On this weeks episode, I chat with lawyer, dancer, actress and choreographer, Bunmi Olunloyo the Founder & Creative director Bailamos Dance Company a professional dance training fitness and wellness centre in Lagos Nigeria. She is also the creative and managing director for FIT BY BUNMI an active and Athleisure clothing line.

We talk about how her passion for dance led her away from a career in law. How she has dealt with and overcome the stereotypes associated with professional dancing in Nigeria, going from being body shamed to being a body confidence coach and her new venture Fit By Bunmi.

Bunmi holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from the Faculty of Law University of Lagos, Nigeria and is also a qualified lawyer in Nigeria. She is currently an Associate member and certified teacher and judge under the International Dance Teachers Association UK. With over 17 years experience she has produced, choreographed and directed various showcases. She performs and plays Lead in the Internationally acclaimed theatre production FELA AND THE KALAKUTA QUEENS produced by BAP PRODUCTIONS and is a judge in WORLD OF DANCE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES for the West Africa Region. 

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On this weeks episode, I chat with award winning Mountaineer, philanthropist and Executive Coach Saray Khumalo. Saray is the Founder of Summits With a Purpose an initiative that has raised funds and built physical and digital libraries in disadvantaged African schools. She believes that literacy and education have the power to change the narrative for the next generation. She is also the Founder and  Host of the Podcast, Because It's There.

On May 16, 2019, on her fourth attempt, Saray summited Mount Everest, becoming the first Black African woman to summit Mount Everest. We talked about how suffering personal loss caused her to lean into a life of service and purpose. What it means to discover ones why, failing forward and the fact that we are all extraordinary and being ordinary is a choice we make. Saray is also a fully certified Executive Coach. She uses lessons from her mountaineering triumphs to help businesses and individuals explore and unleash their full potential and achieve set goals. 

Saray's African Business Story is about being deliberate in breaking the shackles of convention. It is about triumph.

To learn more about Saray and the work she does - https://saraykhumalo.com/

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On this weeks episode, I chat with serial entrepreneur Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho Founder & CEO Futuresoft Nigeria  a leading digital & technology solutions company, Co-Founder SkillupAfrica focused on training and helping Africans launch their tech careers and Co-Founder of Alwaysme a children's clothing and lifestyle brand.

We talk about how she went from bio technology to providing digital solutions, how entrepreneurs can leverage personal branding, the need to close the digital skills gap in Africa and how she manages serial entrepreneurship in multiple sectors. Nkem also shared her expert opinion on the marketing and communication trends she sees in 2021. Here is a LINK to the full article on the trends.

Nkem is recognized as an Obama African Leader, Forbes’s Top Ten Female Tech Founders in Africa, Global Digital Women top 10 Most Inspiring Women in Africa, Lionesses of Africa top 100 Women and Ventures Africa 42 most Innovative Africans.  She serves on the board of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC as well as the board of the Society for Corporate Governance in Nigeria where she chairs the Digital and Innovation Committee. She also serves in the leadership of the NESG Digital Economy Thematic group; is a member of The Nigerian National IT Software Committee and the Nigerian Electronic Voting Think Tank where she actively contributes to the advancement of digitalization and shaping policy to support its inclusive delivery. 

Nkem's African Business Story is dedicated to impact. 

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On this weeks episode,  I chat  with award winning entrepreneur, Jumoke Dada the Founder, CEO and Creative Director of Taeillo a tech enabled business that leverages mixed reality to sell furniture in Nigeria. 

We talk about how her love for the creative process led her away from architecture to furniture design. How she has distinguished herself in the market using technology  and the path to building a direct to customer online furniture retail business in Nigeria.

Jumoke  graduated with a first class in architecture from University of Lagos, Nigeria, She was part of the Fall 2020 Nasdaq Milestone Maker. She is a Tony Elumelu Foundation Awardee, a Diamond Bank Building Entrepreneur Awardee and a She Leads Africa Accelerator Awardee. She was featured on Elle Decoration South Africa, BBC World News and listed in 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria.

Jumoke's African Business Story is dedicated to creating  a brand Africans all around the world can be proud of and ensuring all Africans have access to affordable furniture.

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On this weeks's episode, I chat with Hetty Boachie-Yiadom, an award winning entrepreneur and Co-Founder of P&H Boutique, South Africa's largest African print retail brand.

While working for a leading South African bank, Hetty and her husband Papa started a fashion retail business. They would eventually leave their day jobs and scale P&H Boutique from their home to 7 stores across South Africa.

Hetty is also the Lead Coach at Hetty The Entrepreneur, where she guides entrepreneurs to achieve their goals through results-based mentorship. She has set an ambitious goal to produce 300 African-led businesses who will earn in multiple currencies through digital products. 

Hetty graduated from University of Pretoria with a major in Political Science and a minor in English. She was named a Top 200 Young South African by Mail & Guardian in 2019, Top 50 Thriving Female Founders, and ranked number 1 on Vusi Thembekwayo's Top 40 mentorship programme. 

Hetty's African Business Story is dedicated to empowering African led businesses and helping them thrive.

