“Be Still and know that I am God.” – Bible
These words effectively steer motivation for Lynda Aphing-Kouassi, Founder & Managing Director, International Firm KAIZENE, a renowned name in Professional Training & Coaching that aims for excellence, Transformation specialized in capacity building; coaching, the organization of institutional conferences and women empowerment through the accelerator focused on agriculture.
Personifying a rigorous, determined; hardworking, daring, disruptive, spiritual, passionate for development, optimistic, and self-motivated individual who diligently transverses the path to achieving, Lynda enjoys the reputation of chairing a front-runner in the industry with a name that has ripened since she rooted it years ago.
In her 18 years of professional journey, Lynda managed to navigate through a journey of new experiences working with different professionals and achieving realistic goals. She started her career in the banking sector at Santander, Societe Generale, Vaultex (a subsidiary of the HSBC banking group) as a team leader, director of investments, and then investment banker in London for over 15 years. This career gives her solid expertise in the banking and financial field and the management of human capital constituting for her the “heart of the development of any Companies and the Society”.
In recent years, she has decided to return to her country in order to share her experience through the activities of her cabinet KAIZENE and thus contribute (i) to the development of the African continent (ii) to the empowerment of women and young people in through mentoring, coaching and training and (iii) through the organization, since 2015, of the annual conference on infrastructure and construction. She is a member of the board of directors of the African Diaspora Network (ADNE) based in Brussels (Belgium), the British chamber of commerce and a member of the Institute of Directors of London (I.O.D).
KAIZENE, Focusing on Women Empowerment & Youth Inclusion
KAIZENE was founded in 2015 on the initiative of Lynda Aphing-Kouassi. It is a training company that aims for excellence, specialised in capacity building; coaching, the organisation of institutional conferences, and finally KAIZENE accelerator for women SME.
The leading lady came up with this initiative when she realized that there was a lack of adequate training for companies but mostly that the employee’s soft skills were not fully utilized; that women’s empowerment was at the back of the agenda, and youth inclusion slow. She decided to contribute at her level in the ways she knew possible:
KAIZENE is a team of experienced employees who put their expertise at the service of their clients. They all share the values of rigor; faith and excellence. It is based in London Pall Mall Piccadilly (United Kingdom) and in Abidjan zone 4 (Ivory Coast).
Here, the clientele mainly includes institutions; governments small and medium-sized companies. We instill in them values of determination, agility; excellence; ambition, innovation, efficiency, and commitment.
Some conference themes organized by KAIZENE
- Mining, Oil and Gas (December 2015) – London, United Kingdom
- Oil Sector: Challenges and Opportunities (April 2016) – Abidjan, Ivory Coast
- Electrification of Africa (October 2016) – Cape Town, South Africa
- Construction and Infrastructures (December 2017) – Dakar, Senegal
- AGOA FORUM (August 2018) Cote- d Ivoire
- Construction and Infrastructures (December 2018) – Kigali, Rwanda
- Construction and Infrastructures (October 2019) – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- ROADMAP CONFERENCE PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC OF COTE-D IVOIRE (October 2020)
Challenges & the Driving Force
“Our main challenges have been the sustainability of the empowerment for a larger number of women and the integration of young people through vocational training not being discouraged we carry on and are doing intense lobbying to achieve our goals”, shared Lynda when asked about her major challenges during the journey.
She continued, “As a woman entrepreneur in Africa, we worked hard and smart; we have met some very talented people and institutions that have also contributed to our growth.”
A Day in the Leading Lady’s Life & Her Hobbies
Lynda’s day is punctuated by her family and her work from the moment she wakes up she prays; speaks to her family and gets ready for her daily meetings, then she has meetings with her employees. Her hobbies are watching animated movies; travelling, art and culture and spending with her few friends
Jewels in the Crown
Lynda Aphing-Kouassi has been recognized by Forbes and Financial Afrique mentions; ASCOM awards, TOP MANAGER awards for our Nobel initiatives and contributions. Besides, the CSR activities have earned her the recognition of Forbes Africa and Financial Africa magazines as a development actor.
Through her services, Miss APHING-KOUASSI wishes to make a contribution to the economic and social development of the African continent. In her perpetual quest for development, she deeply believes that the desire to succeed and move forward must overcome obstacles and difficulties.
Favorite Read
Lynda said, “I have read a lot of books but the Bible is where I draw my real inspiration.”
Future Roadmap
Lynda Aphing-Kouassi and her team will continue to train as many businesses as possible to help them grow, empower as many women as possible and change the mindset and integrate as many young people so that they become the African leaders of tomorrow.
A Piece of Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Be unapologetic; intentional; determined; Believe in yourself, pray; have a mission and don’t give up until it’s done; embrace failures, don’t apologise for who you are and stay true to your values, don’t look for people to love you or to like your quotes look for real tangible impact in people lives and remember to stay humble.