To mark African Heritage Month, a virtual showcase of African female entrepreneurs from across the Maritimes will be held Friday night.
The event will be free and open to anyone to participate.
Ifeoma Esonwune, founder of the Network for the Empowerment of Women, is an organizer of the event and has been working tirelessly to get it off the ground.
“The Halifax Business showcase is something I put together to celebrate African Heritage Month,” Esonwune says. “I saw it as an opportunity to celebrate African women who have been in business.”
She says that in her line of work, she’s met many women who have braced the impacts of the pandemic bravely.
“They took on roles of teachers coupled with being mothers at home, with everything that is going on, and started businesses,” Esonwune says. “And they are thriving.”
The virtual showcase is an opportunity to shed some light on these entrepreneurs, “and amplify what they’re doing.”
One of them is Hallimah Mufutau, the owner of local company Hallycraft Catering and Events.
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“It was like a bridging gap for me and my community to connect,” Mufutau says.
“When I came into Canada in 2018, I was really craving for this African food. … I just wanted to have my food.”
She says one of her friends told her that if she wants to get that food in Halifax, she has to make it herself.
“I started it my kitchen and it’s been, wow,” Mufutau says, as her business has taken off in the last year.
“Knowing how to present this and say, ‘Oh, this is what I do, this is the food I prepare, this is how I do things.’ It’s really something huge for me at the moment.”
Mufutau says she’s looking forward to showcasing her business at Friday’s event.
Each entrepreneur and business owner at the showcase will have a seven-minute presentation and a three-minute question period.
The virtual event will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Friday. Those who want to participate can register here.
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