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On this weeks's episode, I chat with Fatmata Binta - popularly known as  Chef Binta.  She was born and raised in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Fulani parents of Guinean descent. Binta is the Founder of Fulani Kitchen -  the first African nomadic pop-up dining experience in Ghana. A dining experience that is both a culinary and cultural journey.

Chef Binta describes herself as a modern nomadic chef.  Her culinary style combines her nomadic Fulani roots, classical training at the Kenyan Culinary Institute and love for rural life and nature. Her passion to share African cuisine is based on her experiences as a child growing up during the darkest period of Sierra Leone’s history, the civil war. She experienced first hand how food  can  break down barriers and bring people together. She continues to do this today by organizing dinners to broker peace between Fulani's and local communities in Ghana.

Chef Binta's African Business Story is dedicated to using her culinary art to preserve her culture, build bridges and connect people.


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On this weeks's episode, I chat with Emalohi Iruobe Founder of Tribe XX Lab the first and only co-working, wellness and incubator space exclusively dedicated to female entrepreneurs and female led startups and companies in Lagos - a place where women are able to present a professional front for their business as well as network, get training, access to funding opportunities and help each other.

In response to the BBC Sex for Grades documentary, Emalohi started  the  I GO TALK project. It is a  social justice and empowerment movement focused on exterminating the silence surrounding gender based violence especially among female students in Nigerian universities.  This project is fully funded by VOICE GLOBAL on behalf of the government of Netherlands.

Emalohi is also the Founder of  Aimanosi Lingerie; a dynamic brand focused on promoting body positivity and self love in African women. She has a Bsc. in Finance and Banking from Lincoln University, PA and a Juris Doctor from Villanova University. Before delving into full time entrepreneurship she practiced law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey working in Commercial litigation, as well as working as the Manager of Project Implementation in the Kwara State Public Private Partnership office.

Emalohi's African Business Story is dedicated to social impact, championing marginalized groups and creating safe spaces for women.

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On this week's episode, I chat with Lucia Bakulumpaji-Wamala Founder & CEO Bakulu Power a renewable energy company in Uganda.  Born in Kenya to Ugandan parents who fled during the Luwero War, she grew up mostly in Canada. The idea for her company first emerged during a trip to visit family in Uganda.

Lucia was named in Forbes Afrique, Forbes Magazine as one of the 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa (2017) and by Institute Choiseul as one of the 100 African Economic Leaders for Tomorrow (2018 and 2019). She holds an honors degree in Public Administration, with a specialization in Community Intervention from the University of Ottawa and is a graduate of the Prince of Wales Business and Sustainability Programme at the University of Cambridge.

Lucia's  African Business Story is one of collaboration,  evidenced through her commitment to continually engaging the communities she works for, from project initiation through to implementation and maintenance.

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www.africanbusinessstories.com

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To celebrate International Women's Day , I chat with one of my mentors Temitope  Ilyuemi. Tope is Senior Director, Global Government Relations for Africa at Procter and Gamble (P&G), she rose from a graduate entry position to become one of the most senior leaders in P&G in Africa. She champions women, advocating for gender equality and works tirelessly to see SMEs in Africa grow by helping them plug into global value chains. She is highly sought after as a key contributor to development solutions in  Africa.

We talked about the need to be intentional in building a career or a business, the role of mentors and sponsors, turning contacts into networks, building and leveraging community and what balancing work and family means to her.  Ladies, as we celebrate International Women's day, Tope challenges us to give ourselves permission to Shine!  #ChooseToChallenge


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On this week's episode, I chat with award winning entrepreneur Chidinma  Emodi Chukwuemeka, Co-Founder of The Footwear Academy in Nigeria.  Chidinma was named Network Start-Up Woman of the Year 2019 and  received the Star of Business & Entrepreneurship Award at the YALI West Africa Nigeria Cohort 4. She is currently a YALI RLC Entrepreneurship Mentor and a pioneer member of the administrators of The Young Enterprising Women in Africa network (YEWA), a nonprofit group geared towards empowering and enabling women entrepreneurs in Africa. 

She learnt shoemaking at Accademia Riaci, Florence, Italy and has since used her work at The Footwear Academy to improve the lives of shoemakers in Aba and Lagos state, Nigeria by enabling them produce export standard footwear products through training, job matching opportunities and access to quality/affordable raw materials.  She is pioneering a mastering footwear project that will train 100 young people in Aba, Abia State and 30 youths in Ihiala LGA, Anambra State. 

The Footwear Academy are the recent winners of the Proudly Made in Aba Hackathon - winning a grant prize of $50,000 from Ford Foundation. They also took 2nd place in 2017 at the Open Mic Africa startup Pitch competition organized by Techpreneur Africa and MIT Legatum. They are proud winners of the March 8th Initiative by Friends of Prof, winning a NGN 1 million grant.

Chidinma's African Business Story is dedicated to the creation fo jobs and the empowerment of women and youth.

AFRICAN BUSINESS STORIES WEBSITE:
www.africanbusinessstories.com

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