Ivorien, Togolese change makers grace Glo-sponsored African Voices

Two creative minds who are inspiring other Africans across the continent will be guests on a fresh edition of Glo-sponsored CNN African Voices Change Makers, this weekend.

The duo of Axel-Emmanuel Gbaou, a chocolatier from Côte d’Ivoire and Togolese-American, Olowo-n’djo Tchala, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Alaffia Beauty Company will take viewers of the programme through their journey in the entrepreneurship world.

After completing Master’s degree programmes in Public Law, Political Science and Taxation, Gbaou who is very passionate about processing cocoa beans into delicacies and chocolates, proceeded to learn the trade as an apprentice with an Abidjan-based Ivorian chocolatier. On completion of training, he became a chocolate maker.

He subsequently quit his banking job and started producing chocolates from his mother’s kitchen. In no time, the gamble paid off and Gbaou gradually became Champion of Côte d’Ivoire, and later Vice-Champion of Africa, before becoming Super Laureate of the Alassane Ouattara Prize for Young Entrepreneurs.

The second guest is Tchala, is the founder of Alaffia, a company which uses local shea butter, coconut oil and other local beauty ingredients to make personal care brands. It promotes the economic empowerment of women in Togo and across the Africa continent.

With an estimated turnover of $50million, the company has been growing steadily. In 2018, it got recognition from the United States’ Secretary of State, an Award for Corporate Excellence under the “Women’s economic empowerment” category. The same year, the company also joined the consultative committee on African trade.