Top 5 Successful African Female Entrepreneurs 2023
Successful African Female Entrepreneurs in 2023
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While the term “successful” might seem relative, one thing is for sure. In business, success is determined by your results. Potentials are important but results distinguish entrepreneurs.
In the past decade, Africa has produced many successful female entrepreneurs in the commercial industry. However, some notable names have sprung up and carved a place for themselves.
This article will be shedding light on who some of these wonder women are and how they made it to being among the top successful African female entrepreneurs in 2023. Hopefully, it encourages other women out there to go for it!
Keep reading to find out who the top five successful African female entrepreneurs are.
1. Divine Ndhlukula – Zimbabwe
(Industry: Security)
Divine Ndhlukula is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur that specializes in the security business. Her security outfit Securico was founded in 1998 with a team of just four employees.
Born on the 5th of February, 1960, the founder and managing director of DDNS Security Operations currently has a net worth of around $4 million.
DDNS Security Operations (Pvt) Ltd is the holding company for SECURICO Security Services and Dr Ndhlukula is also the Chairperson of the ZNCC Women’s Desk.
On September 20, 2020, Dr Ndhlukula admitted during an interview on Lionesses of Africa that Securico was founded out of a very strong desire to create a space for women in the male-dominated security industry.
It wasn’t a regular female enterprise, but she also wanted to give women the opportunity to pursue their dreams.
Of course, the company was created to earn a livelihood but she also had a bigger vision to eradicate poverty in Zimbabwe by using her company to create job opportunities for many Zimbabwean youths (male and female alike).
“I thought there was a gap in the industry. Companies that were there were not living up to the needs of the clients. The industry was renowned for wild cat strikes and guards generally were perceived as the lowly paid in any sector.
– Dr Divine Simbi-Ndhlukula.
I wanted to change the perceptions and create a niche in which people could carve out a career and I knew I needed to go in with a different approach and that approach was going to make the difference, the people had to be a key or central feature of the vision.
In August 2018, Dr Ndhlukula was listed among the top 10 CEOs in Africa and she has also been named one of the most successful African women by Forbes. Her women empowerment vision is said to have empowered a billion women as of 2020.
2. Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu – Ethiopia
(Industry: Footwear)
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu (born 1980) is an Ethiopian entrepreneur that specializes in the footwear industry.
Her business enterprise SoleRebels was founded in 2004 when she decided to rise above the status quo of her impoverished and destitute community.
Although poor, her community was known to have great artisan skills. She decided to employ this vocation into creating something bigger for not only her community but the world at large.
SoleRebels is eco-friendly footwear that combines style with functionality. The venture has employed hundreds of Ethiopians and is now recognized in many countries in the world.
Bethlehem has received several awards across the globe because of her youth empowerment scheme.
Some of her awards include World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa by Forbes, and Young Global Leaders by World Economic Forum. She is undoubtedly one of the most successful African women our generation has seen.
3. Mosunmola Abudu – Nigeria
(Industry: Media)
Mosunmola Abudu is a Nigerian entrepreneur that has carved a name for herself in the media industry. The Nigerian media mogul was born on the 11th of September, 1964.
Before she founded EbonyLife TV in July 2013, which happens to be the very first global Pan-African television network, Mo (as she is popularly known) worked for various reputable firms.
At 19, the female entrepreneur was chosen to be the brand ambassador for the African branch of AVON Cosmetics. She also worked as a recruitment consultant in the UK with the Atlas Recruitment Consultancy firm in 1987 and then moved to Starform Group in 1990. She is also reputed to have headed the Human Resources and Training for ExxonMobil.
Moments with Mo which started as a TV show later developed into something bigger– EbonyLife television. Mosunmola Abudu is a source of inspiration to many African women and unapologetically one of the successful black entrepreneurs of our time.
She is passionate about Afro-sensitive issues that affect the living conditions of middle-class Africans and local communities. She strives to ensure that Africans accept themselves and their rich culture.
Mo Abudu has been recognized by Forbes Africa as the first African woman to own a Pan-African television network (in 2013). She was also listed as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV by The Hollywood Reporter that same year and received the Entrepreneur of the Year award by Women Werk in New York a year afterwards.
