ISRAELLA KAFUI MANSU

Israella Kafui Mansu identified high rate of unemployment and lack of vocational skills training among Ghanaian youths as an opportunity to start her own business. At age 24 and an unemployed graduate, she found solutions to the developmental challenges she identified in her community.

Israella researches, designs, develops, produces and commercializes quality handcrafted and natural hair and body care products for local and international sales. Israella has achieved 13 different finished products and still counting. She has received 2 Ghanaian and 2 international business awards in South Africa and Sweden. She was celebrated as an ‘Apostle of the new economy’ by Springboard, Legacy and Legacy, Ghana. The company has built a light manufacturing facility for producing the MGL naturals range of hair and body care products; It sells locally and export to Japan, USA, UK, South Africa and other African countries.

But the magic of her story lies in how she creates employment and trains less privileged rural women and unskilled youths. She teaches them technical skills for making soaps, body cream/butter and hair pomade, as well as packaging, marketing and other basic entrepreneurial skills. She educates these women and empowers them financially to produce Shea butter, African black soap, cocoa butter and coconut oil, with fair trading and these rural women then wholesale to MGL. A significant 90% of the company’s raw materials are sourced from the rural communities in the Northern and Western Regions of Ghana.

Israella counts all these achievement as results of the training she received from Enablis; she now has MGL naturals registered as a brand, GSA analyzed & FDA approved products, English & French versions of product information on products labels, proper company records, advanced business knowledge & higher online presence. Improved sales and customer base (from 2012 sales revenue of GHC54, 000 to 2013 sales revenue of GHC130, 000). “As an Enablis Ghana Member, I always find myself on Ghanaian and international networking platforms, conferences, exhibitions, exposes and receiving more awards for MGL naturals brand.”

“Start with the limited capital you have, never give up, seek knowledge on ideas before and after initiating, diversity in skills within an entrepreneurial team is an important factor for success, networking is an important thing in the business world and passion for a business is good but not enough, commitment and determination sustain it.”

Visit Israella's company's Website at www.mglnaturals.com