They and other businesswomen gathered this week for Women’s Month and the launch of a new branch in the Women President’s Organization (WPO).

Interestingly, the two most quoted women on the day were the longest serving FLOTUS and an activist who was passionate about civil and women’s rights, Eleanor Roosevelt, and US businesswoman and author, Sheryl Sandberg.

Inspirational messages attributed to Eleanor included, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” and “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people”.

To Sheryl, “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders”.

And that’s why these incredible support groups such as the WPO are important. We still need them because women still need to encourage, champion and give a leg up to other women.

Here are some highlights from the powerhouses that were there.
1. Valerie Mentz, CEO of Geo Data Design
“We live in a country with immense opportunities and it’s up to us to grow this economy.”

2. Phyllis Newhouse, president and CEO of Xtreme Solutions
“How do you get there? Hang out with people who are already there.”

3. Phyllis Newhouse
“Use a vision board. I put pictures of everything I see on paper and want to happen so I can see what it’s going to look like. You’ve got to see it, then do it.”

4. Margery Kraus, chairman of WPO global board and founder and executive chairman of APCO worldwide
“I don’t believe in work/life balance. My philosophy is that your family becomes an ecosystem and so I’ll do things like taking my children or grandchildren on business trips around the world.”

5. Margery Kraus
“You have to be a little fearless. Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. There are lots of ups and downs and the ladders of success don’t always stretch upwards. Stamina is important and it’s a good thing to be stubborn.”

6. Louisa Mojela, founder, group CEO and chairperson of Wiphold
“Passion alone can not take you to the finishing line, it’s also about perseverance, determination, commitment to the vision. Do not take short cuts because these will only provide you with short term gains instead of long term gains that will be sustainable. Finally make sure your strategy can withstand any stormy weather.”

7. Louisa Mojela
“If you have a dream or vision, follow it passionately, believe in it and know that there are potential pitfalls ahead, but a stumble is not a fall – it’s a caution to revaluate the strategy.”

8. Basetsana Kumalo, executive chairwoman and CEO of Basetsana Women Investment Holdings and owner of Connect TV
“When women collaborate, my goodness, great and magical things happen.

9. Ipeleng Mkhari, founder and CEO of Motseng Investment Holdings
“I think confidence plays a huge role in young people’s lives today. People work with people who they believe have a sense of confidence in themselves. But then it’s also got to be matched with proper planning.” (Quote taken from EWN in an interview with Nikiwe Bikitsha.)

10. Margrit Wolff, CEO of Mercury Freight
“Do not give up – I believe that every opportunity is there for female entrepreneurs. Banks are amicable and there is lots of other types of finance available. Be professional, present as a professional and get on with it. Make sure you know the industry you have chosen very well and believe yourself to be the best in that field and to know your market and their needs.”

11. Johanna Mukoki, Group CEO of Travel With Flair
“Always ask for feedback when you are unsuccessful with a pitch, or even a job interview. This gives you the opportunity to improve on yourself and you will know your areas that need improvement. Secondly, if you can think it, you must believe that you can do it!”

A few more highlights from a conference to help advance women

Standard Bank recently held their annual Top Women Awards as part of gender empowerment. Here are some of their top speakers and businesswomen.

12. Judy Dlamini, executive chairman of the Mbekani Group
“Lift other women up as you rise.”

13. Margaret Hirsch, co-founder of Hirsch’s
“We as women need to stop being consumers and start being creators.”

14. Kate Moodley, author and franchise director of Discovery
“True growth doesn’t emanate from a place of comfort.”

15. Phuti Mahanyele, executive chairperson of Sigma Capital
“In order for women to be leaders, we need to be owners.”

To read the full article on News 24, click here.

As we celebrate the women in our lives this August, we also should take time to consider the incredible role women play in their communities as breadwinners, teachers and imparters of a wealth of advice.

With managing businesses and creating a stable financial future being a major concern for most South Africans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve rounded up a few of our favourite quotes from some well-known South African women on how to handle your finances and recognise your worth as a woman.

According to Expert Hub, on understanding your value, Phuti Mahanyele, executive chairman, Sigma Capital says: “When going into business, you should view yourself as a business person – people treat you the way you treat yourself. If you come in feeling at a disadvantage, then you are already at a disadvantage.”

