Entrepreneurs

"Women-owned business are growing in number; now we need more young girls to access the finances to make their creative ideas happen.""

"Thank you Dr. Artist Tewodros Kassahun for supporting our effort to build the creative economy for the generation to come."

"I believes we can grow as a continent regardless of our several challenges and barriers, to disrupt the tech scene on a global scale."

"It wasn’t just about building a company. We were driven by a mission to create something greater than ourselves—a platform that could fundamentally change how financial transactions happen in Africa and beyond."

"At the end of the day, it’s about creating opportunities and making a difference. That’s what drives us, and that’s what will continue to guide us as we grow."

"You have to build the people. You have to build the opportunity. You have to build everything alongside you."

"Human resources mean everything when it comes to building a successful technology company, and we are lucky that Nigeria has an expansive pool of talent to support our operations."

"As a founder, you have to learn to operate like a firefighter and an architect, sometimes both in the same day."

"Leadership can’t be stagnant. You have to evolve. A company can need a different kind of leadership at different times."

"Trust is the business we’re in. We’ve been working tirelessly to regain that trust"

"As it is, M-Pesa works amazingly well in Kenya but it cannot work in Nigeria. Our goal is to make it easy for you in Lagos to sell to somebody in Kenya, they pay with M-Pesa and it comes to your account in Nigeria here or you send money to your supplier in Kenya and they receive it seamlessly. That’s our goal, to make it simple to accept payments globally."

"When we started the company, our goal was to build a superhighway infrastructure for payments in Africa; our goal has not changed. We believe very strongly in enterprise payments, in ensuring that you build best-in-class technology and infrastructure for top-range merchants across Africa – both local and global."

"I personally believe in just doubling down and getting the work done which is why I’ve been busy building the infrastructure, the technology, building the company."

"We have worked on our corporate governance, infrastructure, compliance system and that’s what we are going to keep doing as a company and part of that is why we brought Mitesh in."

"Winemaking takes a lot more patience because you have to blend the wines before they make a really great wine and that’s 10 to 15 years. You also must research and study and wait for a while to see if the wines can age well. I loved medicine because it felt like I was making a difference all the time, every day, every minute that you’re working. I actually said to my father, ‘Papa, why didn’t you tell me wine was so great?’ Because it’s science and there’s people. He said that if he’d told me to go and work with him then I wouldn’t be working with him now. It was important that I came on my own. That’s something I’ve discussed with other family wineries. You should wait for people to come on their own."

"“our greatest strength lies in our people.""

"Let’s build the rails together and unlock Africa’s boundless potential."

"We believe in the digital future of Africa. So we have to build for long-term sustainability. We have to build with patience, build for scale, and at the same time build for the myriad, multiple, fragmented, permanent types. That’s what we have to do and that’s what we’ve done."

"I honestly had no intention of going to work for the family winery. I studied medicine and I wanted to be a travelling doctor helping people all over the world, which I got to do somewhat. I did have a career as a doctor but always part-time because I was also working for the winery. When I was going to school, I didn’t think that people making wine were making a big difference in the world because, to me, those jobs were as a teacher, as a doctor – you had to be in service."

"But today I manage our winery which provides jobs that elevate Argentine wines, and we are helping our whole region with all the research that we do and share. Then there’s the joy that wine brings to people. I honestly think that I’m making a greater impact as a winemaker than as a doctor. Back then I thought I would drink the family’s wines rather than make them. However, the moment that I decided that I wanted to work with my father was when I started going to France with him because he wanted to check out the competition. I had studied French since I was quite young and in the wine world it can be quite useful. He invited me as his translator, and I fell in love with drinking wine. I still thought that I was going to be a doctor. Finally, my father asked me to go to this wine event, the New York Wine Experience. He said, ‘Laurita, nobody here speaks English, you have to go.’ So I managed to trade some shifts at the hospital and I showed up in New York where we were the only South American winery."

"I grew up going to the winery with my father and grandfather; I remember that winemaking was a man’s world. My father always equally encouraged myself, my sister, and my brother to study hard and there were no greater expectations for boys over girls, which was rare. At that time in Argentina the idea was that if you were a man, you needed a good job that paid a lot of money, and if you were a woman, you needed a good husband. And it’s not that long ago! But my father had great expectations. In the end my grandfather was more likely to take my brother to the vineyard and I would take care of the dogs. That was my ‘side-door’ into the winery, to hang out with my grandfather. But the winemaking was reserved for the men, and in my generation that was my brother."

"I remember being in my booth and people walking by and seeing Argentina and just being ignored. Back then in the mid 1990s, it was all France and Italy and Spain. I saw my father’s dream of putting Argentina on the wine map as almost impossible! I called him and said, ‘Papa, I have to come and help you because you need so much help.’ Of course, my arrogance as a young person came through and my father was thrilled! I think he pretty much would’ve put me in charge of the winery right there and then."

"Victoria Has your family been involved in wine for a long time?"

"I like science and I like people. It’s a great profession because you have instant gratification. You also see a lot of suffering but you can make a big difference to people’s lives. Also, I did emergency medicine so you’ll have a parent that brings in a child who is hurt. The parent is terrified, the child is crying and within an hour I’ve fixed the child. I’ve fixed the parent. Everybody’s happy. It’s the most incredible feeling."

"If you were to ask me what my goal is, it is to build the largest private tech company from Africa that is profitable and sustainable."

