Panel 5: Women in Business
Panel Summary
Women are significant contributors to business in Africa. In many African countries, women play a keyrole in ensuring the socio-economic well being of households and communities. Although they face numerous challenges, they have been successful both as senior executives in the corporate world and also as stewards of their own entrepreneurial ventures. In male-dominated industries, these women overcome obstacles by pairing business acumen with inherent abilities such as networking, multi-tasking and negotiating. The highly accomplished panel of women will discuss the key to their successes, how to balance work-lifepressures and breaking through the glass ceiling.
 | Lola Ogunnaike,
CNN Entertainment Correspondent | Lola Ogunnaike is the entertainment correspondent for CNN's flagship morning news program, American Morning based in New York. Ogunnaike has been covering entertainment news since 1999. Prior to joining CNN, Ogunnaike was the top culture reporter for The New York Times and spearheaded its entertainment coverage, writing profiles of celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Oprah Winfrey and Sting for the paper's "Arts and Leisure" section. Before that, she was a features reporter at the New York Daily News and a contributing writer for Vibe magazine. She has also had her work published in Rolling Stone, New York, Glamour, Details, Nylon, the New York Observer and V Magazine. On air, Ogunnaike has also made regular guest appearances on NBC's Today Show, MTV and VH1. In May 2007, she was named one of Ebony magazine's "150 Most Influential Blacks in America." Ogunnaike received her master's in fine arts degree in journalism from New York University and a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Virginia.
 | Louisa Mojela,
CEO,
Women Investment Portfolio Holdings | Louisa Mojela is the Group Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Women Investment Portfolio Holdings Limited (WIPHOLD). Louisa started her career after obtaining her Bachelor of Commerce from the National University of Lesotho. Since that time she has worked for the Lesotho National Development Corporation, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and Standard and Corporate Merchant Bank. In 1997, Louisa attended the Executive Leadership Program at The Wharton School. She serves in various companies as non-executive director. Her other accomplishments include being honored by a California Star Group company in 2000 as one of the 40 Leading Women Entrepreneurs of The World. In 2008, Louisa was recognized as one of South Africa’s most influential women in business and government. In May 2009, Louisa was the winner of the Inaugural African Business Leadership Award 2009 by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
 | Anna Getaneh,
Founder & Managing Director,
African Mosaique,
Founder and Executive
Chairman of the
EthiopianChildren's Fund | Anna Getaneh is a former acclaimed international model, a humanitarian and social entrepreneur. She is the founder and Executive Chairman of The Ethiopian Children’s Fund (ECF) as well as the founder and Managing Director of African Mosaique. ECF Village is an integrated development project for children and young people in Aleltu, Ethopia. It comprises a school, a health clinic, a feeding centre, a vocational centre and environmental programmes for 400 poor, vulnerable children, mostly orphans. African Mosaique is a private company that designs, manufactures, markets and retails high quality clothing and accessories. Its core philosophy is to help develop the African fashion industry and to help provide jobs and sustain traditions by manufacturing in Africa. Anna speaks English, French and Amharic, and has a BA degree in Marketing and Business Management Studies, from the University of Maryland. She is the mother of two and currently resides in Johannesburg, South Africa.
 | Ella Gorgla,
Managing Partner,
Khana Group | Ms. Gorgla is Managing Partner of The Khana Group, a US based firm designed to bridge entrepreneurs and medium to large size enterprises with start-up and expansion capital while offering expertise in business strategy, finance, operations and social responsibility. The company concentrates on the West Africa region – Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria in particular. She has appeared on CNBC to discuss investing in Africa. A native of Liberia, Ms. Gorgla built her career with such firms as Ernst & Young, IBM Global Services and Arthur Andersen. She received her BS in Engineering from The Ohio State University with academic honors, MBA from Columbia Business School and a Masters from London Business School with additional studies at Yale University. Ms. Gorgla sits on the board of FACE Africa, a non-profit organization aimed at bringing innovative economic development solutions to West Africa. She resides in Manhattan.
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