The importance of regularly taking stock of your achievements is crucial. “It is important to revisit your goals regularly to establish when you know you have succeeded when it is time to move on or move faster or slower and when it is time to perhaps gracefully bow out,” said Property entrepreneur and CEO of Innate Investment, Lynette Ntuli shared in a Fin24 interview on her journey as an entrepreneur.

On living within your means, model and media personality Blue Mbombo shared in an IOL interview on how celebrities spend their money, that living below our means could empower us more. “For example, if we paid ourselves first at least 10% of what we earn, that leaves us with 90% or less of our income to live on. Controlling our expenditures enables us to make good use of the money we have leftover after we paid ourselves,” explained Blue.

Having bought land for her son, Nandi Madida shared in an Instagram post the significance of creating general wealth for her family. She said: “I want my children to understand generational wealth. Having grown up in Durban North and having parents who come from rural KZN Maphumulo, I learnt from both backgrounds that generational wealth is more important than buying things that lose value over time (cars, clothes, etc.).”

Speaking to The Citizen on some of the financial lessons she learnt from her parents and how she imparts financial literacy to her children, business and media mogul Basetsana Kumalo aptly said: “No Ivy League institution could have taught me what I learnt in my mother and father’s house.”

To view this article on RCS, click here.

This is according to a recent interview she had with 702 host Bruce Whitfield in which the pair were discussing all things money as part of Whitfield’s “Make Money Mondays, Personal Edition” feature.

Kumalo attributed her decision of making the purchase to what she calls “conscious parenting” and the financial advice her frugal parents gave her as she was still growing up during and after her reign as Miss SA.

“No Ivy League institution could have taught me what I learnt in my mother and father’s house,” began Kumalo.

“My parents, especially my mom, always encouraged us that ‘if you make a little bit of money in life, don’t buy a flashy car, buy property’ and so I started buying property … my first property [came] at the age of 21 just after I handed over my crown,” explained Kumalo before saying she went on to expand her property portfolio.

She also gave credit to her parents for teaching her how to budget by allocating different amounts from their entrepreneurial exploits when she was growing up to covering the various household expenses they had as a family.

“There’s a blueprint that I only know and that is ‘hard work pays.’ The hustler in me comes from the ‘hood, understanding that one has to chart a different trajectory for one’s life because of where we come from as black people.”

Kumalo went on to share the lessons that she and her husband Romeo Kumalo impart on their four children.

“We discuss stocks and options with them at the dinner table,” added Kumalo.

Though she highlighted all the wisdom her parents imparted to her, she did admit to making frivolous decisions with her money. She listed travel as her biggest vice, recalling a failed ski trip that saw her family leaving a certain country five hours after landing upon discovering that the experience they were sold was not what they were getting.

She touched on her life as Miss South Africa 1994 and how this introduced her to travel, which she got to do a lot of with her former mentor Nelson Mandela.

Kumalo expressed her gratitude at how her life as a Top Billing host allowed her to continue this and to experience things she believes she may not have experienced under different circumstances.

To read the article and listen to the interview on the citizen, click here.

The 2018 AWIEF Awards showcase a diverse representation of finalist entrepreneurs from across the continent, including from Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The awards have grown exponentially from entries of just under 300 last year when the AWIEF Awards were launched, to 1200 this year. Judges are drawn from thought leaders, decision makers and specialists in the various sectors of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“AWIEF remains Africa’s number one voice in driving the agenda for women’s leadership in business. The AWIEF brand has grown tremendously over these few years through the sustained support of our trusted partners, local and international, underscoring the great values of AWIEF programmes and projects in accelerating women entrepreneurship as a catalyst of inclusive economic growth,” said Irene Ochem, Founder and CEO of AWIEF.

“Our finalists were rigorously assessed in terms of the sustainability of their businesses, as well as the documented or prospective impact on community development and the economy. Thereafter, our judges decided on five finalists in each category and one winner,” explained Ochem.

“It is with great pleasure, immense honour and a deep admiration, that we salute our 2018 AWIEF Awards finalists and winners who have sailed through AWIEF rigorous scrutiny to meet the prescribed criteria and, most importantly, for being a beacon of hope and inspiration in their communities and organisations.”

Finalists from across Africa
Forty women founders and entrepreneurs were selected as finalists from 12 different African countries, across eight categories. The #AWIEFAwards took place at The Westin Hotel on Friday, 9 November 2018, at the conclusion of the two-day AWIEF conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), this year themed, ‘Unleashing ideas: Innovation, sustainability and enterprise growth’.

