International Women’s Month is all about celebrating women, the challenges and obstacles they overcome and just the all round awesomeness of women.
For this Month, Radris highlighting and celebrating 30 women from all over Africa in a myriad of creative fields who are breaking barriers, empowering women and above all, inspiring everyone as they do so.
- Damilola Animashaun
Damiola Animashaun is a Managing Editor at NATIVE. She is at the forefront of curating, documenting and highlighting the culture of Nigerian youth.
- Ayomide Dokunmu
A pro-woman force, Ayomide Dokunmu is the founder of the girl group initiative, Femme Africa. With this organisation, Ayomide Dokunmo is passionate about increasing female visibility in the Nigerian music industry. Rejecting the notion that only one woman can top the industry per time, Ayomide Dokunmu’s platform serves to uplift multiple women at the same time.
- Elsa Majimbo
when Rihanna calls her our fave, we have no choice but to stan. Elsa Majimbo is a Kenyan comedienne that shot to stardom with her hilarious monologues on tik tok during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Funny, feisty, and fierce, Elsa is not afraid to speak up for what she believes in using her huge platform to support protesters during the #EndSars protests.
- Polly Irungu
Multimedia journalist, self-taught photographer, and digital editor, Polly Irungu is chock full of talents and is constantly using them for good. She is the founder of Black Women Photographers, a global community and online database of Black women and non-binary photographers.
- Fisayo Longe
She is the founder and creative director of Kai Collective. Kai collective created a print dress that took pandemic lockdown fashion by storm. Not only does she run this blooming fashion house, but she also runs Mirror Me, a fashion, lifestyle, and travel blog detailing her adventures.
- Mamy Tall
This amazing woman has been described as a Senegalese powerhouse. She is both an architect and an art director and over the past three years, her work has shone the spotlight in African trends in architecture and art. In fact, she has increased Senegal’s global artistic merit and tourism with her work.
- Sarah Diouf
Sarah Diouf is a founder of not only Ghubar Magazine, a fashion & lifestyle digital magazine launcherd in 2009, she is also the founder of Spread360 an agency specialized in video production and digital communication.
Diouf’s dream is to help transform Africa’s design clothing industry as a whole and her first step was establishing her fashion brand Tongoro. Tongoro has graced runways around the world and has been patronised by stars like Burna Boy, Iman and Beyoncé.
- Laetitia Ky
She has been referred to as the Picasso of hair but Laetitia Ky is her own artist. A feminist based in Ivory Coast, she passes her message across by making elaborate sculptures with her own hair.
- Leona Adesanya
CEO and founder of Anoela Cards, Leona Adesanya turned her passion for quality greeting cards into a business that has strong ties to Nigerian culture. She hopes to continue creating high quality cards for the Nigerian market.
- Oroma Elewa
Oroma Elewa is a self described trans-national African. A Nigerian born artist who has spent a good many years in New York has carefully shaped a narrative around herself as an artist and a creative. She creates art for black viewers, for African viewers.
- Akousa Afriyie
Founder of ethical designer brand AAKS, Akousa Afriyie has a love of basket weaving and woven design that she expresses with her brand. Each bag is woven using traditional Ghanaian methods. The love of her culture followed her to the UK where she studied to get her fashion degree and all the way back home to Ghana where she started her brand.
- Dunsin Wright
Dunsin Wright is the head of Public Relations at Lisa Folawiyo, a luxury African brand. Her keen interest in fashion and uplifting young brands into the global sphere makes infusing her youthfulness and taste into the brand look effortless.
- Chigozie Obi
Chigozie Obi is a Nigerian based visual artist. Her work is characterised by a blurring of edges, vibrant colors and expressive brush strokes.
- Aisha Ife
Aisha Ife is a Nigerian based photographer and writer. Seeing the lack of community for female photographers, Aisha ife created Tiwa-our own to fill that gap. There, female photographers can connect with one another, be inspired and learn from each other.
