Global Women Economic Empowerment Alliance

How This Anthropologist Is Challenging The Way Women Think About Business And Money All too often we have heard the myths of not being good enough to be business owners or not smart enough to manage our money. Meet Andrea Simon, the author of Rethink: Smashing the Myths of Women in Business, who is challenging the way women think about business and money.

AFRICA Day!

:
You say “it’s tough!”

Imagine it is 1961. You are an African woman and you have no real education beyond the first two years of High School. You leave your village in search of a better life in the city where your sister lives. Then you get drawn into the public protests of the times, resulting in a beating that leaves you half dead.

You flee to another country because half your friends have either been killed, are in jail, or have also fled. Some of your young male relatives leave to go to be trained to be part of the struggle, never to return alive.

In this foreign land you are not allowed to get jobs that might compete with locals. You try to start something, buying and selling second-hand clothes, but the authorities raid and take your stuff, more beatings.

But somehow you save a little, here and there. And before long you can set something up provided you can keep it away from officials and others who want to loot it. You move from second-hand clothes to furniture, then you start to make the furniture. Next you diversify yourself a little, to protect yourself.

You never borrowed a single cent in your life, and there were no investors.

You work 20 hours per day. You have children, and you want them to go to good schools, which cost money. There is no such thing as a public “dole” to help, and most local leaders would take what she has in a heartbeat.

Within 10 years you have more money than most men in your district, but no one even knows. You drive around in battered cars to disguise what you have. You even send your oldest son to a private school in the UK.

I went to see this woman at the height of my troubles in my homeland. After listening sympathetically, she said to me: “If you really want to succeed, no one can stop a good person who is determined to succeed.” Then she reminded me of the need to always pray to God.

She was right. I trusted her because she is my mother.

You know there is nothing I can do to help you change the conditions in any country, but I can equip you with the you need to work and succeed in those conditions.

Homework: Where do you [and your business] plan to be next "Africa Day" [25 May]? Do you have your one-year plan in place? A few different economic scenarios?

Don't just "plan to plan". Everyone needs to jump to the quickly now. Write down three concrete goals and your proposed steps to get there. [You don't need to share them here].

Time is ticking away.

End.

Image credit: , african_portraits, in Ethiopia.

An estimated 5.8 million Women of Color owned businesses employ 2.2 million people and generate $387 billion in revenue. Ahead, meet 81 Black women entrepreneurs and founders who are changing the game.

81 Black Women-Owned Brands and Entrepreneurs to Support Now and Always — Create + Cultivate An estimated 5.8 million women of color owned businesses, employ 2.2 million people, and generate $387 billion in revenues. Ahead, meet 81 Black women entrepreneurs and founders who are changing the game.

81 Black Women-Owned Brands and Entrepreneurs to Support Now and Always — Create + Cultivate An estimated 5.8 million women of color owned businesses, employ 2.2 million people, and generate $387 billion in revenues. Ahead, meet 81 Black women entrepreneurs and founders who are changing the game.

Women Innovators Lead: Innovation at its Best!

How One Entrepreneur's Bamboo Bikes Are Changing Lives (and the Environment) in Ghana

Congratulations to all honorees of the 100 Most Influential African Women 2020.

Prosperity is Everyone’s Goal!

3 Keys to Long-Term Prosperity, Health, and Happiness Prosperity should be everyone's goal. Being prosperous means you have a life worth living. It means your internal and external worlds are congruent.

Women in Construction in South Africa

Today: CELEBRATING & STANDING With SisterFriends in South Africa! Happy Women’s Day!



in 2020.

✊🏾✊🏾 Wathint’ Abafazi Wathint’ Imbokodo!
This was not just the rally cry for the Women’s March of 1956 that is commemorated today in South Africa, it is the mantra embodied by all the women in South Africa who continue to fight for equality. Today is about commemorating the over 20,000 women who marched to the Union Buildings in protest of pass laws being extended to black women. Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams-de Bruyn led the historic march but there have been many other women who have made valuable contributions to the struggle for women’s equality. We salute you!