Black women entrepreneurs

There are many black women entrepreneurs worldwide and a page is not sufficient to appreciate their works. Hopefully, the black women entrepreneurs we have chosen are more than enough to motivate black women to try their luck in the business world.

Adenike Ogunlesi
Adenike Ogunlesi is the founder, as well as the CEO, of a children’s clothing line in Nigeria called Ruff ‘n’ Tumble. Ruff ‘n’ Tumble is now regarded as one of the well-known manufacturers of children’s clothing in the country. However, the company was not that great when it was starting. It was only a small shop and the main staff composed of her and her mother.

Nike, as she wants to be called, was studying undergraduate law at Ahmadu Bello University but she dropped out when she was in her second year. During that year, her mother invited her to work in a women’s tailor shop. When Nike discovered she had the talent for creating clothes she started selling her own creation. She officially began selling children’s clothing in 1996. She didn’t have a shop back then and was only selling from the back of her car. Because of her perseverance and the support of her family, Ruff ‘n’ Tumble currently has fifty employees and is a distributor of children’s clothing along the coast of West Africa.

Adenike Ogunlesi was acknowledged as the FATE Foundation Model Entrepreneur last 2005.

Amina Odidi

Dr. Amina Odidi is the founder of IntelliPharmaCeutics, one of the forerunners in the pharmaceutical industry in Canada. Aside from being the founder, Dr. Odidi acts as the President, Director, Chief Operating Officer, and Co-Chief Scientific Officer.

Dr. Odidi is a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University where she received a B.S. degree in Pharmacy. She completed her M.S. Biopharmaceutics and Ph.D. Pharmaceutics at the University of London, England. As a commended scientist and the innovative mind behind the development of proprietary drug delivery technology used in order to manufacture controlled-release drug products, Dr. Odidi has been one of recognized names in the industry since 1984. Her achievements show that besides perseverance and moral support, intelligence can go a long way in making a company successful.