BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
Entrepreneurship, although challenging, can be a very rewarding journey when done right – which is what Kinina Africa founder, Toronto Malawu, is always seeking for. Kinina is a premium plant-based hair growth & clear skin solution – made in Africa and inspired by African beauty rituals. Their products are 100% locally formulated & manufactured.
Toronto is a young, black South African woman with a passion for achieving every goal she sets for herself, simply because she believes she is worthy of each one. She believes that everyone has the right to feel beautiful because they are, and the responsibility to exude that beauty in every aspect of their lives.
“Our core objective as Kinina is to help deliver our customer’s dream of confidence and influence through beauty. Beauty is power, beauty is influence, beauty is transformative and ours is to help our customers to realise and harshness that power and use it to transform their lives, careers and lifestyles.”
Toronto has been open about the challenges of owning a business on her social media, and encouraged everyone, not just entrepreneurs, to never give up on their dreams.
“Last year, I sacrificed everything my apartment, my freedom and packed up my business because I realised I wasn’t living true to my promise. I promised myself that Kinina would not be just another hustle to fund my life.
I promised myself to build a global cosmetics brand that would employ thousands of people and revolutionalise the beauty industry. Yet a year in business I was focused on meeting monthly target sales , I had become extremely busy and discovered I no longer was working on the business but working in the business.
I decided to go back home to my village and spent 4/5 months working on my business, my brand, I applied for funding, for business development programmes, identified systems that were needed. And all of that sacrifice and time spent preparing and molding this brand is about to pay off. What an honour and a privilege.”
