Lioness Lean In Impresses
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday July 22, 2019 12:28
The programme was a one-day event held in Gaborone last Friday.
Running for the third year, the purpose of this event was to offer invaluable insights and expertise from established women entrepreneurs to aspiring younger female ones.
Powered by Stanbic Bank Botswana, this year the event had two sessions, with the first having a greater focus on more seasoned women entrepreneurs and the second comprising of younger, aspiring female ones.
Both sessions, in the spirit of showcasing entrepreneurialism and building strong ties, also allowed five young women start-up entrepreneurs from the audience to make their business pitches on their new products, services or ideas to the audiences.
Addressing participants at the event, the bank’s board member Jenny Marinelli, said they remained committed to helping women in business move forward by providing exposure, information and expertise.
“We foster an environment that facilitates our client’s growth and success. Even within our own organisation, we have committed to making tangible changes in line with the United Nations (UN) Women HeForShe initiative, which encourages men to stand alongside women in the global quest for gender equality,” Marinelli said.
We have developed a Women’s Network Forum to pursue this further, and now drive a dedicated Diversity & Inclusion effort, which looks to sustain and deliver meaningful progress in this space as a key strategic imperative of the bank,” she said.
On her part Stanbic’s Head of Marketing, Stephanie Stoneham, said they recognised the tremendous role this platform played in bringing together women entrepreneurs in the community, adding that as a financial partner they remained committed to helping these women in their growth journeys.
Lioness Lean In Ambassador for Southern Africa Hlubi Mboya-Arnold, who graced the event, said the programme celebrates the game-changing women who are building great businesses in the country.
Having the fastest growing network of women entrepreneurs across the African continent with almost 700,000 women business builders in its community in 49 African countries and the Diaspora, Lionesses of Africa continues to grow at a rate of 20,000 new users joining every month. The Lioness Lean In events take place in cities across the continent each week and are designed to bring together women entrepreneurs to share, inspire, and connect for accelerated success.
In 2018, two new additional elements to the Lioness Lean In programme were introduced; Lionesses CoLab and Lionesses Launch session. The first being an initiative aimed at showcasing women entrepreneurs who are collaborating with each other to produce innovative new products and service offerings. The latter designed to introduce women entrepreneurs who are launching exciting new products in the same month as the Lionesses Lean In event. This offers great exposure and access to new markets, which is at the core of the Lionesses network, giving women entrepreneurs the opportunity to take their businesses to the next level.