BACKGROUND

Confident of Africa’s growth opportunities, Madelein Mkunu has strategically put in place Leading Women of Africa (LWA) Corporate Group as Pan African women-led social enterprise with a dual mission of facilitating trade and investment opportunities while promoting entrepreneurship and the female leadership in Africa.

BUSINESS CONSULTANCY SERVICES

Madelein has put together a diverse team of Experts and Professionals capable of providing strategic solutions to issues related to business, leadership, governance and development at all levels of government structures as well as corporate sector. LWA Corporate also provides consultancy service global institutions and development agencies.

PRODUCT SOURCING SERVICES

  • Access to African products and services (Mining, Décor, Apparels, Agri, skills, expertise…),
  • Facilitate market entry for global players looking to enter the African market,
  • Access to investment opportunities in Africa.

INNOVATIVE INITIATIVES – PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Global Stakeholders Network
We are building a credible network of global investors and technical partners looking to expand their operations in Africa.

LWA Entrepreneurship Fund Initiative
A ZAR Rand-denominated Fund has been stablished with the objective to raise a capital that will support growth and development of women’s owned businesses across Africa. INVEST WITH US NOW

LWA Leading Institute: Women in Public office Faculty
A think-tank faculty that focuses on ensuring African women are actively involved in politics through quality education support.

MADELEIN’S PROFESSIONAL JOURNEY

SUMMARY

Madelein Mkunu is a seasoned development consultant with specific focus on business and gender development affairs in Africa with over 25 years’ experience in diverse portfolios with a proven track record in:

  • Women’s development strategies
  • Design and delivers various women empowerment programmes
  • Design and delivery of Executive training programmes
  • Gender policy formulation.

She is a holder of Masters in Management, an MBA from the IEDC School of Management, Slovenia, a post-graduate degree in Development studies from the University of Western Cape, South Africa, a certificate in women empowerment from Michigan State University, USA, as well as a diploma in Accounting.

Her track record covers working across Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

She has designed and implemented various gender development programmes, contributed in policy formulation and deliver support in gender mainstreaming strategies for government and international institutions. She has also conducted research and survey on behalf of various institutions.

She is playing a pivotal role on various national, regional and international platforms. In recent years, she has developed a strong interest in African regional integration strategies.

Madelein has a keen interest in the participation of women in infrastructure projects in Africa. Under the organisation she leads, she has developed and implemented the “Women in Infrastructure Development in Africa” (WIDA). WIDA aims to promote the increase of Women’s participation in infrastructure projects in Africa.

Over the years, she has sat on various panels including the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) to discuss strategies to incorporate women in previously male dominated sectors. Madelein is also a co-founder of one of the most prominent consortium company of women involved in infrastructure sectors in South Africa, Women of infrastructure Development & Energy (WINDE).

As an International Women Development Practitioner with a focus on African women affairs, she specialises in policy design, gender advocacy and mainstreaming strategies in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) until 2015, the recent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the African Woman Decade which ends in year 2020, the Agenda 2063, the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the recent African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

As an executive training and academic lecturer, she brings over ten years of executive management, a record of accomplishment in designing and delivering academic training courses. She is a business and management lecturer in female vocational colleges in the Middle East.

EDUCATION

  • Executive MBA, IEDC Bled School of Management, Slovenia
  • Masters in Management, IEDC Bled School of Management, Slovenia
  • Post-graduate degree (Honors) in Development Studies at Western Cape University – South Africa
  • Certificate in Leadership & Women economic empowerment, Michigan State University, USA.

KEY COMPETENCIES

  • Programme development and management
  • Gender mainstreaming strategies
  • Women’s economic and political empowerment strategies
  • Women’s entrepreneurship and investment programmes
  • Design and delivery of training programmes
  • Design of governance and development strategies for African governments
  • Policy design
  • Monitoring and evaluation
  • Financial Management.

VALUE PROPOSITIONS

  • Demonstrated excellence on various national, regional & international platforms such as AU, EU…
  • Successfully delivered recommendations on Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) and SADC Gender.
  • Played a significant role in providing the inputs to the US International Trade Commission (US ITC) in support of the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2015.
  • Provided the policy recommendations on gender and China-Africa Cooperation at China-Africa Think Tanks Forum II, under the topic: “China-Africa cooperation without meaningful engagement with women will fail”
  • Orchestrated and carried out the open conversation with China-Africa Business Council (Hong Kong) on the theme: “Creating Win-Win Partnership: A Dialogue between Women Professional & Entrepreneurs in Africa and Asia.”
  • Served and designated as the former Jury member at Investment Climate and Business Environment Research Fund (ICBE), a special fund to promote enterprise and livelihoods in Africa through research and advocacy at Trust Africa in Senegal
  • Served as an integral part of the “Think Tank” team of Vital Voices (USA) that strategized around the formation of the “African Businesswomen’s Network.”
  • Acted as the Former member of the Strategic Framework Committee on gender and women’s economic empowerment at the Department of Trade and Industry – South Africa.

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

“New vision for women of Africa in the 21st Century”

which appeared in Convergence Vol 6 No 1

The contribution of women in the process of African development and unity”

which appeared in Diversity in Africa, the coming of age of a continent, edited by the esteemed Professor Kurt April University of Cape Town.

“The role of women in the planning and design of infrastructure in Africa”

published by Times Media Group Ltd UK

Numerous Development and Economic articles have been published in various economic and development Magazines

such as: Forbes Magazine, MDGs Review Magazine, Business Investment Guide…

RECOGNITIONS AND MEDIA APPEARANCES

She presented in many international platforms including European Union, African Union, United Nations, appeared in various national and international media platforms and received numerous awards.

Some media links:

MOTTO

“Everyone is born for a purpose, with a purpose, but it the choices that we make that will inevitably help us determine that purpose. I have chosen to leave a lasting legacy by laying fort a foundation that will continue to empower Africa, especially its women and ultimately its people for generations to come.

My dream is to see Africa and its people economically empowered and emancipated from of poverty. Mine is to continue my endeavours to see a soaring number of visionary leaders emerge to influence this continent, in this century.  Achieving this and other goals will never turn into fruition without your faith in the potential of leaders in advocacy for African women such as myself and many like me”. Madelein Mkunu

COLLABORATE WITH ME

Interested in collaborating with Africa!

Contact me on
madelein@leadingwomenofafrica.com  or
madymkunu@gmail.com  

Tel/WhatsApp: +2781 218 4736

Cape Town, South Africa