Throughout history and in modern times, women have played important roles in society through their businesses. Initially, the business world was made for only men not until women took it upon themselves to engage and participate actively in entrepreneurship and business adventures. In fact, some of these highly influential business women have surpassed their male counterparts with their businesses providing jobs and helping the world move forward.

More and more women are seeing self-employment as an attractive career option and are choosing to set up their own business thereby accessing support that is tailored to your needs, speaking to other business women at different stages of the entrepreneurial journey, learning from business mentors, and working with them to develop their business ideas.

Various Support Opportunities For Women In Business

She Leads Arica, (SLA)

She Leads Africa is a Nigerian initiative for business women who are between the ages of 18 to 35 years of age and own a business of up to 1 year. She Leads Africa is an African program that helps young African women achieve their professional dreams by helping them develop their business ideas and marching the women with world-class business mentors.

African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative (AWEC)

This initiative is open to business women who want to expand their business networks by learning from top world experts and mentors. AWEC is an innovative 12-month leadership and business management building program that is transforming the lives of hundreds of women across the African continent.

International Opportunities In Africa

African Women in Business Initiative, (AWIB)

This initiative is created to support the Economic Empowerment of African Women. The African Women In Business Initiative (AWIB) responds to calls to empower women entrepreneurs, in particular SMEs, through better access to finance. The initiative also contributes to a more equitable business environment for women entrepreneurs and enhance the financial market and assist successful SMEs to grow their enterprises.

Women In Africa 54 (WIA): this is set up for African business women with a good business running out of 1 year already before application. The business must have a strong potential to shape the Africa of tomorrow. Each year, the WIA 54 Award recognizes 54 women entrepreneurs from each of the 54 African countries in the continent.

10 Most Successful Women in Business Around The World That You Should Learn From

1. Oprah Winfrey: she is estimated to be about $2.7 billion. Her fortune has been largely down to creating television series that people love to watch. She hosts influential and world-class people on her shows and this has generally brought her more fortune.
2. Cher Wang: she is arguably the most successful business woman in the world. She owns and runs the phone company; HTC. She has been estimated to worth about $6.8 billion and her HTC smartphones have gained big market space in the smartphone world.
3. Sheryl Sandberg: she is known as Facebook second in command. She has helped the site in mass so much income and reaches various expectations. It was her task to monetize Facebook and she did this very successfully.
4. JK Rowling: the author of the book, Harry Potter which is one of the best selling books of all time. Her influence not only affects millions of children around the world but has also drawn many adults into her world. She also partnered with Disney world to produce a movie on her book.
5. Sara Blakely: she sold fax machines for 7 years before creating “Spanx“, a multi-million dollar undergarment company. She is a bonafide lawyer by profession. Sara is currently worth 1$ billion and is ranked the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire.
6. Stefanie Germanotta (Lady Gaga): she is a top music artist and song writer and one of the most successful at that. She is currently estimated to be worth $100 million at the tender age of 25-years-old.
7. Susan Wojcicki: she is the Senior Vice President at search engine giant Google. Susan is mostly in charge of the advertising revenue side of Google.
8. Melinda Gates: the wife of Bill Gates. Although her husband is mostly responsible for their wealth, she has been responsible for helping him co-fund a charitable organization with the money made from Bill’s empire.
9. Indra Nooyi: is one of the most powerful women in the business having held executive positions in many of the world’s top companies. She is currently the Chairwoman and CEO of Pepsico. She has also earned degrees in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as well as an MBA in management.
10. Angela Merkel: she is currently the leader of Europe’s most powerful and richest economy, Germany. Angela Merkel is Germany’s first female leader and her decisions are highly likely to impact the history of Germany.

All of these women are successful entrepreneurs in their own right. All of them had to overcome high odds to reach their ultimate destination, and all have greatly influenced millions of people around the world. These successful business women have in one way or another added so much to the lives of different people in the world and they also serve as great inspiration for other women wishing to emulate their successes by starting their own business ventures.

Take a chance with these programs designed to support women in business resident in Africa. Start now to apply