Driving Women’s Economic Empowerment for Africa’s Green Transformation — Lionesses of Africa

Day 2 included various Keynote addresses and panel discussions linked to the lead themes of the conference. My own Keynote address was after lunch, which we call the ‘graveyard shift’. In true Lioness style, I asked the delegates to get up and dance a little, take selfies and engage in a light-hearted moment. This was well received (I had asked for permission the day before #allprotocolsobserved).

In my Keynote speech, i shared a few stories from our Lionesses of Africa community of women entrepreneurs who are building green businesses that are making an impact in so many ways. Neidy Carvalho the founder and general manager of Imbe-Consultoria, Serviços e Soluções, Lda, also known as Imbe CSS was present at the conference, allowing delegates to put a face to her story and interact with her. Her business is located in Mozambique and in the beginning was focused only on environmental consultancy. However, due to market need the business has since expanded into water treatment, HSQ and renewable and non-renewable energy.

Emi-Beth Aku Quantson, also one of our Lionesses from Ghana whose story has been featured on our online platforms and magazines, showcased her coffee during the Marketplace slot on both days. She is the Founder, CEO and Chief Caffeination Officer at Kawa Moka Coffee Company, Ghana’s leading social enterprise coffee company and roaster, where she drives investment and growth. She has raised over $200,000 in debt and equity investments; created over 250 jobs in coffee through farmer partnerships and employment of marginalized groups; and established Accra’s largest roastery, supplying major supermarkets and cafes across the country and internationally.  Emi-Beth has been recognized by the President of the Republic of Ghana, President Akuffo Addo. Prior to founding Kawa Moka in 2015, Emi-Beth worked as a tax consultant and transfer pricing expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Ghana and Kenya. Delegates had the opportunity to interact with her and her team and support her through purchasing her coffee. It was truly an honour to have represented the Lioness Community and to have delegates take down notes, presentation pictures having them connect afterwards. My highlight was women telling me they are joining this thriving network and gentlemen promising to send the women in their networks to our community.

The conference came to a close with the official end of E4D and the start of WE4D program led by Katja, followed by a WE4A closing Gala Dinner in the evening, with the Theme – Celebrating Women Economic Empowerment Unleashed: Igniting Women’s Equity and Economic Innovation.

Various partner addresses took place from GIZ, EU, TEF (The Tony Elumelu Foundation) and SAFEEM, and the event flowed with WE4A initiative success stories, panel discussions, testimonials, key notes, and awards.

The “Women Entrepreneurship for Africa” (WE4A) action is a partnership jointly supported by the European Union (EU), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is implemented by the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the Employment and Skills for Development in Africa (E4D) programme of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Swiss Association for Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets (SAFEEM). WE4A focuses on increasing the number of African women entrepreneurs who have enhanced business capacities, have access to formal financial services and can take advantage of market opportunities. Beneficiaries in this intervention are businesses managed and owned or co-owned by African women entrepreneurs. Enabling women-led businesses to integrate into local, regional and international value chains is the goal of the WE4A, which builds on the existing Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship programme. Empowering women entrepreneurs in order to create more decent jobs in their communities is the objective of WE4A. WE4A combines the expertise of its different partners to create a pathway to success for women entrepreneurs in Sub-Sahara Africa.

The evening ended with the official closing remarks by Elmar Kerck (GIZ), celebrating and congratulating the successes of the passionate women entrepreneurs, highlighting that collaboration, learning and supporting each other throughout their many challenges was the key to their successes. These successes showed that the future that will have more women-led businesses, a future in which women have more rights, resources and representation as men do, and a more just, prosperous and sustainable future.

The 3rd day was mind blowing on the information field visits. I had chosen the SME loop option and I’m thoroughly grateful I did so.

Option 3 Empowering MSME growth: The SME Loop methodology for tailored business development and private sector collaboration – Location: Shamba Connect and Botlogistics. Theme: Green and Social Businesses for Covid-19 Recovery in Kenya.

Who are the Partners (Entrepreneurs) we visited and what makes them unique?

