Veekee James in one of her designs. Her fee for a fashion design masterclass has shot up from NGN500,000 to NGN1,000,000 Veekee James is renown for her sublime fashion creations, as well as her design Masterclass where, according to her, she opens up on some deep secrets of her professional success, including her signature corsetry and spectacular attention to detail. A Veekee James design Of her upcoming three-day masterclass class scheduled for March 2024, she says: “The 1st edition [August 2023] was life-changing, with so many testimonies. This edition promises to be even better! This is not a class for…
Author: Admin
(R-L): Ramin Toloui (U.S. Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs); Tony Elumelu 9Chairman, Tony Elumelu FOundation); Somachi Chris-Asoluka (CEO, Tony Elumelu Foundation 📸 Somachi Chris-Asoluka Recently, representatives of the US State Department paid a courtesy visit to the Tony Elumelu Foundation, and were hosted to an intimate reception that brought together some of the most creative talent in Africa, cutting across music and film. Says Somachi Chris-Asoluka (CEO, Tony Elumelu Foundation): “It was a beautiful day spent hosting the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs, Ramin Toloui, first in a roundtable discussion with some of our #TEFAlumni in the…
Julie Mehretu’s Untitled (2001) sold for $9.32m (with fees) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong contemporary evening 📸 Sotheby’s Last month, Ethiopian-born Julie Mehretu set a new auction record for an African-born artist. At the Sotheby’s Hong Kong contemporary evening on 5 October, 2023, her untitled 2001 diptych sold for $9.32m (with fees). Mehretu’s current record-breaking work previously sold for $2.89m at Christie’s New York in 2015, and so has seen a 227% increase. Julie Mehretu in her Chelsea (New York) studio. 📸 JOSEFINA SANTOS Ms. Mehretu’s result has far surpassed a record previously held by South African artist Marlene Dumas whose 1995 work, The…
Wissal Ben Moussa (Co-Founder, Sand to Green) Wissal Ben Moussa is the proud co-founder and chief agricultural officer of Sand to Green, a Moroccan startup that can transform a patch of desert into a sustainable and profitable plantation in just five years. The company’s innovative irrigation solution is based on three pillars: Desalination: Desalination of sea water and brackish water is used for the irrigation of plantations. Thanks to a reverse osmosis technique and desalination units, fresh water is produced with minimised environmental impact and optimised costs. A drip system: An irrigation technique that brings the water necessary for plant…
Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola (Founder, Flutterwave) Africa-focused venture capital firm, Norrsken22, has raised a total of $205 million, following the backing of more than 30 unicorn founders and institutions. The new tech investments will mostly be spread across Africa, with a focus on startups in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa According to Natalie Kolbe (Managing Partner, Norrsken22), the fund is seeking what it refers to as the next generation of ‘tech giants; on the continent, in sectors such as fintech, edtech and meditech. Among Norrsken22 investors are the likes of Skype’s Niklas Zennström, Delivery Hero’s Niklas Ă–stberg, and Flutterwave’s…
Rokhaya Diagne, 25, a computer science major in Senegal, has channeled her teenage love for video games into a new passion using artificial intelligence to help 📸 Carmen Abd Ali for The New York Times Senegalese, Rokhaya Diagne is a 25-year-old A.I. entrepreneur whose clear goals include using Artificial Intelligence to help the world eradicate malaria by 2030. Rokhaya’s drive in using A.I. to improve health outcomes in the region stems from childhood experiences when hospitals struggled to provide consistent, good quality solutions to a spate of illnesses that she suffered. Currently a Computer Science major at the Dakar American…
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands (R) with Jehiel Oliver (Founder & CEO, Hello Tractor) 📸Hello Tractor Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands last month visited Kenya as the United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s special advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA) In a bid to bolster climate-smart agriculture as a basis for food security, her message was strong – through climate-smart agriculture, farmers would be able to weather through the shocks of climate change, drought, and floods and get better yields. During her visit, the Dutch regent made a symbolic pit stop at Hello Tractor, where she explored the…
📸 Tosin Eniolorunda The loneliness that comes with being an entrepreneur can sometimes be better imagined than explained. At a recent gathering where he hosted brunch for select founders, Tosin Eniolorunda (Founder & Group CEO, Moniepoint Inc) had this to say: “Entrepreneurship can be isolating, and, a lot of times, tough. My journey with Moniepoint has required a lot of grit, and I’m always fascinated when I see founders on a similar path.”With Nigeria being on the cusp of technological innovation, and a lot of people putting in the work to build lasting things, it felt important to give back…
🎥 Insider In January 2023, the World Economic Forum published a circular transformation white paper in collaboration with Bain & Company, the University of Cambridge and INSEAD. Insights from the paper revealed that companies that embark on circular transformation, creating more adaptable operating and business models, are better positioned to prosper, even in times of disruption, while contributing to sustainable growth. This kind of circular transformation is already happening in Uganda where TEXFAD – a banana textile company that produces handwoven textiles – transforms waste banana pseudo stems and other waste materials into high quality sustainable textile products. TEXFAD products Founded by Kimani…
The 2023 Africa Business Heroes (ABH) top 10 entrepreneurs have been named! Selected through multiple stages of interviews and evaluations from 27,267 applications across all 54 African nations, the finalists for the award are: Bola Bardet (Co-Founder & CEO, Susu – Ivory Coast) Ayman Bazaraa (Co-Founder & CEO, Sprints – Egypt) Andrew Takyi-Appiah (Founder, Zeepay Ghana Limited – Ghana) Christina Gyisun (Co-Founder & CEO, Sommalife Limited – Ghana) Thomas Njeru (Co-Founder & CEO, Pula Advisors Limited – Kenya) Ismael Belkhayat (Founder & CEO, Chari – Morocco) Ikpeme Neto (Founder & CEO, Wellahealth Technologies – Nigeria) Albert Munyabugingo (Co-Founder & CEO,…