1. Role Models | BUSINESS & FINANCE
91
WORDS BELINDA OTAS
The Go-Getter
LYNETTE NTULI
Founder and CEO, Innate Investment Solutions, South Africa
Business sector: Property, asset and infrastructure development
solutions
“African women are the new economy
and engine of this continent. We are
finally taking our place, owning our
voice and making our space” Lynette Ntuli
“I was always going to be entrepreneur; ‘when’ and ‘how’ were the
only variables. I was raised by an entrepreneur, so it’s in my DNA.
There’s no perfect time to start the business journey, just a series of
decisions you are willing to work on. In fact, I would say if you are not
bold and strong in yourself and you cower under pressure, prejudice,
discrimination, and the power games that are played in business –
then don’t do it.
“I have learnt not to adapt – I’m me. I can’t lose my gender, my
colour, my youth or my mind for everyone I meet. Instead, I’m going
to dazzle in the areas where we can be equal – in skill, delivery and
excellence. There have been situations where my gender and age
were meant to work against me: It happens so often, in fact, I’m pretty
sure that some men are unaware of the boundaries and norms they
breach in order to ‘put us in our place’. I’ve learnt to quickly and
quietly call out the behaviour and get on with the work.
“Self-confidence, combined with a strong sense of self, is
incredibly important for a young woman in business. We must
recognise and respect the level of sacrifice that’s required of us – the
long hours, the travel, the studies, the projects that keep you awake
and away from your leisure and family time. We must also know that
business equals risk. You can’t run from it and if you can’t manage
it, business will be a very scary place to operate in. If you don’t swing,
you don’t hit.
“As an entrepreneur, I believe it’s vital to do things differently,
which is one reason I’ve branded myself in a way that attracts
head-hunters. Given the sector I operate in, I’ve worked strategically
to ensure my firm always works on unique projects. The company is
not positioned to compete with the very large and established
property practitioners within the sector; instead, we want to service
the gaps in the market. We’ve taken the approach of responding to
the challenges and needs of underdeveloped institutions,
communities and markets in South Africa. We are the market, so we
can also respond with insight and sensitivity to the nuances of
organisations. It’s really about being the best at providing the right
solutions.
“In time, we will be global, but for now, we want to entrench a
strong position in South Africa and on the continent. If this
means partnering with global brands and supporting them into our
market, but also sharing Africa’s best practice globally, then we will.
There are still too few women in the industry across the continent,
especially in senior and executive positions. We need to change that.
It’s about those who are already working in the industry, keeping the
door unlocked behind them and encouraging other young women
that this is a career of choice and that they can build a legacy. This is
why I believe the value of mentoring cannot be underestimated. I was
mentored, I’m still being mentored and I mentor others. One thing I’ll
say to women entrepreneurs like myself is: work insanely hard. Be
clear in your intent, nurture and empower yourself. Love what you
do, because if you don’t, it shows.
‘“African women are the new economy and engine of this
continent. We are finally taking our place, owning our voice and
making our space in the economic arena. It’s my hope that the next
generation knows this is a time called ‘now’! It isn’t a dress-rehearsal
for their potential, it’s the stage for their greatness and they have to
play that part without fear. And even when it feels like it doesn’t
fit, they must know that they will grow into it.”
ROLE
MODELSWings meets five inspirational entrepreneurs, whose
African business ventures are defying expectations.
Read on for their stories, their business tips, and to
find out how each one is investing in other women,
to ensure they succeed

2. BUSINESS & FINANCE | Role Models
92
The Wellbeing Crusader
GRACE AMEY-OBENG
Founder and CEO of Forever Clair (FC) Group, Ghana
Business sector: Health and beauty
“When you face daunting challenges
along the way, your response should
always be that of defiance, strong will and
commitment” Grace Amey-Obeng
“When I started out in the industry, going from door-to-door, offering
beauty services to prospective clients, I simply had one desire – to
make people look and feel good. The ripple effect of that dream led
to the establishment of our first salon and subsequently our college,
followed by our manufacturing and beauty supply products. One
thing I knew I had to do in the early days was brand FC as a ‘trusted’
brand, especially when it came to the
fact that there were, and still are,
products that promoted skin
bleaching to African women. It was
also necessary to establish ourselves
as a market leader. As such, we have
enjoyed good patronage. Unlike
other brands, our skin-care line has
proven to be effective in preserving
the skin’s tone. As a company, we
have always held the view that ‘black
is beautiful’. This is why we continue
to invest in research and
development in cosmetic ingredients
that are beneficial to our skin type
and any peculiar skin conditions as
African women.
