More than half of the new entrepreneurs on the continent are women. They often start a business out of necessity to cover the family expenses, while educating the kids and cooking daily dinners. Unfortunately, these hard-working women often earn the least and overlooked.

So I wanted to celebrate female leadership in the new comedy “Virtual Colleagues” that I created. The show is about June, a 35-year old CEO, who must use new technologies during the pandemic and rely on her dysfunctional team to save her company from bankruptcy.

June is a newly divorced mother, overwhelmed by her personal family and business life. She is ready to put everything on the line to save both.

Their family values often spill into leadership and so you will find female leaders building not just a team around them, but another family. They will often make sure everyone is well cared for, to the detriment of their own needs. That’s the reality I wanted to depict in this workplace comedy.

There is a second domain that I wanted to explore, which is women in sciences. Tamisa, the other female character in the show, is the head of design and engineering. She is beautiful, very smart and studied sciences. I wanted to show that women who love sciences do not have to give up on their femininity or joy for fashion to fit in the science world.

There will always be a place for clever people, be it men or women. The relationship between the two women of the show is about mutual respect and support. The show emphasizes the importance of women elevating other women.

But the men on the show are not on the back burner. Au contraire, Achere, the chief financial officer of June’s company, and Koffi, head of business development, support both female characters so they can exploit their full potential.

Achere gives tough love to June, so she can not forget her important mission of running the company in the most efficient way. His legendary sarcasm reminds us that business is serious, but his loyalty to June is what makes him so endearing. Koffi’s enthusiasm and charm will win your heart in seconds.

This show is an ode to female empowerment, combined with laughter, love, and solar panels. The development of female empowerment would not work without the help of our male counterparts.

So more than half of the entrepreneurs, i.e. women, who watch the show can leave inspired to go and conquer the world, be it sciences or renewable energy.

About Virtual Colleagues

The story is about June, a Nigerian CEO of a solar company based in Ghana. She usually thrives on face-to-face meetings. When the pandemic hits, she struggles to work with her dysfunctional pan-African team via Zoom to save the company from bankruptcy.

Starring Winnie Ikediashi (Gbomo Gbomo Express, President for a Day, and Break In), Brian Angels (Beast of No Nations, An African City), Kevin Osore, and Juliana Anwuli Sydenham