1. Shamba Connect Enterprises, founded in 2018 by Mercy Kilili in Nairobi’s Utawala Estate, is a company with a unique vision for sustainable urban gardening. Shamba Connect Enterprises is led by this visionary entrepreneur who is committed to eco-friendly and circular business practices, emphasizing social and environmental impact. Shamba Connect’s innovative approach involves creating urban gardens from recycled plastics. These gardens are installed in homes and institutions, utilizing limited urban spaces efficiently. The company integrates rabbit farming into its practices for circularity. Rabbit by-products (urine and manure) are transformed into organic fertilizer and pesticides, reducing waste and creating economic opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurs. The company specializes in training and consultancy, with a focus on empowering women and youth to cultivate thriving urban gardens. This ensures a consistent supply of fresh produce and promotes sustainable living. Shamba Connect Enterprises is dedicated to making urban farming a force for positive social and environmental change, leading the way toward a greener and more sustainable future. We saw Mercy’s seedling propagation and urban farming infrastructure site and later learnt Shamba Connect’s business model as a social business during a robust question and answer session.  At the end we enjoyed some Kenyan tea and rabbit meat.

2. Bottle Logistics, founded in 2020 by Louisa Gathecha, is a trailblazer in the realm of glass waste recovery and recycling. Specializing in the efficient retrieval of both industrial and post-consumer glass waste, the company processes it into meticulously refined glass cullet, aggregate, and reusable bottles tailored for respective brand owners. Their strength lies in establishing robust collaborations across the entire value chain, guaranteeing the highest possible recovery rates for glass waste. Notably, Bottle Logistics exclusively focuses on recycling hollow glass bottles and jars, omitting window glass and ceramics from their operations. With an unwavering dedication to innovation, Bottle Logistics has emerged as a pioneer in the transformation of the glass waste industry. What sets Bottle Logistics apart is their unwavering commitment to sustainable practices. They have recognized the growing preference for glass packaging due to its unique attributes. Glass packaging is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity. The raw material for manufacturing glass includes sand, soda ash, limestone and cullet (furnace ready recycled glass.) Recycled glass can be substituted for up to 95% of raw materials. Additionally, glass is nonporous and impermeable, preserving the contents and extending shelf life. This material also offers the advantage of being endlessly recyclable without compromising quality or purity, making it an eco-friendly choice. With an array of products, including glass cullet for manufacturing new glass, reusable bottles, and glass aggregate for construction applications, Bottle Logistics is leading the charge in the responsible management of glass waste.

We interacted with Louisa’s social business operating at a larger scale and serving a larger profile of customers – Botlogistics and how she grew business during, after, through and post Covid-19. She currently operates in 3 plants with the aim of including another site and automation for a more effective operation. Her staff count includes over 60% females and a similar percentage of youth employees. We experienced the end-to-end process of receiving, sorting, cleaning the glass bottles all the way to quality assurance before they are packed and dispatched back to their different destinations.

What is the partnership project about?

The overall objective of this intervention was to support 25 social businesses to adapt to new economic reality while promoting green employment capacity through the Covid-19 Build Back Better program. The project supported 25 social business entrepreneurs (35% women owned and 40% youth owned) across Kenya with an intensive and innovative advisory and capacity-building program to ensure a sustainable recovery from the effects of the pandemic. What is the partnership project about? The overall objective of this intervention was to support 25 social businesses to adapt to new economic reality while promoting green employment capacity through the Covid-19 Build Back Better program. The project supported 25 social business entrepreneurs (35% women owned and 40% youth owned) across Kenya with an intensive and innovative advisory and capacity-building program to ensure a sustainable recovery from the effects of the pandemic.

In conclusion – I must say, I have never been more excited to be an African woman in business and having had this opportunity to share a week with like-minded women entrepreneurs from our continent and men supporting us on our journey to impact our communities, and to be able to share my experience as is the nature of our network in regards to story-telling.

My fellow Lionesses, your time Is now. Let us continue to grow and go – “Further Together.”

Nomalanga Sitole

Lioness Lean In Enterprise Ambassador
LIONESSES OF AFRICA
The Pride of Africa’s Women Entrepreneurs