Maureen Obaweya, a Nigerian entrepreneur building a luxury leather accessory brand — Lionesses of Africa

What inspired you to start your company?

Seeking a platform to express my personal creativity after promoting other Nigerian and African artists and craftspeople in a prior creative company. I was privileged to have been on a sponsored training programme for women entrepreneurs in handcrafts sponsored by Vital Voices and the Exxon Mobil Foundation in October 2010. Seeing women from all over Africa having their own voices in their craft gave me the push I needed, and upon coming back home I chose leather as my canvas of expression.

Why should anyone use your service or product?

With painstaking attention and proficient handling of the medium of leather, we drive to meet the individual styles of the individuals we serve. Strong attention to detail and customer satisfaction fused with our extensive knowledge of the essence, quality, process artistry, and expression of the medium of leather puts us ahead of the competition.

Tell us a little about your team

Our Artisans are a pool of craftsmen from various parts of the Motherland and a team of in-house trained artisans well-schooled in the Morin.O techniques of world-class leather product making. Our management team comprises of professionals that span various competencies including Design, Finance, Marketing, and more.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

My entrepreneurial journey started from my passion for the arts and creativity, and my quest to share African beauty, craftsmanship, and creativity with the world led to developing a business that will demonstrate and sustain the vision.