businesswomen-from-kenya

"The biggest things I learned were that there is so much work to be done in Africa and that Africans must help themselves. We can no longer afford to rely on rich countries to provide us with foreign aid. It’s the person who the shoe pinches who knows how it needs to be adjusted."

"Africa could be the best place on earth, but instead our best and brightest minds are leaving the continent in the millions."

"Her invaluable and robust contributions in the committees and at board meetings during her tenure, and to wish her the best in her future endeavors."

"Navigating organizational culture of vested interests to create an environment where impactful decisions are made can be a tough job."

"We must stop seeing youth as a problem to be solved in conflict settings and start recognizing them as partners to be empowered. Investing in their agency is the most cost-effective conflict prevention strategy there is."

"A lot of people want to create real impact with their life. They think about it, they talk about."

"Sustainable peace is a mirage without the active participation and leadership of women. They are not just victims of conflict; they are the first responders and the most committed architects of lasting peace in their communities."

"Once you excel in your role, the natural progression is a promotion into a more senior role."

"A seasoned peacebuilding practitioner, Ms. Ogega's work is characterized by its innovative approach to integrating traditional conflict resolution mechanisms with modern frameworks for gender-inclusive peace."

"Rose Ogega brings a profound understanding of the intersection between gender, youth, and conflict. Her strategic leadership has been pivotal in designing programs that empower local communities to become agents of their own stability and reconciliation."

"The environment that executives operate in is so dynamic that sometimes they are overwhelmed by the changes"

"She is recognized as a leading expert in corporate governance matters having advised leading corporates in the public and private sector for over 15 years."

"Kathryne is a Partner at Stamford Corporate Services LLP and a leading expert in Corporate Governance within the East Africa region."

"Originally, the role of a company secretary was taking minutes at board meetings and extracting and sharing the action points. Now they are the governance watchdogs for organisations."

"That's what I remember. A lot of pain"

"We were tied in the legs"

"They just tied us on the bed and we were circumcised"

"Who is Chanel Ayan from RHODubai? Meet the first black supermodel to feature in Dubai magazine,May 27, 2022,By Sushmita Sen"

"By telling my story and spreading awareness, I have taken my power back and I’m no longer a victim and I want to fight against"

"And then I had to wait until I healed"

"I actually love life, that is the sad part"

"I've tried to understand," Chanel said in her confessional. "The reason that I'm talking about it is to bring awareness to it and I want people to understand this happens every single day, and if that's my mission, maybe that's what I should be doing"

"I couldn't have sex"

"Funny thing I used to fit for Nicky Minaj and we have very different bodies but they would check colors and design that will fit her. I wore the same white dress that Beyonce wore in Grammys before it was sent to the USA"

"It’s child abuse. And a lot of girls just die for no reason"

"I am the muse for one of the biggest designers in the world, the Amato couture. He has dressed Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Nicky Minaj, Shakira and JLo he says am his muse. I usually dress clothes for celebrities before he sends them to the USA for Oscars or anything"

"It happened to me 35 years ago and I’ve never gotten over it"

"I feel lighter"

"I've chosen, for the first time in my life, to forgive them and accept what happened to me"

"The crying, the sadness, the beatings"

"I think the trauma is something that I will live with for the rest of my life. This is why I want to talk about it, because I honestly don’t want this to happen to anyone because I know exactly how it feels and it’s not good. A lot of girls get depressed, hormones are imbalanced, a lot of young girls die"

"It's like the mountain is off my shoulder. I'm starting to heal. I'm starting to understand that I trusted people that hurt me, and they don't have power over me anymore"

"I still have a lot of life and I still have a lot of love to give to myself"

"I’m a survivor. I felt that I was utterly betrayed by my culture and my family. This is just a barbaric practice and it shouldn’t be happening to young girls"

"Research shows that the same men who agree to female appointments give them tasks they’re highly likely to fail. Instead of doing that, equip them for success when you select them for assignments."

"It’s important that women recognise that these hard skills allow a person to sit on the deciding table and so there is a need for them to grow these skills."

"One of the things I’ve realized is that there are harmful assumptions about women. When I started in my leadership role, people expected me to be a no-nonsense, super tough person who would drive my subordinates to work at any expense, even though they had no basis for that assumption."

"We leverage on the East African region which is a big market, to attract more customers. We also leverage digital platforms to reach out to them and serve existing customers better."

"The success of devolution hinges not on how much money is sent to the counties, but on how effectively that money is translated into tangible services for the mwananchi (citizen) at the grassroots level. It's about accountability for results, not just accounting for funds."

"The contribution of SMEs to African economies calls for a more robust risk mitigation strategy instead of avoiding SMEs."

"We are dangerously comfortable with stacking debt upon debt. We must ask ourselves: are we borrowing to consume today, or are we borrowing to invest in a productive capacity that will pay for this debt tomorrow? The latter is the only sustainable path."

"I also think there are still a lot of gender biases within fundraising in general. When we look at our investor split, all our lead investors were women and I think that’s a testament to the fact that women investors are more likely to invest in female founders."

"We must leverage this digital era to gain more customers and to advance our agenda. We are happy to know that Rwanda has a very strong digital agenda, and Rwandese banks are responding positively to this."

"“One of the keys things for me was thinking: how can we provide a safety net for people?”"

"I think the biggest lesson I’ve learnt is to trust my gut instinct. Trust your gut when you’re making these decisions, because often, it’s probably the right decision."

"“Those days, many of us were raised to be wives and so I took the option of marriage… I found me a man, got married and when I look back it’s a miracle that I am even here because I got married at 19. At 23, I had three children.”"

"“My perspective on life and the impact I wanted my life to have on the world. I worked in a job where making money was the dominant motivation. For me, that didn’t seem like enough, and it’s also not what I wanted to stand for as a human being."

"“A lot of the time, people are relying on single sources of income, but they’re not insuring those sources of income so, if one thing goes wrong, they lose everything,”"

"There is a critical moment in one's life when you have to ask yourself, what was this all for?"

"In a field often dominated by abstract theories, Kilonzo-Zulu stands out for her grounded, practical approach to economics. She is one of the go-to experts for understanding what national budget figures actually mean for the forty-seven county governments."