ABM University College founder and Executive Director, Ms Daisy Molefhi is among 24 African women nominated for 2020 Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) Awards for a Lifetime Achievement Award. In an interview with BOPA following the nomination, Ms Molefhi said she was elated about the nomination, which on its own was an honour and an achievement. She mentioned that being recognized in pursuit of excellence meant that she performed it with diligence.

She indicated that she would continue aiming higher to make ABM a centre of entrepreneurship and business leader, saying that way they would be impacting not only Botswana, but the African continent as a whole. Ms Molefhi’s career spans over almost three decades in the areas of entrepreneurship, leadership development and education. She founded ABM University College in 1989, making it the oldest and pioneer private higher education institution, where she is currently the Vice-Chancellor.   

Her entrepreneurship development has been at different levels over her lifetime and her major contributions in women empowerment was when she served as a consultant for the African Development Foundation’s Grassroots Level Empowerment Programme, which empowered women with entrepreneurship skills by providing technical entrepreneurship assistance and business management training, in the areas of agriculture and manufacturing, as well as developing different management systems for the different groups.   Throughout her career, Ms Molefhi has been an active player in entrepreneurship development. To date she has trained many mainly youth and women in the area of entrepreneurship, including beneficiaries of then Financial Assistance Policy (FAP), government SMME project, Youth Development Fund, where she passionately developed tailor-made programmes to train beneficiaries  in the area of entrepreneurship. 

Throughout her career, Ms Molefhi has been an active player in entrepreneurship development. To date she has trained many mainly youth and women in the area of entrepreneurship, including beneficiaries of then Financial Assistance Policy (FAP), government SMME project, Youth Development Fund, where she passionately developed tailor-made programmes to train beneficiaries  in the area of entrepreneurship. Furthermore, she was amongst the first crop of the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) consultants. She was also an accredited trainer in the area of business development (training, mentoring and monitoring), with several business development accreditations.

Internationally she has been recognised as an entrepreneurship educator of note, as evidenced by her speaking engagements in different forums. She was one of the first two women to receive the Voice of Business award by Business Botswana then Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM), in recognition for her outstanding contribution towards private sector development.   Ms Molefhi has played a significant role in the development and leadership of the private sector in Botswana, including serving as a council/board member of Business Botswana, chairperson of the education sector and ultimately vice-president of the chamber.  Her passion for entrepreneurship and leadership development is embedded in the ethos of ABM University College whose passion is to raise prosperous entrepreneurs and business leaders through a dynamic curriculum that recognises the need to develop entrepreneurs who will ultimately create jobs. 

Her passion for entrepreneurship and leadership development is embedded in the ethos of ABM University College whose passion is to raise prosperous entrepreneurs and business leaders through a dynamic curriculum that recognises the need to develop entrepreneurs who will ultimately create jobs. She mentioned that men and women both young and old who had gone through the doors of ABM over the last three decades have gone out to contribute significantly in the nation and beyond in different areas. She stated that to date, ABM University College has been the first institution to set up a dedicated centre for entrepreneurship development which was officially launched in 2016.

She highlighted that as an educator, she would continually advocate for a transformative curriculum that embraces entrepreneurship development. Her active participation in the education sector is in line with her conviction that the key drivers to economic development was human resource development. She has served in leadership positions across the different levels of the education sector and has contributed significantly to development of the education sector in Botswana. She is also the founding president of Botswana Association of Private Tertiary Education Providers. She has served on several national boards.

Ms Molefhi to date has established two foundations ‘Mmabatho Foundation’ whose main mandate is to impact education and has established a non-profit making organisation, ‘Seed of Gratitude Foundation’ (SGF), an outreach programme to help the needy people in the community. She said SGF broad mandate was to uplift the moral and value systems of society through promoting Christian values and supporting high impact Christian promoting initiatives. Ms Molefhi is married to former cabinet minister Mr Nonofo Molefhi and they have four children.   The AWIEF press release states that AWIEF as a leading Pan-African entrepreneurship and innovation non-profit, announced the top finalists for the 2020 edition, from 54 different African countries, across eight different categories. The release further states that the annual AWIEF Awards, through a nomination process, identifies and celebrate best female entrepreneurs and founders driving economic growth and development for Africa, across multiple industries in Africa.

According to AWIEF founder and chief executive officer, Ms Irene Ochem, ‘this year more than ever, it is vital to acknowledge and celebrate women entrepreneurs in Africa for their leadership and innovation’. The release states that the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic has been disproportionate and devastating, and women were showing exceptional resilience. It further states that the award promotes and supports excellence in entrepreneurship and innovation amongst women-owned businesses in all African countries. The 2020 AWIEF Awards winners would be announced on December 03, at the awards ceremony following a two-day AWIEF2020 virtual conference, under the theme: Reimagining business and rebuilding better.