Businesswomen

"the international peace day is an opportunity for communities to embrace each other’s differences, listen to each, preach tolerance and ensure the voices of the poor are heard"

"without peace there will never be development in Zimbabwe"

"Non-English quotation."

"I am the luckiest women on earth to have a supportive husband.When I am down he picks me up and when the goinggets tough, he always urges me to keep on going and strong."

"Women should participate in politics. Perhaps some women face resistance from their husbands but that should not happen because women can as well articulate ideas as much as men"

"I have been appointed to this position, obviously by a gentleman who understands the importance of equal opportunities for women… having been picked for this position I in turn have a responsibility to open doors and opportunities and mentor those who come behind us and as it is I personally stand on the shoulders of giant African women who went before me and created opportunities and opened doors for me"

"I’m extremely excited about the work the new president of the bank is envisioning for the bank and the continent and for the bank and it’s such a great honor that he should ask me to come and work with him and really help to help implement this vision for Africa"

"I have no doubt I was being bartered, being offered for sex,’ she said. ‘I know about these things, I am a married woman"

"I was afraid to say anything – and I have never been afraid of a boss before. I was an object. And the person doing this to me was another woman"

"I was not there to be beautiful but to work"

"As the Executive Director for Africa, I was a firm and principled administrator and I struggled against the organisational tide throughout my tenure, knowing fully well that I had a personal desire and drive to create value for Africa"

"None of the former employees including me have been accorded a fair hearing. ONE’s global leadership team chose rather to embark on a campaign of calumny against me, as a scapegoat for its own larger inequities, with the organization playing the accuser, judge and jury, in utter disregard for the principles of fairness and probity. In my own case, I have handed over the matter to my lawyers. They all know the game is up as we are speaking up to protect our integrity and precious culture as true Africans. It is time for NGOs everywhere – not just the ONE Campaign – to accept and realise that every country, every people, every culture is capable of producing thought leaders who can and do deliver real change in their own and other contexts. Like always, expect blanket denial from ONE. That is how they operate"

"the international development community, including African finance and development experts, particularly those that have worked in similar charity organizations view my appraisal of ONE Campaign’s corrosive corporate culture, disdain for gender parity and disregard of meritocracy within its ranks as being symptomatic of many international NGOs ostensibly waging wars against Africa’s varied development challenges but in reality seeking to perpetuate the status quo"

"They must apologize to Africans for their patronizing attitude and organisational disregard for Africa’s peculiar development priorities whilst covertly promoting an unhealthy neo-colonial, quasi-imperialist agenda. This is nothing short of utter disrespect for ONE’s over three million African members, who have warmly embraced its campaigns, projects and promises. The top echelons at ONE Campaign have never really tolerated open debate, especially with regards to its operatives in Africa. They may pander to the global ethos and ideals of ONE’s more famous co-founder but mostly white managers have essentially hijacked the essence of the organisation and replaced it with their myopic agenda"

"Unproven and unsubstantiated allegations against me or any former employee in Africa are essentially part of a much larger crusade being sponsored by racist, anti-Africa elements within the ONE Campaign"

"Chronic underfunding was just one of ONE’s deliberate tactics to undermine the diligence and expertise of its Africa staff, many of whom were competent and suitably qualified women."

"They must apologize to Africans for their patronizing attitude and organisational disregard for Africa’s peculiar development priorities whilst covertly promoting an unhealthy neo-colonial, quasi-imperialist agenda."

"Something needs to be done to put an end to all forms of gender injustice."

"Media's role goes beyond entertainment or information sharing, they constitute a tool that has the power "to educate, to empower, and to inspire young girls to dare to break the mould."

"Africa has the resources to feed itself and the world. However, a quarter of all Africans experience the everyday reality of hunger."

"I don’t think anyone who wants to succeed—male or female—should concentrate on hurdles because you will find them if you are looking for them, and I have been just too busy to spend time looking for obstacles."

"A policy to cultivate SMEs can help to create jobs for the economy."

"We have to continue to attract foreign direct investment to help generate more fiscal revenue sources."

"I no longer make recommendations; they are forwarded to me and I have to make the final decisions without hesitation. I cannot afford to procrastinate because decisions made in central banking have to be definitive since they affect the entire nation—the rich, the not-so rich, and the poor."