"In the Corridor itself, I go on walks and am in awe of the amount of wildlife that’s there. It really feels wild. On walks, I watch for whatever appears there and feel that energy."

"What the organizations supporting the Florida Wildlife Corridor have been able to achieve is so impressive and important. I really take my hat off to them to see how much they have managed to protect, and how to lead by example — and to show that it’s doable. A 501(c)3 can’t do it alone: We all need to come together to protect the Corridor, and it’s a mix of government, corporate and individuals. This convergence of what they’ve been able to bring together is the scale and pace that we all need."

"Growing up on a ranch in Argentina, I was lucky — nature was all around us and always such an inspiration. Nature is such a master and teacher. In that way, Florida is so blessed. Nature weaves across the state — nature is very strong here."

"As I continued to grow up and became conscious, I found a purpose in being a connection, a bridge between us and our civic responsibilities and nature, showing how we can all do something about it."

"I think that the Florida Wildlife Corridor is our sister above ground, with the ReefLine being underwater. The Wildlife Corridor is the green veins that will keep our planet and its environment connected. These are the types of projects that ground us."

"I started using the power of art as a tool for a change on topics that are very important and urgent. But that wasn’t enough."

"As a curator and as an artist, I want to see how art can actually be the artifact. In the ReefLine’s case, the artwork itself is doing the work — and not just by raising awareness, but by performing what needs to be done. That is something I find very special, and something that is rare. I think that’s what makes the ReefLine so unique — it’s the combination of art, tech and science."

"That’s an amazing question. I am not a scientist, and have always been a patron to the arts. Art is such a universal language – and emotional – while science can be very cerebral. Art makes science broader, and it also tells a more compelling story. It makes it sexier; it makes it fun. All of a sudden, a very complicated problem that feels inaccessible becomes more accessible and understandable without such a strong need for an explanation."

"The ReefLine is a seven-mile underwater eco-sculpture park in Miami that’s free and open to the public. It serves as an artificial reef, which is needed right now for several reasons. One reason is coastal resiliency, but another is that we need something to serve as a marine sanctuary — there is a need for this type of underwater civic infrastructure to protect marine life after the reef heads previously in that area were smothered."

"The beauty of it is that it’s visible from the shore — it’s only 900 feet away — so people can see it too. This idea was born in my living room from a conversation with my cofounder, Colin Ford. He was telling me a story about how the city passed an ordinance in 2020 declaring that this was an area where an artificial reef can be deployed. We got to talking about doing really cool art there, an underwater sculpture park with the best artists of the world that could present an artistic solution for helping to address challenges associated with climate change."

"I think one of the biggest barriers people have in caring for our environment is that it can feel so big – and you don’t know what to do, even though we know there’s so much to be done, and we all have to take action. I find a paradox in an era where we are all so connected through technology, yet we don’t have a common plan for how to save our Mother Earth. I think about that a lot, and hopefully the art helps bring people together towards that goal."

"So, long ago I got the idea that the only way I could ever get ahead was to believe in myself and not the other fellow."

"The erasure of black history is intentional. And so we’re going to be intentional about counteracting that narrative and bringing the truth to our curriculum. And it starts with Annie Fisher."

"Sometimes things happen You ship the wrong wine, or the label was scuffed. The people I work with in Argentina care so much. I say, ‘Let’s figure out how it happened and not let it happen again. Then we have to move on.’ It’s the perspective you get from being a doctor. Was a small child hurt? No"

"I am happy in my work and I try to make everyone else happy by sticking to it."

"If we do a good job and tell the story properly, people really bond with it. If you can tap into the public sentiment with a good story, further explanation can add but it isn’t necessary. That is the type of art that I try to create: It’s high art but it’s super pop too, something a grandmother and her grandson can both “get” and enjoy. If it’s too conceptual, people can get lost, so I try to use art that is immersive, participatory, accessible, equalitarian — something that everybody can connect too. Otherwise, we add a layer of complexity to something that is already complex."

"In 23 months, we have been able to complete 490,000+ rides and register over 960 vehicles on our platform. We plan to double these numbers with our Nigerian and Ghana operations, then replicate our existing model across 6 other African cities."

"Our ambition at Treepz is to build the largest shared mobility platform on the African continent, starting with West Africa."

"There are no necessary connections with the acquisition of Stabus Ghana, which will now be known as Treepz Ghana. But after a successful seed round, we immediately started thinking of how scaleable the indigenous name Plentywaka would be around Africa and the rest of the world."

"I am very grateful to have the opportunity to come to this country with Mauricio representing Argentina. It is an honor and a great responsibility that I take with great enthusiasm"

"We knew we needed a less complex name for the business so that eventually, it’s easy to pronounce and widely accepted by all, irrespective of language and culture."

"We talked about our roles, our countries with so much history and ties in common, and also about what we live as women and as mothers of two girls. I felt very comfortable and the conversation flowed naturally"

"Early childhood development is the best way to build our future, because today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders. We must guarantee that they are able to fulfil their potential"

"for all children in Argentina to have equal opportunities, regardless of where they are born or the circumstances they live in."

"Jill Biden is an incredible woman, who is always thinking of improving the future of the people in her community great contributions and was able to promote many positive changes from her vocation and commitment to education, her experience as a combatant's mother, her role in helping women prevent cancer and their participation for women's equality ."