
The event took place at Lusaka’s Taj Pamodzi Hotel. Sponsored by Stanbic Bank Zambia, the occasion brought together inspiring and successful women who shared their stories in business.
Lionesses of Africa is a rapidly growing network of around 450,000 women entrepreneurs in 49 African countries and across the Diaspora, and is on a mission to empower 1 million women entrepreneurs across the African continent by 2018.
The popular Lioness Lean In Breakfast Series of events brings together inspirational and successful women entrepreneurs to share, inspire and connect with the next generation of great women-led startups. It is based on a breakfast networking and speaker presentation format that is highly popular with women entrepreneurs in Africa, and which has been organized in different city locations across South Africa and the African continent for the past year by Lionesses of Africa in partnership with Standard Bank Group.
The highlight of the event was a series of talks from three successful entrepreneurs. Serial entrepreneur Miyanda Maimbo talked about her latest business venture, Pamushana Farm, which is a seedling producing company, a very different business from her successful executive recruitment company, Prosoft Executive Search; Chisoma Lombe, President and Creative Designer of Chizo Designs, shared her journey from chartered accountant to passionate fashion designer, and showcased some of her designs at the event; and Dani Hart, Life Coach and Yoga Instructor, shared the story of how her business helps others to find their life purpose and make the most out of life.
Stanbic Bank Acting Head of a Personal and Business Banking, Mrs Mwansa Mutati said the bank pledged its support to help more women succeed in the business world: “Earlier this year, we became the first Zambian financial institution to join the Global Banking Alliance for Women, the only global consortium of financial institutions dedicated to supporting banks as they design banking products that capture the opportunity of the women’s market.
“Since then, Stanbic has developed and launched Anakazi Banking, a banking proposition that focuses on both increased access to finance and capacity building activities for women entrepreneurs in Zambia,” she said.
Lionesses of Africa founder Melanie Hawken said the event was a platform through which success stories are shared to inspire women seeking to enter the business world and perhaps help them to overcome difficulties they may be facing.
Lionesses of Africa has been rolling out its popular Lioness Lean In Breakfast Event Series for women entrepreneurs in different locations across the African continent this year, all in partnership with Standard Bank Group.