"The most treasured resource is our people and, if their health deteriorates, productivity and excellence will become mere talking points and not achievable objectives."

"It has been said that everybody’s business is nobody’s business. This is not true with respect to productivity; it is truly everybody’s business."

"Target SME's and you target women because that is where they access the business sector."

"Women entrepreneurs have to work twice as hard to succeed... the best thing to do is to remain resolute, focused, ethical and preserve your integrity."

"One of the things I noted in my country was that women were not getting the opportunity to get formal employment, in particular the many widows and the single mothers due to HIV/Aids. Today our company is arguably the largest employer of permanently employed women. We employ over 1,000 women, contributing at least 25% of our workforce"

"For me, failure teaches self-confidence and tenacity"

"In our company we believe in celebrating success because it creates, and maintains, momentum,” she noted. “Everyone celebrates even the little things that we succeed in doing, and we have a jolly good time. That is how people look forward to winning and being successful. Because they know there are rewards of celebration"

"The seventh lesson that I learnt is to always keep on learning. I believe in learning all the time, I’m a life-long learner… I also believe in re-learning, because there are always new things coming out. My kids are teaching me things today"

"Pay it off, don’t pay it forward. Or put simply: be frugal"

"One of the key features in any business leader is execution… and it is a critical block in building a successful enterprise"

"I have learnt that earning by working hard is the way to go"

"I have ensured that I aligned their personal goals with their business goals and that makes everybody go in tandem with each other. I try to know almost all my 4,000 employees: their families, their aspirations, their worst fears and so on"

"Success depends on employees. For me knowing and connecting with my employees is very important. I have done that very well"

"And creating value, giving the best value… is the way we built loyalty"

"I always knew that treating the customer as the boss was the key thing"

"I thought there was a gap in the industry. Companies that were there were not living up to the needs of the clients. The industry was renowned for wild cat strikes and guards generally were perceived as the lowly-paid in any sector. I wanted to change the perceptions and create a niche in which people could carve out a career and I knew I needed to go in with a different approach and that approach was going to make the difference, the people had to be key or central feature of the vision"

"Let me say that right from a tender age, I had always told myself and everyone that I was going to start and run my own business, which I always envisioned as a large business. I enrolled in an entrepreneurial development program in 1995 and this sharpened my entrepreneurial competencies. I learned elements like opportunity seeking, goal setting, business planning, networking, and more"

"The business idea was after the realization of a gap that I had noted in the market for a service and quality-oriented security services provider"

"Have a game plan and execute it with passion, determination and focus. Never mind that you are a woman. Do not think about that except as a competitive advantage. No one is going to give you anything on a silver platter. You have to work twice, thrice, five times as hard and do not lose focus. Work with your passion, it will keep you going and once you have a footing in your business, make the most of it and create the momentum and that will get rid of all the little challenges that may bog you down. Lastly, choose your team carefully and get rid of non-performers soon enough.”"

"“If you want a certain future, go out and create it. Conquer your fears as that is what enslaves most women. Opportunities are now galore. We just need to roll up our sleeves, lift our feet, and walk through the door as no one will carry us."

"“My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is start with an end in mind, know exactly what you want to achieve and start to work systematically towards the goal, exercising some patience. Know the industry you want to get into, its internal and external environment."

"“never tire in well doing, because, in due season, you shall reap if you faint not”. “I believe that every good deed is a door opener hence I always try to be as good as I can to others, my word being my bond, as the key to my success is loving and connecting with people which are always the seeds of great things to come. I believe in playing by the rules all the time and most importantly upholding my personal integrity as this gives me good night sleep.”"

"“Most of the women that we employ here are single mothers, we targeted them primarily because we knew that they were not going to get an opportunity from anybody and they would not be able to look after their children. So this is an opportunity for them to have a livelihood and to educate their children. We employ close to a thousand women now, about 900+ and to me that’s one of the happiest things I’ve done in my life as a person because I have impacted very positively on women who would have not have had an opportunity, who would be eking out a living and possibly even going out to sell their bodies to make a living.”"

"Conquer your fears as that is what enslaves most women"

"“Success depends on employees. For me knowing and connecting with my employees is very important.”"

"My greatest satisfaction is championing women economic empowerment initiatives in mentorship, linking women businesses to corporate supply chains for their growth."