By: Jerrywright Ukwu Setting up a business in the art industry in Nigeria is no easy feat. It takes a lot of hard work, patience and dedication with the mass of people and personalities that come with it. Bolanle Austen-Peters is breaking new grounds in the industry as she has become the first Nigerian woman to build a private theatre in Nigeria. Austen-Peters who is the founder of Terra Kulture, a leading art, culture, lifestyle, and educational Centre located in Lagos, Nigeria, has said that the facility is a premier recreational destination. With her involvement in the arts, Austen-Peters noticed that there was an absence of spaces and resources for artists, thespians and theatre enthusiasts to thrive and decided to do something about it. This gave rise to the birth of Terra Kulture Arena a 400-seater, state of the art theatre. The theatre, which also doubles as a movie-screening venue,…

Janice Bryant Howroyd is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The ACT-1 Group, the largest woman owned workforce Solutions Company founded in the U.S. She is an entrepreneur, educator, ambassador, businesswoman, author, and mentor. Howroyd was born on September 1, 1952 in Tarboro, North Carolina – USA, the fourth of eleven children in her family. She attended her town’s integrated High School in the Deep South end, where she had to deal with colour segregation. In a 2016 interview, Howroyd recalls her time enrolled in the school, when a teacher spoke about how blacks were well suited for slavery. She, recounted biting the inside of her jaw to avoid shedding tears, as she believed crying could depict accepting defeat. Howroyd eventually became one of the first African American students to desegregate her town’s previously segregated high school. Her personal motto, “Never compromise who you are personally to become who…

By: Niveen Ghoneim As a mechanic, Liqa’ El Khouly is challenging stereotypes in Egyptian culture, by pursuing a career in a male-dominated industry. She chats with our Niveen Ghoneim and takes us on the wild ride that has been her life so far. Under Luxor’s scorching sun, Liqa’ El Khouly leaves the comfort of her house for a hard day’s work, goes back home, wakes up the next morning, and does it all over again – nothing out of the ordinary. In the unforgiving culture of Upper Egypt, however, it takes everything in a woman not to falter under the accusing eyes of the provincial townies of Esna. To them, her role in life is largely that of a uterus; she is not fit to handle the nuts and bolts of an automobile; she couldn’t possibly wrap her head around the mechanics of this intricate piece of heavy machinery. Nine…

Yasmin Helal is an engineer and a former pro-basketball player, an Amazon, redefining education in Egypt. She was born and raised in Cairo, growing up in a middle-class family and attending a private school, life was a walkthrough for her and didn’t challenge her in the ways she needed to be. Helal was soon bored; and this led to her mum enrolling her for sports activities of swimming and basketball. Though initially reluctant, Helal found herself in basketball; through basketball, she was challenged mentally, physically, and socially; she learned to struggle, to compete, to set goals, to make friends, and to follow through. Being on a team was alien to Helal, but it gave her a sense of belonging and a higher purpose. She played professional basketball for 19 years, during which she served as the captain of Gezira Sporting Club Team and played for the Egyptian National Team in December…