The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences which is in charge of staging the International Emmy Awards appointed her as a director. She was appointed as Chair of the 47th International Emmy Awards Gala, held in New York on Monday 25 November 2019. Making her the first African to land the role.
She was named on the Power list 2018. The Power List is a yearly list of the UK’s top 100 most influential people of Caribbean and African descent.
In 2019, she became the first African to receive the prestigious MIPTV’s Médailles d’Honneur, in Cannes, France. Later that year, Mosunmola was announced as being listed in the 2020 Power list.
Mo Abudu is also featured in a book titled Greatest Blacks Ever: Top 100 Blacks Who Changed the World for Peace. Progress. Prosperity. Pleasure. The book was written by Ambassador Elliston Rahming and published by Dog Ear Publishing.
4. Sibongile Sambo – South Africa
(Industry: Aviation)
Sibongile Rejoice Sambo is a leading female entrepreneur in the aviation industry. Born in 1974 in Bushbuckridge, the South African airline owner founded SRS Aviation – the first black female-owned airline company in South Africa.
After getting rejected by South African Airways when she tried to apply as a flight attendant because she did not measure up to the minimum height requirement, Sambo went ahead to open her own aviation company.
She sold her car, used her mother’s pension money and finally took a loan from her aunt just so she could raise her startup capital.
In 2004, Sibongile Sambo officially started SRS (Sibongile Rejoice Sambo) Aviation, making the airline the first aviation company in Africa set up by a woman.
It’s no surprise to see that the successful black entrepreneur has received several accolades. These include:
- The BIBA (Black Woman in Business Awards) in 2006
- The BWA’s Regional Business Women of the year award for the Star-up category (also in 2006)
- The Impumelelo Top Female Entrepreneur of the year (2006)
- The 2008 BMF (Black Management Forum) Presidential Award in the Category of Youth Business Leadership.
Sambo was also a finalist at the Cosmopolitan Movers of the Year 2007. She has also been featured in the World Bank’s report “Doing Business Women in Africa” and named a “leader of tomorrow” by Fortune magazine.
5. Folorunsho Alakija – Nigerian
(Industry: Oil)
Folorunsho Alakija is one of Nigeria’s most successful self-made billionaires.
Born on the 15th of July 1951, Folorunsho Alakija is one of the most successful Black entrepreneurs in the continent and a renowned philanthropist. Her business tentacles stretch into the fashion, oil, printing and real estate industries.
She started her journey in 1974 as a secretary at Sijuade Enterprises. She later became a banker, after which she switched to the fashion industry, before finally settling in the oil industry.
Folorunsho is well-known in the fashion industry and has been promoting Nigeria’s image globally through her fashion and style company.
She is currently still serving as the lifelong trustee of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) and temporarily unseated Oprah Winfrey as the Richest Black Woman of African Origin in 2014.
On the 9th of March, 2016, she became Nigeria’s very first female chancellor as she was appointed chancellor of Osun State University.
After her successful journey in fashion, she pushed forward to apply for an oil license. She founded and still owns Famfa Oil Limited.
Alakija is also the Group Managing Director of The Rose of Sharon Group which comprises
- The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited
- Digital Reality Prints Limited
- The executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited.
She also shares a majority stake in DaySpring Property Development Company.
As of 2020, Forbes ranked Folorunsho Alakija as the richest woman in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $1 billion.
While as of 2015, Forbes ranked her as the second most powerful woman in Africa after Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the 87th most powerful woman in the world.
In May 2015, she went up the ladder a little bit after getting listed among the world’s 100 most powerful women, side by side with Finance Minister Ngozi okonjo-Iweala. According to Forbes, Folorunsho Alakija came up 86th on the list.
Benson Idahosa University awarded her an honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration on the 17th of July, 2021. It was given in recognition of her impeccable contribution to the business world.
Conclusion
Society will always try to put boundaries on women and push their backs against the walls but women have and will always push back to make a global impact in various industries.
I hope this article inspired you as much as those successful female entrepreneurs and many others have been inspiring African women with their achievements.
Remember, results produce success. Go, girl!
All images are sourced from twitter.com
*Note: no particular order of ranking was employed. These entrepreneurs were listed randomly.
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