Born on January 7th 1987, Vénicia Guinot is certainly one of the most inspiring
young Media personalities from Africa who started their companies with next to
nothing. Starting from scratch at the age of 23 with a single wish, to keep her
late parents’ legacies alive (Mr. Marcel Bavouéza-Guinot, her Father ad top
Congolese Venture Capitalist of his generation; and Mrs. Julienne Mankassa, her
Mother, UNESCO/UNICEF cadre and one of the Most Influential Philanthropist
from Brazzaville). And she has, since 2009, worked hard to be recognized as a
Multimedia Journalist holding the titles of Publisher, Media Entrepreneur,
Executive Producer, Radio Host and Business Influencer. This 4-time Awarded
Media Entrepreneur in London and Johannesburg curates, since October 2017,
the TROPICS BUSINESS SUMMIT, the first-of-its-kind multi-platforms and
multilingual business summit to ever be hosted in South Africa with the goal of
helping young entrepreneurs with startups scale their businesses and arming
private investors with the best insights available to make better informed
investment decisions by providing cutting edge insight into the African and the
Caribbean's investment landscape. Guinot boasts a formidable 8-year career as
a Business Leader which has earned her accolades, trophies and international
recognition.
Guinot began her career in publishing in 2009 as a South Africa based
Correspondent for various publications such as AMINA MAGAZINE in France,
VENTURES AFRICA in Nigeria, FOLK MAGAZINE in Norway, CUISINE NOIR in the U.S
etc., and at the same time, working towards launching her own magazine. The
daughter of a late renowned Congolese Humanitarian, Julienne Mankassa, who
worked for the United Nations (UNESCO, UNICEF, FAO, PAM and PNUD) for more
than fourteen (14) years, Guinot has spent a part of her formative years in
Brazzaville, Congo during her undergraduate years and as a recipient of the
WINROCK INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR GIRLS initiated by the ex-President
Bill Clinton before deciding to move to South Africa at the age of 17 on her own.
Her leadership style is primarily visionary and consistent with her entrepreneurial
background. Currently, she serves as the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of TROPICS
MAGAZINE, the first bilingual magazine from Africa published in both English and
French and which serves a 700,000+ worldwide readership on four (4) continents:
Africa, Europe, America and South Asia. She oversees the publication and also
holds all its worldwide licenses.
Copyright © 2010-2017 by TROPICS INTERNATIONAL Inc., All rights reserved.
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AFRICA DILIGENCE magazine, a business and economy intelligence magazine based
in France, has recently listed her among the “Top 100 Young African Leaders”
(October 2015) that everyone should know about. Guinot was one of the 100 young
leaders who were put in the hot seat to share strategies that would help develop
the African continent in the years to come, if each African President agrees to
implement these precious ideas to boost their respective economies. During the
same month, she was appointed Senior Executive Member by the MIRIAM MAKEBA
FOUNDATION in South Africa with the likes of the respectable H.E. Dr. Nkosazana
DLAMINI-ZUMA, Winnie MADIKIZELA-MANDELA, Graça MACHEL, Angelique KIDJO,
etc.
Guinot is one of Africa’s youngest power-players in the media industry who is
looking forward to changing the way Africa handles its own image and her ultimate
goal is to use each media platform to its advantage. She founded the TROPICS
MEDIA GROUP, a sought after media group based in Johannesburg, South Africa,
that manages a portfolio of international brands, magazines and digital products.
Combining a mix of professional leadership development and business strategy,
Guinot works with both professionals and companies to use communication as an
effective tool to reach the masses and to “pave the way forward” for the next
generations.
On October 2017, Guinot hosted the first annual TROPICS BUSINESS SUMMIT & Gala
Dinner in Johannesburg, South Africa which successfully brought global business
leaders, from 3 continents, under the same roof. All in one, 150 business
stakeholders, young innovators, political figures, diplomats and economic
decision-makers descended in Johannesburg to further encourage the boldness,
ambition and leadership of young entrepreneurs. Now going into its 2nd year, the
TROPICS BUSINESS SUMMIT remains focused on achieving results for its various
participants, and further partners with leading financial planners to assist startups
and entrepreneurs in scaling their business, exporting their Afro-Caribbean cultures
and visions to other markets and reaching their financial goals. This is achieved
through a tailored financial plan centred on participants' unique investment
objectives, goals and aspirations, to build a lasting financial legacy for themselves,
their countries and their continent.
The inaugural edition of the TROPICS BUSINESS SUMMIT gave birth to the TROPICS
BUSINESS NETWORK (TBN), a social organization that will offer different types of
resources to start or improve entrepreneurial projects both in the African and the
French Caribbean regions starting in 2018. Through this initiative, we look forward
to covering global entrepreneurs’ journey via the TROPICS MAGAZINE platforms and
conducting additional activities that will put global entrepreneurs on the map with
the help of its global strategic partners and investors.
Copyright © 2010-2017 by TROPICS INTERNATIONAL Inc., All rights reserved.
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As one of the 2015 Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF 2015) Alumni, Guinot has grown
tremendously both as a Media Entrepreneur and a Mentor, impacting the world,
one project at a time. According to her, the vital importance and positive
contribution of media entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial culture in
economic and social development cannot be overstated: “Media entrepreneurs
create and bring to life new trends, technologies, medium and services and
create new markets and jobs along the way. Media entrepreneurs, especially
females, are smart risk takers, implementers, rule-breakers. And like any
emerging economy aiming to move ahead on the African continent, we need
lots of them to develop the industry,” she often shares. Finally, she thinks that
“Transforming ideas into economic opportunities is the crux of
entrepreneurship. For many developing countries, private sector development
has been a powerful engine of economic growth and wealth creation, and
crucial for improving the quality, number and variety of employment
opportunities for the poor. Therefore, entrepreneurship will continue to
invigorate markets economically and the formation of new business will lead
to extensive job creation and will have a multiplying effect on the continent’s
economy.”
As one of the strong voices pushing the Media Entrepreneurship, she strongly
believes in the power of media in empowering citizens, generating innovation and
changing the mindsets socially. All these changes, according to her, have the
potential to successfully integrate developing countries into the global economy.
Guinot's own experience has taught her that the Media sector cannot be
dissociated from Leadership. She argues that what the pan-African Media industry
truly lacks is to develop an ecosystem of journalistic enterprises that meets the
needs of its own diverse audiences, and which can certainly be monetized. To
achieve this ideal, media and technology, and business have to collaborate and this
is the core of Guinot's work up to this date.
CONTACT DETAILS :
TROPICS INTERNATIONAL Inc.
Email :
[email protected] /
[email protected]Tel : +27 (0) 72 749 2347 / 060 860 1349
Websites : www.tropicsmag.com / www.tropicsbusinesssummit.com