“Promoting the wellbeing of our
clients has always been at the heart
of our operation. We vigorously
teach our clients first to take care of
themselves from within before they
take care of their outward
appearance. It’s essential to know
your market, and the key term I
would use here is to bring
international standards to the local
space. The FC brand has withstood
the test of time because of its quality
and its efficacy in dealing with
stubborn skin conditions, such as
acne and dark spots.
“It’s vital to break new ground in
business, and we keep looking for
ways to make our products better.
Research and development is
essential to our business. As such,
we invest heavily in improving our
formulations to suit the needs of our
target market. Over the last few years,
we turned our focus to improving our
market share in the make-up and
colour cosmetics sub-sector. Our
formulators have recently undergone
further training overseas to help
improve our products and
consistency. In an increasingly
competitive market, our business
development strategy now is to increase our presence internationally.
We are aggressively pursuing our business expansion goal of
establishing strong presence in major economies such as Nigeria,
South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire and even the Caribbean.
“Being in business is not child’s play, and anyone who tells you
otherwise is not being true to you. I’m not afraid of taking risks and I
have always refused to allow my gender to limit my business
aspirations. When you face daunting challenges along the way, your
response should always be that of defiance, strong will and
commitment. I have always been a rebel – I find myself always
challenging the status quo and doing things in sharp contrast to
accepted conventions. I can hardly recollect situations in which
people’s disbelief in my abilities and my gender hindered my
business goals. It’s my vision to see women adequately empowered,
so they can be effective in their roles in business and society, for
them to get the necessary education so they can stand beside their
male counterparts in the corporate world. And as the world goes
global, I hope women will grasp the opportunities this presents and
put them to good use. Women should not allow anything to deny
them the joy that comes with pursuing and fulfilling a dream.”

3. Role Models | BUSINESS & FINANCE
93
The Empowering Entrepreneur
DEBBY EDELSTEIN
Co-founder and Managing Director, QualityLife Company,
South Africa
Business sector: Entrepreneur, speaker and writer on women’s
leadership and leadership trends, South Africa
“I’m passionate about raising women
entrepreneurs, because Africa needs
more women leaders and innovators
in technology” Debby Edelstein
“My work in women’s empowerment over the last 15 years means I’ve
developed finely tuned radar around making sure talented women
are celebrated and recognised for their leadership. I was struck by
how many talented women in technology there are in Africa. These
women deserve to have their stories and accomplishments
recognised and celebrated. It helps us develop the infrastructure of
role models necessary to inspire the next generation of women in
tech, and this is why we started WiredWomen, which has been
enthusiastically received by the industry. I have mentored numerous
women leaders around the country over the years, and one of the
ways I encourage them is telling them to step up to the platform and
tell their stories. At Quality Life, we’re passionate about leadership
development.
“I understand why many believe the tech sector in Africa is still
male-dominated, but women have and continue to make progress.
We have sufficient research from organisations like Credit Suisse and
UN Women to convince us that in order for any organisation to be
able to compete, the reflection of diversity in its board and workforce
is imperative. For a continent like ours, where becoming globally
competitive is so urgent, we should be capitalising on the talent and
diversity we have going for us. So, in terms of the hard business
evidence to support diversity – including, but not limited, to gender
– we’re better poised than before.
“I’m encouraged by the favourable response to the work we are
doing to encourage women in tech, but certainly more needs to be
done. We just have to look at the proportion of women heading up
tech companies and sitting on boards to know how much work we
still have to do. We can’t relax yet. I always encourage the women on
my leadership programs to advocate for each other loudly. This kind
of peer support can be invaluable in giving women the kind of leg-up
needed to step up, speak up and raise our game.
