Leading women entrepreneurs in Lagos set to gather at the first Lioness Lean In event in Nigeria
On the morning of Thursday 17 October, 100 leading women entrepreneurs from Lagos will gather together for the first in a series of popular Lioness Lean In networking events in Nigeria. The event is being hosted by Lionesses of Africa, the fastest growing community of women entrepreneurs on the African continent with over 850,000 women business builders in its network, and Sigma Pensions, one of the leading Pension Fund Administrators in Nigeria. The event builds on the 100s of events that have been hosted already in Africa’s leading cities by Lionesses of Africa over the past five years. As always, the focus of the event will be on women entrepreneurs sharing their startup stories, inspiring each other with their experiences, and of course, lots of networking.
The Lioness Lean In Lagos breakfast networking event will be hosted at the Wheatbaker Hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos with the Sigma Pensions team playing host together with Lionesses of Africa Founder and CEO, Melanie Hawken. The morning programme will get underway with breakfast networking, with women entrepreneurs encouraged to meet and do business with one another.
Speaking ahead of the event, Melanie Hawken said:
“It is so good to be finally bringing our Lioness Lean In event to Lagos and to have the opportunity of meeting so many women entrepreneurs in our Lionesses community here and hearing about how their businesses are growing and seeing first hand their new products and services. We look forward to welcoming many more women entrepreneurs from Lagos into the Lionesses of Africa community where they can connect and do business with their counterparts across the continent, and of course, raise the profile of their own businesses and brands at the same time. We are looking forward to a great first event here in Lagos, the first of many we have planned going forward. We will also like to say a big thank you to our first impact partner here in Nigeria, Sigma Pensions, for their support for women entrepreneurs.”
Speaking about their decision to partner with Lionesses of Africa to host the first Lioness Lean In events in Nigeria, Nafisah Muhammad Buba says:
“With the growing number of female owned businesses in Nigeria and therefore accounting in no small measure for the increase in the SME workforce, this partnership is a brilliant opportunity for us at Sigma to engage with Female Entrepreneurs towards assisting them create a platform that will not only help them to develop a sustainable business but also enable them and their employees to effectively plan for retirement.
The event is the first of its kind for us so we are very much excited to be part of it; we look forward to having more partnerships with Lionesses of Africa that will positively impact the Nigerian Woman Business Community and indeed the Nigerian worker.”
On the morning of Thurs 17th October, the agenda will kick off with welcoming remarks from Melanie Hawken, Founder and CEO of Lionesses of Africa, who will introduce the works of the Lionesses of Africa community across the continent and the global Diaspora. Melanie will be updating attendees on new initiatives, programmes and news from Lionesses of Africa, and encouraging all women entrepreneurs in Lagos to join the community, and to have their businesses showcased across all its platforms. Next on the programme and giving the official welcome from Sigma Pensions will be Nafisah Muhammad Buba, Head, Business Development Division (North), who will be talking about financial planning for women entrepreneurs.
The programme will feature three invited women entrepreneurs who will be sharing their personal entrepreneurial startup stories, including two women entrepreneurs who will be launching new products and services to the audience. Melanie Hawken will then return to the podium to update attendees about the latest launched businesses from across the Lionesses of Africa network, and thereafter invite 5 present women entrepreneurs from the audience to pitch their businesses and new products. Each of these women entrepreneurs will be invited to be featured on all the Lionesses of Africa platforms following the event.
To support the women entrepreneurs of Nigeria during the month of October, Lionesses of Africa is planning a series of special editorial features, women entrepreneur case studies and interviews with leading women business builders from Nigeria, which will be published across its digital and social media platforms.
Closing remarks will be made by Lionesses of Africa and Sigma Pensions who will thank speakers and audience members for their participation and encourage everyone to support one another in business and to maximize the networking opportunity of the event.
For more information on Lionesses of Africa, visit the website www.lionessesofafrica.com
For more information on Sigma Pensions, visit the website www.sigmapensions.com