- Mowalola Ogunlesi
She is a London based fashion designer who used a wide range of fabrics to create non traditional silhouettes. Mowalola is not afraid to break free of the norm and express the images in her mind as clothes. She is heavily inspired by Nigerian and London youth culture.
- Amaarae
Ghanaian-American talent Amaarae has stolen hearts across Africa and the world with her hauntingly beautiful voice. She has managed to channel her self expression to reimagine a whole genre of music.
- Tems
A Nigerian based singer and songwriter, Tems took the music scene by storm with her single, Try Me. Since then she has worked with superstar Wizkid.
- Fatoumata Diawara
Fatoumata Diawara is a Malian actress, singer-songwriter, and guitarist currently living in France. She received two nominations at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards for her album Fenfo and a song she was featured in with an English band. Fatoumata represents her traditional culture by wearing the full regalia when she performs or in photo ops.
- Yossy Akinsanya
Ethereal style and beautiful aesthetics, Yossy Akinsanya is one photographer that brings the heat. Having worked with Gal-Dem, Refinery 29, Adidas amongst others, she is on an obvious track to the height of expertise in her field.
- Zhi Zulu
An award-winning illustrator and graphic artist, Zhi Zulu is changing the contemporary art scene of South Africa and the world at large.
- Addis Aemero
An enchanting and talented photographer from Ethiopia who has a love for monochromatic photographs. Her photos are full of life and the black and white effect shows the emotions she captures with startling clarity.
- Amy Akudo Iheakanwa
Amy Iheakanwa created the shoe brand Shekudo in 2017 and moved back to Nigeria to properly head the brand. She seeks to center Shekudo on local artistry and social responsibility, exporting the work of local shoe artisans here in Nigeria to the world.
- Diarrha N’Diaye
Diarrha N’Diaye is determined to bridge the gap in make up for black women. With experience at L’Oreal and Glossier, N’Diaye is taking everything she’s learned and creating her line, Ami Cole. She is encouraging and elevating the beauty of the melanin-rich skin on the continent and wants to make beauty less of a hassle for the average black woman.
- Palesa Mokubung
Palesa Mokubung is a South African designer and is the brains behind Mantsho, a label that transforms fine fabrics into one-of-a-kind garments. Mokubung’s motivation is to create clothing that will represent Africa and South Africa on a global scale.
- Thabiso Mahlape
Thabiso Mahlape is the founder of Blackbird Books. She is the first Black woman to own an imprint of Jacana Media, Mahlape is providing a platform for burgeoning writers hoping to take the reins of their narrative.
- Ley Uwera
Congolese photographer, Ley Uwera is all about changing people’s perception of poverty in DR CONGO. She strives to show the beauty of her people as well as the culture to her 65,000 Instagram followers and the rest of the world.
- Zahrin Kahlo
Zahrin Kahlo is originally Moroccan but lives and works in Italy as a photographer and video artist.
Her work is based on the double identity of a woman who has decided to no longer be the symbol of a single culture. Her work explores the expansive nature of women as well as women figures in movies.
- Manthe Ribane
This south african creative has been described as a polymath artist, musician and performer who makes viewers’ heads spin in the best way. Manthe Ribane repurposes concepts set in stone and styles it in her own way.
- Muthoni Drummer Queen
Muthoni Drummer Queen is an inspirational force in Kenya’s music scene. She fuses African drums, hip-hop, reggae/dancehall, and neo-soul/blues to create powerful music that explores her experiences growing up in Nairobi and the spaces that women occupy unapologetically in the city.
- Karabo Poppy Molatsane
street artist and illustrator Karabo Poppy Moletsane sees “everyday Africans as the saints, heroes or sacred figures of the African aesthetic,” which shines through in her work. She has paved the way for other creatives with her work with Google, Nike and other huge brands.
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[…] we can have real conversations with female creatives early on in their careers – conversations that allow them to explore the depths of who they […]