Several years ago while visiting Ghana, I stood under the mango tree in my parent's front yard making myself all sorts of promises. Under witness of an open sky and perennially lush tree, I vowed that one day I would move back to Ghana and flourish in the health and wellness space.

Speaking to Sacre Films about what it means to be a female entrepreneur in Africa.

Till that point, much of my career had been spent in international development. A catch-all, hard-to-define term that generally involved a lot of multilateral donor agencies, consulting firms, NGOs, and poorer nations and people, receiving millions of dollars of financial and material aid. Since beginning my professional life as an international aid volunteer and then later as a full-blown professional with credentials and air miles to prove it, I thought that the cycle would never end. "But we Africans, we are more than just recipients," I said to myself. The African continent was changing - almost pulsing at the seams with energy and defiance.

Standing under the mango tree, with goats and car horns exchanging bleats, I promised to create a collaborative, open space to share health, wellness and Spirit. I said I would create jobs and wealth. I would lead from a place of abundance and joy. I said something else about moving with grace and abounding with energy, but by then, I was embarrassing myself with my own mawkishness.

Africa Goodnest was created to revel and celebrate Africa and the talented, unique minds making things happen on a continent that in the past few years has exploded with export-ready natural products. Africans are creating high quality consumable goods that are on par with items that we typically import from abroad. It is us showing that we are more than just receivers of goods or exporters of raw materials, but that we too can transform our indigenous ingredients into something beautiful. This is intended to be that space - collaborative with a touch of defiance.

I hope you experience some of the Spirit that I want to share.

Yours truly,

Bernice