“When it comes to the way women are placed within industry, I’m
particularly excited by women who bridge the gap between
technology and social good. Using technology to change the world
has to be the most important use of technology available. Women
seem naturally poised to keep the industry focused on the potential
for social good, in addition to big business. Many women avoid tech
because they feel underqualified if they haven’t graduated as
engineers or computer scientists. But the tech world is particularly
expansive and while you do need a certain level of skill, what really
matters is that you are innovative and have a passion for the space.
“Women who have excelled in the tech space without being
traditional ‘techies’ include Ory Okolloh, who trained as a
lawyer but, after her experience at Enablis, was enabling Africans to
establish successful business models. I must emphasise the
effectiveness of mentoring in an industry that evolves at a fast pace.
Mentoring is a good idea in any sector, and for women in tech, we
need to understand its value at all levels. There’s a huge drive to
encourage girls to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics) subjects, and mentorship is vital to encouraging a
larger pool of girls to pursue careers in tech. I’m passionate about
raising women entrepreneurs, because Africa needs more women
leaders and innovators in technology. Our economies desperately
need entrepreneurs, and it’s important to encourage more women to
pursue that goal and see it as a viable option.”

4. BUSINESS & FINANCE | Role Models
94
The Beauty Evangelist
TARA FELA-DUROTOYE
Founder and CEO, House Of Tara and House Of Tara Make-Up
School, Nigeria
Business sector: Health and beauty
“A foreign brand can’t be a Nigerian
brand… Local brands appeal to an
emotion that foreign brands can’t”
Tara Fela-Durotoye
“In an industry where trends dictate what’s cool, you must have a
sense of purpose about what you are doing in order to stay focused.
I feel like I’m on an assignment and I see my role in the Nigerian
make-up industry beyond that of a business. It’s about the degree of
lives that are going to be impacted, whether in terms of micro-
entrepreneurship or building an organisation that Nigerians can be
proud of, and building a beauty business that originated in Africa.
“The beauty industry in sub-Saharan Africa is growing and setting
the trend, and Nigeria is at the heartbeat of that evolution. In fact, we
have a lot of interest in House Of Tara from East Africa. House Of Tara
as an indigenous make-up company has changed the way business is
conducted in the beauty sector. It was critical to be strategic about
being positioned as a leading brand within the local Nigerian market,
with an awareness of international brands that were present. Doing
that meant being bold and proud to say out loud that black is beautiful
and African women should celebrate the skin they are in.
“A clear brand essence is important. House Of Tara – the make-up
line – prides itself on being a professional product, created by a
pioneer make-up artist who set the tone for the industry in Nigeria.
That equation cannot be created by a foreign brand, nor can it take
credit for it. So, I have leveraged on that – the pioneering factor – and
on the fact that Nigerian women have confidence in my knowledge,
how I have related with them and carried them along while building
something out of nothing. That will always stand as a mark of
differentiation. Secondly, House of Tara is a brand that promotes
ethnicity and the things that make us who we are – our culture. Many
of the products are either themed beauty icons or heroines in Africa
or based around beauty concepts of Africa. For example, some of
our products have names like ‘Arewa’ and ‘Omalicha’ for some of our
eye shadows. We have an eye-pencil that goes by the name, ‘Adire’
and a lip gloss called ‘Lokoja’. These are names that Nigerians
recognise and can identify with, because they’re
part of their cultural heritage. A foreign brand
can’t own that. A foreign brand can’t be a
Nigerian brand. It can only be a foreign brand
that’s trying to be international in a local market.
Local brands appeal to an emotion that foreign
brands can’t.
“My goal was to build a company that Africa
could be proud of. Creating a business model
that gave other women an opportunity to
discover their own gifts and be economically
empowered was an integral part of the dream.
I’m from a long line of entrepreneurs – my
grandfather was a businessman in the banking
and real-estate sectors. I have the gift of
enterprise and wanted to develop other people
to be entrepreneurs too. When you teach a
young woman how to use a skill like make-up
artistry, you have forever impacted her life. She
remembers that if it wasn’t for House Of Tara,
they would never have explored the
possibilities. My personality is fearless, and
when fear is a factor about making the big
moves like my expansion and distribution plan
in Africa, I just do it, afraid! One thing I have
done consistently is to stay focused on my
purpose.
