What does it take for a young woman to become an entrepreneur? What challenges do they face in accessing financing? All this determines how an entrepreneur turns out, and the journey can be even harder for a woman.

When successful female entrepreneurs share their stories, it can be empowering and inspiring for young women looking to start their own businesses. The New Times reached out to Monica Musonda, a Zambian businesswoman and current CEO of Java Foods, while she was in Rwanda for the recently concluded Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum 2023 (AWIEF), to talk about her experiences and personal journey regarding women and girls entering the entrepreneurial world.

Below are excerpts:

Briefly tell us, who is Monica Musonda?

Monica Musonda is a corporate lawyer turned entrepreneur. I am the Chief Executive Officer of Java Foods, a Zambian-based food processing/FMCG company that I founded in 2012. I sought to take advantage of Zambia’s strong wheat yields, demand for more convenience foods, and changing consumption patterns to make products for a young urban population.

My leadership and vision have grown Java Foods into a leading independent instant noodle manufacturer in the Southern African region, with eeZee Noodles fast becoming a leading brand in the region.

By way of background, I am a dual-qualified English solicitor and Zambian advocate with over 16 years post qualification experience. I began my legal career working for the Attorney General of Zambia. I then went on to work in private practice for Clifford Chance (London) and Edward Nathan (Johannesburg – where I rose to the rank of partner).

I also worked as Counsel at the International Finance Corporation in Washington DC and for the Dangote Group as Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs.

I was directly involved in Dangote Cement’s $13 billion listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as well as assisted the Group in raising various debt instruments in the international market (in excess of $3 billion).

I was the project lead responsible for the Group’s $400m investment into Zambia to build the country’s largest integrated cement plant.

My experience working with one of Africa’s most successful entrepreneurs gave me the impetus to start my own business and in 2012, I moved back to Zambia and set up Java Foods.

What brings you to Rwanda this time? Is it your first time?

I was invited to Kigali to speak at the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum about the role of women in agribusiness (critical issues to get more women involved, impact, and challenges). Having been involved for almost 10 years, I can speak to a number of personal experiences. I have been to Kigali a few times, but not in the last five years.

Tell us a bit about venturing into business and innovation. How did that come about?

My last job was working for one of Africa’s greatest entrepreneurs – Aliko Dangote. I was deeply encouraged by his work ethic, his ambition, and his passion to change our continent and so I decided to leave formal employment and move back to Zambia and venture into manufacturing.

I specifically wanted to focus on food processing because Zambia grows food very well (sometimes described as the bread basket of Southern Africa) but we still don’t process enough food locally.

So, when I set up Java Foods, I wanted to focus on using locally sourced raw materials to produce high-quality quality affordable, and nutritious foods. Over the years, we have produced corn soya porridge and corn snacks, and now we produce eeZee Noodles which has become Zambia’s leading instant noodle brand.

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You are one of the outstanding women in business, an agripreneur so to speak, tell us a bit about the rigours of venturing into this sector as a young woman in Africa.

It was definitely not without challenges. In the beginning, very few people took me seriously – they questioned my ideas (saying I had little experience in the sector so there was no way Java would succeed) and so very few people took a risk on me in the beginning.

The first loan Java was given was after two years of operations and I borrowed at 27 per cent pa!! I needed the money so I took the loan, but now I think about it – it was super expensive, and hence our profitability was delayed.

Also, it took time to understand the market (how to procure raw materials at the right price and get them into the warehouse for processing, how to price our products, quality, and food safety issues, where to sell our products, and how to get paid on time every time!) but we learnt by doing.

Another key issue we faced was putting the team together. It took some time to hire the right people who believed in the vision and were willing to take the risk with me and build the business. But it eventually came together.

Through what you do, how do you hope to usher in transformative change?

I am one of the few Zambian women who run a food processing business at scale – we have employed and trained over 100 people in food processing, we source a majority of our raw materials locally, and we have created a great Zambian brand that is now exported. This is all transformative impact.

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Women and young entrepreneurs often lament about access to finance and lack of trust from financial institutions. How has it been for you in this regard?

It was very difficult – not only were we faced with high-interest rates but really prohibitive collateral requirements. In the end, I had to put personal assets to back the company loan.

Also, another key issue I found was that many bankers were just not willing to put in the work to understand what the business required and just provided vanilla solutions (like an overdraft when we probably needed another instrument).

There were also very few options for financing. There is no venture capital in Zambia and so this was also difficult.

However, there are a few initiatives that are trying to close the financing gap that young entrepreneurs and women face in Africa. I am one of the Ambassadors of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), which is an AfDB initiative working to close the estimated $42 billion financing gap for women in the continent and unlock their entrepreneurial capacity and economic participation.

AFAWA’s objective is to unlock up to $5 billion in financing to women-owned small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) by 2026 and bridge the gap using a three-pillar approach; access to finance for women entrepreneurs, capacity-building, and enabling environment development.

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How can this issue be addressed without young people being asked to provide collateral or security to access funds?

There is more need for venture capital or funds that can support start-ups with more flexible terms. Banks may not be the first point of call for many young people.

What is your vision?

By 2025, my vision is to transform the business to be one of the leading packaged food manufacturers in the region.

Any message to young women looking to follow in your footsteps?

Do not be afraid to start and pursue your dreams. Start small, but think big (plan for growth). Take time to understand your business and the market. Get one paying customer. Be positive – it will be hard, and there will be challenges but with time you will overcome them.