Abaxoxi - the storytellers: Recent Episodes
Womanomics Africa™
Abaxoxi – the storytellers (A Podcast Series) - Pronounced Ah-bah-kso-ksi | Derived from Zulu word Xoxa meaning to chat.
In the episode of the Abaxoxi podcast, Mastering Change, Lebo Biko and Rehema Isa of Womanomics Africa®, chat to Ntsiki Biyela, the first South African black woman winemaker. Ntsiki had never really been a wine lover, and even disliked the taste when she had her first sip in 1999 as a student – but that has since changed. During this interesting interview, Ntsiki shares how she was able to submerge herself more in wine and wine culture. She went to Stellenbosch to pursue a BSc in oenology and viticulture. It is her passion and the chemistry that propelled her into making a great bottle of wine.
Shereen Hunter joins Lebo and Rehema in studio to talk about how she managed to build a career from the boardroom to the boxing ring. Shereen describes herself as a passionate builder of businesses and brands. She has 25 years’ experience in marketing and has spent the last seven years promoting boxing. Shereen shares her journey and all the changes that got her to choose a career in sport – particularly boxing.
Listen to this change-charged conversation!
In this episode, hosts Lebo Biko and Rehema Isa of Womanomics Africa®, chat to CEO of Ata Capital, Mamedupi Matsipa. Mamedupi has over 18 years’ experience in investment banking, IT and private equity. Starting off as an IT professional, she managed to switch up careers and make a name for herself in the private equity space – talk about being an agent of change! Mamedupi has a passion for finance, investing and IT.
You don’t want to miss this change-charged conversation!
Rehema and Lebo host CEO of Dzana Investments, Nkateko Khoza. The former Associate Director at Deloitte chats about her journey, all she has learnt over the years as a woman in the property, energy, education, health, and ICT sectors, and how it’s changed her.
Former CEO and founder of Elgin Free Range Chickens, Jeanne Groenewald, is this episode's guest on Abaxoxi - The storytellers.She talks to Lebo and Rehema about how she got into the agricultural sector, managed to grow her business from 100 chicks for home consumption to a thriving enterprise that produces 150 000 chicks a week.
In this episode of Abaxoxi - the storytellers, we chat to Tech entrepreneur, social activist and LAWTrust CEO and co-founder, Christi Maherry, about how she got into cyber security.She shares her journey and all the changes that resulted into her choosing a career in the technology space. Christi co-founded LAWtrust Information Security Solutions in 2006. She also co-founded the V3 foundation, which focuses on using cyber and human intelligence, along with AI, to identify, reduce and eliminate human trafficking.
In this episode ofAbaxoxi – Lebo Mutloane, the co-founder and managing partner of events management agency, Luzuko is in the hot seat. She shares the biggest change moments in her career and how she has carved her own path from the IT industry to becoming an entrepreneur in the creative space.
Abaxoxi – the storytellers – is here to unlock local, intercontinental, and intergenerational stories of women, profiling African women as thought leaders and change makers.
We’ve partnered with BrightRock to bring you stories about "Mastering Change".
In this episode we chat to Michelle Mokone, co-founder (with her sister) of Mo's Crib, a South Africa-based eccentric home décor design company which specializes in manufacturing sustainable handmade décor items.
We talk about sustainability, partnership, authenticity, and the challenges of scaling handmade products into the warehouses of companies like Target.
We loved chatting to Michelle, and know that you will get so much out of this conversation. To find out more about Michelle and Mo's Crib, you can visit their site here.
In the fourth episode of the AfCFTA Series titled: “The Law and Trade - Protecting your Intellectual Property Across Borders". We are joined by IP expert Sara-Jane Pluke , Partner - South Africa, Intellectual Property (Eversheds-Sutherland) as well 2 phenomenal entrepreneurs, Khaya Cokoto, Co-founder and MD (X Spark ATx and UmoyAir) and Sister Jenny, Founder and Innovator (Sister Jenny JEN-TIL TOUCH).
The episode discusses the knowledge that is needed to protect your IP as you grow your business beyond your country with some of the experiences and perspectives shared by our guest entrepreneurs.
As businesses navigate a new normal (Covid-19 reality) we put a spotlight on the AfCFTA. Originally scheduled to come to effect in July this year (2020) day zero has been pushed out to 2021.
It is being touted as a significant stimulus package for the African entrepreneur and we ask the question whether this is still the case.
In the third episode of the AfCFTA Series, we unpack the status of the AfCFTA and regional trade on the continent. We look at the impact of the prevailing operating environment, its impact on regional trade and the roles and opportunities for entrepreneurs to participate.