South African celebrity Bonang Matheba was the Master of Ceremonies at the gala awards dinner, while entertainment was provided by R&B songbird, Bucie.

Basetsana Kumalo, Executive Chairman & CEO, Basetsana Woman Investment Holdings, South Africa, presented to the winner of the AWIEF Awards 2018 Creative Industries Award, Nana Akua Oppong-Birmeh, CEO of Archxenus, an architectural design company based in Accra, Ghana.

Winner of the AWIEF Awards Young Entrepreneur Award, Nomso Faith Kana, said Africa was enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution and with its very young population, this is how the continent would thrive. Her startup, Sun n Shield 84 Technologies is a fibre optic cable manufacturing company.

Jane Maigua, the MD of Exotic EPZ Ltd in Kenya, and the winner of the Agri Entrepreneur Award, said her AWIEF Award was a symbol of “bravery and unity of purpose”, in working in a challenging field. Her agri-processing business is one-year-old and has already created 152 jobs, 90% of whom are young women. It is also a sustainable social enterprise, buying from small holder farmers.

To view this article and winners of the awards on bizcommunity, click here.

HUNDREDS of business women from various sectors in KwaZulu-Natal were inspired to #BeUnstoppable at this year’s FNB Business Women’s Breakfast, in association with East Coast Radio, at the Durban ICC on Monday, 20 August.

The sold-out event saw South African business greats such as Basetsana Kumalo, Lynette Ntuli, Emma Sadleir and Dr Judy Dlamini share their insights and learnings in both a professional and personal capacity.

Basetsana Kumalo, the executive chairman and CEO of Basetsana Woman Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd, delved into what makes someone unstoppable. She said, “Those who are unstoppable are in their own world. They don’t compete with anyone but themselves. You never know what they will do, only that you will be forced to respond.”

She went on to remind the women in attendance that their passion will make them unstoppable.

“The only person standing between yourself and your power is you. Go forth and master yourself, go forth and be unstoppable, go forth and make a difference in the world,” added Kumalo.

To view the article on highwaymail, click here.

I call myself a serial entrepreneur. I have what is called a “portfolio career”, which means I do numerous things that bring in an income, and they all run concurrently. So my days differ. Mondays, I spend at Connecttv, my TV production company; Tuesdays at PHAB Properties, my property business; I dedicate Wednesdays to my mining ventures; and on Thursdays and Fridays, I attend board meetings and management meetings.

I also have a few sponsorship projects, including Mercedes-Benz, and generally see clients as well. I am a strategist, so I give direction on how to grow our turnover in the various businesses. I formed what is now called Basetsana Women Investment Holdings 20 years ago. It is an investment company owned and managed by black women, and focused mainly on the resources, property, media, telecommunications, and information technology sectors.

You first came to public attention as a beauty queen, when you won the Miss South Africa crown in 1994. How did you cope with the sudden fame victory brought you?

I won Miss South Africa in 1994, at the dawn of our democracy. It was an exciting time – and a great adventure as a 20-year-old – to be an ambassador of our country that was going through a dynamic shift and a new dispensation. The title catapulted me into the public space overnight, and I had to grow up very fast!

Please describe how you went from being a beauty queen to being in the position you are in today.

I started presenting on Top Billing in late 1994. In 2002, I started Tswelopele Productions with a partner, and then started PHAB Properties with Potlako Gasennelwe. In 2005, Uzalile Investments, a coal-mining company, was established with Lindiwe Leketi and Pollet Tebeila. I set up Connecttv in 2012. The company produces shows such as Our Perfect Wedding, Utatakho, Date My Family, Please Step In, and Diski Divas.

What did you want to be when you were a child?

A teacher. My mother was a teacher, my sister is a teacher, and my uncle was a teacher. I believe teaching is a calling, and I have the highest respect for teachers.

What was your first paying job?

I was a TV presenter.

What advice would you give to people wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Work hard, dream big, don’t be afraid to fail, and learn something new every day.

What do you most enjoy about the work you do?

I love the fact that every day is different, so I don’t get bored with what I do.

What part of your job would you prefer not to do?

I am blessed to do what I do and have nothing to complain about…

To view the article on the business times, click here.