“My message to young women
entrepreneurs is this – businesses experience
phases. There’s a phase where you are just
starting up and need to give it your all. What
sort of brand are you building? Your brand is
your identity. How do people perceive your
brand? It’s not just about the product that you’re
offering. When people think of your brand,
what positive or negative emotions come to
mind? These things are important at the
foundation level, because that’s a critical stage
of building. It means investing in quality, your
education and in the time that’s required. You
have to be a 24-hour-employee of that
business, and as you grow, you get to a point
where you have more time on your hands. It’s
at that point you begin to employ other people
to take some of the responsibility off you.”

5. 95
Role Models | BUSINESS & FINANCE
“I was brought up by parents who believed in me. My mum, a
Professor of Criminology, is a role model of a contemporary African
Woman. She didn‘t have to tell me, I could do anything. She just
went ahead and achieved, and I observed and learnt. She never
ever let me back out when things got rough. My dad never told me
“you are a girl – don't do that”. Fathers play an irreplaceable role in
their daughters' lives, because the balanced confidence and
assertiveness a girl-child needs primarily comes from her father's
positive influence on her. However, your dream is your
responsibility. Your greatest obstacle is the person you face in the
mirror daily.
“In business, criticism is feedback and when I get valid criticism, I
learn from it. When it’s otherwise, it‘s irrelevant. I can't please
everybody, so I tune them out. In the same manner, I do not allow
my gender to get in the way of executing the job at hand. It’s natural
to notice gender in the course of human interactions and
invariably, you are filtered through the lens of experience. The party
interacting with you subconsciously pulls up data on all the females
they have ever known, and subconsciously categorises you in
comparison to them. I remember the first time I was introduced to a
(now) very good client by his friend as the best architect to design
his house in Northern Nigeria. This now-good client laughed out
loud and said in Hausa "this girl"? I was not offended. I was
challenged. I went on to design the house and it became a landmark.
The rest is history. When I’m disdained for being female, I’m
challenged and I seize the opportunity to prove people wrong. The
main challenge for me in business, I believe, is not gender, it’s
corruption. I’m known for being ethical and that is invaluable: it’ll set
your brand apart from others.
“I’ve been blessed to have the experiences I have had. It’s the
reason I enjoy mentoring other women in leadership and business. I
do this through Awesome Treasures Foundation, which raises
transformational women leaders. I’m passionate about people
discovering their purpose, developing their gifts and deploying it for
social impact. We have summits with attendances of between 1,500
to 5,000 people, and have had over 70,000 attendees since we
started operating. We have trained over 5,000 women in skills
acquisition in cooperation with our affiliates. It’s crucial that women
support women because no-one understands a woman like another
woman does. A woman in business faces a totally different set of
constraints from a man in business. Many women at Awesome
Treasures attest to this fact. They say the first thing that happens
when they encounter Awesome Treasures is that they are
emboldened. The fear of stepping out, daring to be and do, can only
be appreciated by another woman. Even the traditional environment
in which the networking for Big Deals occurs is still a ‘Boys Club’. We
therefore need to support each other as we are sisters, not rivals. In
my opinion, if women are referred to as their own ‘worst enemies’,
it’s because they see other women as rivals and not sisters.
“It’s a delicate balance for a creative soul in business, because to
stay in business you must make money. To succeed at that, you
must realise that ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained‘. People are
afraid of failure, but failure is not final, it should be seen as part of a
learning process in business. One successful venture in business
makes further effort worthwhile. If you question yourself, saying
“what if I fail?” You need to reply yourself, and say “What if I don't
fail, what if I succeed?”
“The key to my success for me is perhaps the fact that I don't see
myself as a success – yet. I see myself as someone on a journey. The
vision for AD and Awesome Treasures Foundation keeps evolving.
What lies ahead is more important to me than what is behind.”
The Architectural Ambassador
OLAJUMOKE ADENOWO
Founder and Principal Partner, AD Consulting (Nigeria)
Business sector: Training and mentoring
“Your dream is your responsibility. Your
greatest obstacle is the person you face in
the mirror daily” Olajumoke Adenowo