In this second episode of the Womanomics Africa® Entrepreneur Guide to the AfCFTA Series, anchored by Lebo Biko, co-founder of Womanomics Africa® who is joined by Trudi Hartzenberg, Executive Director of tralac, Marie Providence Mugangu, Gender, and Trade Expert at the AfCFTA Secretariat and Claudia Furriel, Director for NEPAD/AU at the DTIC. Together they unpacked:
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What is the AfCFTA and how does it relate to other trade agreements on the continent?
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What the AfCFTA unlocks for the African female entrepreneur?
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What the incentives or accelerators in place are that will support the successful implementation of the Area?
- How the AfCFTA opportunity can be translated for women to not only engage but also become significant participants
Each session of the AFCFTA series is designed to provide context facilitating answers to pertinent questions being raised by women entrepreneurs on leveraging and participating in trade on the continent under the Free Trade Area.
Two years ago, Womanomics Africa® began the conversation around the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Here's a throwback to one of our conversations unpacking AfCFTA at the inaugural Womanomics Africa® Conference in 2020. In this discussion we hear from John Rocha - chief director at Trade Invest Africa with the Department of Trade Industry and Competition, Nadira Bayat from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Gender and trade expert and, Hannah Ellinder from Deloitte an Associate Director who is in charge of Research and thought leadership.
The question we were asking then remains as pertinent if not more urgent to respond to in 2022 and going forward. What will ensure that women are at the center of policy considerations and trade facilitation in the AfCFTA?
In Episode 3 of the Young Women in Business, we interview Celeste Diale Director at Lindinox Design and Lerato Moloi, founder of Silikamva Youth empowerment program.
We discuss the challenges of an industry that is not conventionally recognized in the entrepreneurial space and how they have overcome the challenges to make an impact in society.
In this episode, we interview Marla Pelembe, Chief executive officer of Semapak Manufacturing, a plastic manufacturing company. Join us as she shares her passion for plastics and manufacturing and tells her fearless story of breaking social barriers in the manufacturing industry as a young black female.
In this first episode of the Young Women in Business Series, we speak to Wendy Ntinezo - the founder and creative director of Black Merge TV and an overall Creative in the fashion industry; and Kgatliso Letlape Creative Director for Mkhozi Media, Kasi Grooming Club & Popup Markets ZA and Co-Founder and Chief Branding Officer of Maru Design Innovation. Join us as they take us through a soulful, insightful and humorous journey of what it means to be a young black female creative in the industry.
Hulisani Neswiswi founded an investment business in 2012 which invested in the mining, engineering, and petroleum sectors before moving on to focus on sustainability-linked investing and working with multinationals within that space.
She’s one of 3 directors at Trilemma, a licensed Financial Services Provider offering project finance, development partnership, and other financial products and is responsible for the financial services cluster, so I oversee the product development, capital raising, and parts of the project development processes.
Hema is an engineer, turned entrepreneur, turned investor. Hema is a founding partner at Five35 Ventures, a pan-African VC fund investing in women in tech. She is also the co-founder & CEO of WomHub, a boutique pan-African incubator and the first co-working space for female-founders in STEM in Africa. WomHub is a spin-out of her global, award-winning non-profit WomEng which provides interventions for girls and women at every stage of the engineering skills pipeline. Over the past 15 years Hema has built the full ecosystem of interventions supporting women in STEM from talent pipelining, venture building, incubation, acceleration through to investment.
Ms Nomso Kana is an entrepreneur in the broadband infrastructure sector. She is a lobbyist for sustainable resource use and led the South African Delegation to the World Sustainability Energy Forum. In 2019 she was appointed to serve as a Commissioner for 4IR: an initiative of the South African President. She has studied nuclear science and serves as a governor for the Nuclear Energy Foundation Agency, a commercial African group that advocates for alternative energy sources in 43 African countries. Kana is actively involved in youth development through the SADC Parliamentary Forum and the African Women leadership network. Kana has received several international accolades for her social entrepreneurship work; the most recent is the Young Entrepreneur award by the African Women Innovation, Entrepreneurship Forum.
Refilwe is a social entrepreneur, STEAM, SDG, and Girl's education advocate, qualified helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, passionate about youth development in Africa. She is the founder of girls fly programme in Africa (GFPA) foundation, and GFPA Global fund. She is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, council member of the Aeronautical Society of South Africa (AeSSA) outreach team and a recipient of the Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship (AEMSF) for flight training.