Earlier this year, Forbes Africa announced their 30 Under 30 list. In honour of Women’s Month, here are some of the females that have been honoured in the Business, Technology and Creatives categories.
Shaney Vijendranath
Shaney’s journey started when she became a mom at 21. She didn’t know many mothers her age and struggled to find parenting information, so she started a blog (that now forms part of her and her husband’s content company, Vimage Media). You, Baby and I shares real stories and connects moms. Inspired by the blog’s success, Shaney also started MomSays, which allows mothers to share their opinions and reviews of products with other parents.
Psst... Did you know Vodacom also has a service that provides helpful information for new parents? It’s called Mum&Baby and is part of Vodacom’s Siyakha platform!
Boitumelo 'Boity’ Thulo
Boity became a household name when she landed a lead role in Rockville (created by Connie and Shona Ferguson), but the star’s portfolio is far bigger than that. She has founded a weight-loss supplement, Boity Toning Support, and recorded her debut single 'Waz Dut’ last year. The song was nominated for best collaboration at the SA Hip Hop Awards. Haven’t heard the track yet? Listen to 'Waz Dut’, featuring Nasty C, on MyMuze.
Sho Madjozi
Another musician making waves in South Africa and beyond is Sho Madjozi. This multilingual artist has made a name for herself as a Tsonga rapper and has performed at numerous musical festivals, including Afropunk and last year’s Global Citizen Festival. She won Best New International Act at the BET Awards and took home the awards for Newcomer of the Year and Female Artist of the Year at the South African Music Awards. You can listen to Sho Madjozi’s top tracks on MyMuze as well.
Nthabiseng Mosia
Nthabiseng and her colleagues, Eric Silverman and Alexandre Tourre, started Easy Solar after frequent electricity cuts interfered with her schooling when she was living in Alexandra, a township in South Africa. They began offering an entry-level solar product to low-income households in Sierre Leone, but now offer a range of products and have plans to expand to Liberia and Guinea.
Vèna Arielle Ahouansou
Vèna’s determination to improve healthcare conditions in Africa led to the formation of Kea Medicals in 2016. This online platform stores patients’ medical records on a single database so medical professionals can easily access their history. Vèna’s aim is to connect 500 million Africans to one million doctors. Currently, they have 1,700 healthcare professionals in their database.
Diana Esther Wangari
Diana is another woman who is changing the healthcare system in Africa. Her platform is called Sagitarix and helps to distribute medication. They have also launched an app, iSikCure, so patients can order their medication online and receive same-day delivery. And they’ve introduced a subsidiary called Checkups Medical Centres, which is a rapid diagnostics medical clinic.
Chika Madubuko
Chika is using technology to connect patients to caregivers. She was inspired to start her digital platform, Greymate Care, when her family found it difficult to find someone to take care of her ill grandmother. Her business was launched in Abuja in 2016 and Chika now plans to expand into Kenya and South Africa as well.
Psst... Did you know Vodacom is passionate about improving healthcare conditions in South Africa? Find out more about Vodacom’s Next Generation Health here.
Dorcas Owinoh
Something Dorcas feels most strongly about is empowering girls and women through technology. While at university, she co-founded LakeHub, a hub for teenage girls who are interested in tech and business. The initiative has been so successful, a group of girls from LakeHub were the only African team to be picked for the 2017 Technovation Challenge in Silicon Valley!
Did you know female empowerment is one of Vodacom’s core values? Read about how we’re using technology to empower women and girls in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
