On 25 November 2024, the Graça Machel Trust, hosted the Women Creating Wealth programme graduation ceremony at the Maslow Hotel in Rivonia, Sandton. This landmark event celebrated the success of 112 remarkable women entrepreneurs who completed the transformative Women Creating Wealth (WCW) enterprise development programme.
The Women Creating Wealth programme is designed to equip women with the skills, networks, and resources to build thriving businesses. Since its inception, the programme has had a profound impact on participants’ entrepreneurial journeys.
The ceremony commenced with a warm welcome from Graça Machel Trust’s (GMT) Director of Programmes, Shiphra Chisha, followed by an engaging recap of the WCW programme’s highlights presented by Korkor Cudjoe, Senior Entrepreneurship Manager at GMT. In her address, Korkor reflected on the uniqueness of the programme: The Women Creating Wealth program is so proud of the value we’ve been able to create for the 112 women graduating today. Each of you represents resilience, growth, and the potential to transform your communities through entrepreneurship.”
The highlight of the ceremony was a panel discussion moderated by Sinoneliso Xaba, WCW Country Manager for South Africa. Titled The Journey of Building Thriving Businesses Through Effective Interventions, the session featured entrepreneurs and coaches, including Phumelele Ndumo and Candace-Claire Paul, who shared insights into navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.
One graduate spoke candidly about the challenges she overcame: “In the first six months of this programme, I had to sit down with my team and restructure everything. The tools and confidence I gained allowed us to shift our focus, streamline processes, and grow sustainably. Now, I can see the long-term vision clearly.”
Theo Sowa, Interim CEO of GMT, delivered a powerful address emphasizing the transformative potential of women entrepreneurs. She reflected on the importance of their leadership not just for individual success but for the collective progress of Africa’s communities and economies. “When women have access to financial resources, those resources ripple out to families, communities, and entire nations. This is not just about creating wealth—it’s about changing the narrative for generations to come,” she stated.
Building on this, Theo challenged the graduates to think beyond personal success:
“As graduates of this program, you carry with you not just skills and knowledge, but the responsibility to reshape narratives. Remember the African tradition of collective giving and action. As you grow your wealth, think about the impact you can create for others. You have the ability to redefine how women entrepreneurs are perceived, not just in Africa but globally. I urge you to believe in your vision, collaborate with others, and use your platforms to create lasting change.”
Her remarks underscored the core values of the WCW program—resilience, collaboration, and the shared mission to uplift entire communities through the success of women-led businesses.
During her address, Ayanda Mafuleka, CEO of FASSET, encouraged the graduates and attendees to celebrate one another and the progress made in driving women’s equality and financial empowerment: “Let us celebrate each other as women for the incredible journeys we have taken, battles we’ve fought, and the achievements we have made in the quest for women equality and financial freedom. Let us stand in humanity and acknowledge that all of us have a direct or indirect role in seeing this vision come to life.”
The ceremony celebrated excellence through awards and certificates presented to standout graduates. Among them were Caroline Njuguna, CEO of Becandsure Financial Services, and Nthabiseng Teffo, CEO of Well Maid, who credited the WCW program for equipping them with the tools to scale their businesses and impact their communities.
One graduate expressed gratitude for the program’s holistic support: “This wasn’t just technical training—it was transformational. The program gave us confidence, tools, and networks to rethink our businesses and scale them effectively.”
The WCW graduation marked both an end and a new beginning for its graduates. As Korkor Cudjoe aptly stated, “This graduation is not the end—it’s the beginning of your journey to make an even greater impact as women entrepreneurs.
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.