entrepreneur - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

New African LanguageTech app to bridge linguistic divides, cultivates inclusivity and empowers content creation

WHEN Chido Dzinotyiwei moved to South Africa from Zimbabwe as a child, language became both an obstacle and an opportunity for change. Her primary concern as an adult was children struggling with their mother tongue in new environments, facing challenges in pronouncing names, and finding it difficult to connect with the languages spoken in their surroundings. Fast forward to today, the entrepreneur and Mandela-Rhodes Scholar, now based in Johannesburg, is on a mission with her business, Vambo Academy and project, Vambo AI, to address the vital language needs of African communities. “Having moved to another country in my early schooling…

Nov

2023

By ENOS DENHERE, BIRD STORY AGENCY

When life serves you lemons… a Zimbabwean tale

NEWS

FOR someone who only began their business during the Covid lockdown, Marlvin Chieza certainly doesn't lack ambition. "My future goal is to get financing lending so that we can make a lot of products so that they can be found in every area of Zimbabwe and Africa before extending globally," said the three-years-in entrepreneur responsible for a brand new business that has become a runaway success. "I was a rural boy until I got an opportunity from this end business, and now I live in Harare, the business generates thousands of dollars monthly, and our products range in price from…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

The entrepreneur building a gluten-free African food business

NEWS

ATIENO ODERA, BIRD STORY AGENCY I'M in the kitchen at Onja Foods, situated in the middle-class residential estate of Nairobi's South C, and company CEO Mary Karoki is explaining to me how to make gluten-free pancakes using the company's Uji flour. "The first step is normally sifting the flour, but first we'll be measuring one and a half cups of the flour, then we add one spoon of baking powder, mix well, then sift. Sifting helps us capture the big particles. After that, add three tablespoons of sugar, combine, then set it aside the dry ingredients," explains the 30-year-old entrepreneur.…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

OpEd: Dangote’s Lagos refinery pits climate concerns against economic imperatives

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

AZU ISHIEKWENE FOR BIRD STORY AGENCY WHEN Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, was dealt a bad hand in a failed transaction, he didn’t give up. Instead – slowly, steadily – he exacted his revenge. His reward? Not a pound of flesh, but millions of barrels of liquid black gold. In 2007 Bluestar, a Dangote-led consortium paid US$721 million for the moribund Port Harcourt and Kaduna Refineries. Months later President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s government decided to reverse the sale. The decision was driven by a labour strike and labour groups’ insistence that the refineries (which were only producing at about 20% of their…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

This entrepreneur wants to connect Africa through its creatives

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ROYAL IBEH Olamilekan Olawale Dauda, the founder of Create Naija, at Memphis Art Gallery, one of Create Naija's partner, in Abeokuta, Ogun state, Nigeria. Photo : Create Naija. “IF you truly want to succeed in the creative business, then you should not begin with the idea that you want to make money, you should start a business because you want to make a difference, change the narrative," announces Olamilekan Olawale Dauda with all the conviction of someone who has already accomplished that goal. Dauda, who goes by the online handle of "LEKKY D" was nine years old when he started…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

An African woman in aerospace engineering

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

MERCY WANGARE VENTURING into space, like the world of startups, is not for the faint-hearted. For aerospace engineer Wanjiku Chebet Kanjumba, however, space is a place for adventure, with unlimited possibilities. Having trained for space and even donned the full space garb, she is determined to make her mark in space exploration. Even if she doesn't make it all the way into space. “As a child growing up in Kenya I was always fascinated by space, planets and our solar system. So, in high school, I studied sciences and that’s how my journey began,” recalled aerospace engineer Wanjiku Kanjumba from…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Struggling to “Mane”tain your ‘fro? Entrepreneur Lienne Shonhiwa has you covered

NEWS

TATENDA KANENGONI HOW an entrepreneur's innovative hair formula is helping afro-textured women "Mane"tain their curls - and is making her business highly successful, into the bargain. Pivoting from blogger to business owner is not a common path to entrepreneurship, but that's how Lienne Shonhiwa began building her cosmetics empire. Today, Shonhiwa is the founder and CEO at one of Zimbabwe's most exciting startups - Manetain Organics. “I was just a regular person who had the same frustrations as any other person, you want to take better care of your hair, you want to do better, you watch YouTube videos," she…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

All female taxis service to keep women safe

NEWS

KIM HARRISBERG FROM a women-only driving school to an all-female taxi service - a South African activist-turned-entrepreneur is tackling high rates of sexual assault by providing safe transport in one of the country's most crime-ridden areas. The Cape Flats, which lies on the outskirts of the popular tourist city of Cape Town, is notorious for gang warfare, and sexual violence is an everyday fear for women taking taxis or using public transport in the area, said Joanie Fredericks. Launched last week, Fredericks said her taxi service, Ladies Own Transport, had already received calls from women requesting a ride to work…