KZN Top Business Women 2025: A celebration of excellence
KZN Top Business Women is about more than recognition – it is about storytelling, connection, and empowerment. From entrepreneurs and small business owners to corporate executives, innovators, and social change-makers, each participant brings a unique narrative of breaking barriers and redefining what success looks like.
The grand finale of the KZN Top Business Women 2025 initiative – powered by Women of Africa Group, Absa, and Morar Incorporated, and supported by DRG – took place on November 13. This glamorous event marked the conclusion to a programme that continues to uplift, recognise, and celebrate women of influence across KwaZulu-Natal.
Now in its sixth year, the KZN Top Business Women initiative has become a flagship event on the business calendar. Each year, 40 exceptional women from diverse sectors are honoured. These women are redefining leadership, driving business success, and making tangible differences in their communities.
KZN Top Business Women is about more than recognition – it is about storytelling, connection, and empowerment. From entrepreneurs and small business owners to corporate executives, innovators, and social change-makers, each participant brings a unique narrative of breaking barriers and redefining what success looks like.
Jennifer Reddy, CEO Morar Incorporated reflected on the importance of the initiative. She said, “This event is about celebrating each participating women’s courage, determination and resilience, who have made their mark in their respective fields with purpose and intent. We also honour the incredible power of these women who continue to redefine leadership in our province and beyond.”
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Lesedi Metsoamere, KZN regional executive for private banking at Absa, highlighted the bank’s support for this initiative. She said, “At Absa we exist to partner with women of courage and conviction, to fuel their ambitions and to work beside them as they build legacies that go far beyond profit. We believe that when women rise, economies transform, and when women lead with grace and grit, nations prosper.”
Advocate Pria Hassan, group CEO of Women of Africa Group, said they invest in the power of women. “The KZN Top Business Women event shines a light on the resilience, depth, and character forged by the demands of womanhood. This recognition is our commitment to the future, proving that strength and grace walk hand-in-hand,” Hassan said.
As part of the initiative, each of the 40 women participated in a professional photography session and in-depth video interviews held at the Radisson Blu Hotel Durban Umhlanga and Oceans Mall. These venues provided a fitting atmosphere of elegance and celebration. The sessions not only captured their professional achievements but also their personal essence and stories.
The interviews were compiled into a commemorative coffee table book, showcasing both the stunning portraits and the inspirational journeys of the participants. Edited video interviews as well as three webinars are also available for viewing on the KZN Top Business YouTube channel, extending the reach of their voices and messages to a broader audience. Through initiatives like this, KZN Top Business continues to honour the women who are shaping the future of KwaZulu-Natal – and whose dreams and stories provide the inspiration for others to follow and to build their own legacies.
