NEW YORK – Digital media company, She Leads Africa (SLA) has become the first African startup to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

As part of the NYSE’s outreach programme, the American stock exchange invited the firm co-founded by Yasmin Belo-Osagie, daughter of Nigerian business mogul, Hakeem Belo-Osagie, to highlight SLA’s success in 2016 in delivering business and career advice to 200,000 millennial, urban and engaged African women through in person workshops and digital training. The NYSE is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalisation at $19.3 trillion as of June 2016.

According to a statement from the digital firm, the closing bell ceremony was featured on the NYSE website and on television networks such as CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Fox Business News, reaching 150 million of viewers worldwide.

SLA co-founders joined other notable leaders, such as former South African President Nelson Mandela, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and African Union chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who have had the honour of ringing the closing bell on the NYSE.

In 2016, SLA recorded significant growth by investing in local professional development events and enhancing the educational offerings available online. Over the past year, SLA grew its community by 600 per cent to more than 200,000 women across more than 30 countries and five continents.

Agencies