Author · Peacebuilder · Impact investor

Women build the peace that lasts.

For thirty years I have worked with women in Africa who rebuild economies after war. My books tell their story and give practitioners the tools to back them.

Read the new book Invite me to speak
Cover of Women Entrepreneurs as Catalysts for Post Conflict Recovery in Africa, with a Practitioner's Guide, by Thelma Ekiyor-Solanke

The books

The new book

Published 15 August 2026

Women Entrepreneurs as Catalysts for Post-Conflict Recovery in Africa

This book changes how we see women entrepreneurs in Africa's recovery. Drawing on Liberia, Sierra Leone and Rwanda, it shows how women who start and grow businesses after conflict hold families, markets and communities together, and why recovery plans that overlook them fall short.

The second half is a working guide. Ten practitioner toolkits help governments, funders, investors and NGOs design programmes and capital that reach women entrepreneurs in fragile settings.

With a foreword by Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee.

  • Liberia · Sierra Leone · Rwanda
  • 10 practitioner toolkits
  • For policymakers, funders and practitioners
Order copies

About Thelma

Thirty years between peace, enterprise and capital

Thelma Ekiyor-Solanke

Thelma Ekiyor-Solanke is a senior leader in global philanthropy and impact investing, recognised as one of the top ten women in the field, with awards for her work in the UK, Africa and the United States.

Her career began in peacebuilding in West Africa, where she helped found the Women in Peacebuilding Network. She went on to design impact investing vehicles, raise capital and broker partnerships that put money behind women-led enterprise across the continent.

She is completing a Doctorate in Business Administration at Cranfield University School of Management, where her research examines how family shapes the journeys of women entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Her writing brings research and practice into the same room, so that the people who fund recovery can hear from the women who lead it.

Thelma is based in the United Kingdom.

Previously

  • Chair, SME.NG
  • Honorary Chair, Office for Philanthropy and Impact Investing, Nigeria
  • Member, Nigeria Advisory Board for Impact Investing
  • Gender Advisory Board, AVPA

Education & recognition

  • DBA candidate, Cranfield School of Management
  • Top 10 women in global philanthropy and impact investing
  • Awards in the UK, Africa and the US

Also by Thelma

Chapters and manuals

Book chapter

Peace vs. Justice in Africa

A contributed chapter in the award-winning edited volume by Chandra Lekha Sriram, on the tensions between ending wars and achieving accountability.

Training manuals

Women and peace training manuals

Practical training materials for women peacebuilders, used to prepare women for mediation, early warning and community peace work.

Events and speaking

On the road with the book

From the UK launch to the Africa Book Tour, I am taking the findings of the book to universities, parliaments, policymakers and investors.

4Countries
3Continents
10Events

4Nov 2026

London, UK

London Book Reception

In collaboration with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK. 4:00 pm. Attendance by invitation.

Upcoming

16Nov 2026

Monrovia, Liberia

Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa convening

Co-host. A gathering of women peacebuilding leaders from civil society, government, academia, the private sector and donors, to reflect on women's peacebuilding in West Africa and launch intergenerational initiatives.

Upcoming

Recent

  1. 20 OctoberUnited Kingdom

    Speaker

    Black History Month UK: trends in black capital

    A panel conversation on how black capital is being built, invested and grown.

  2. OctoberLusaka, Zambia

    Author

    Africa Book Launch, Copperbelt University

    The first stop of the Africa Book Tour, attended by Members of Parliament, the UNDP Resident Representative, the Cabinet Office, embassies, NGOs, financial institutions and students.

    For me, the real VIPs were the students.

  3. OctoberLusaka, Zambia

    Policy

    Meetings with regional leaders

    With the Secretary General of COMESA, H.E. Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe, and with H.E. Ambassador Charity Charamba at the Embassy of Zimbabwe, on women, peace and security and women's cross-border trade.

  4. SeptemberNew York, USA

    Speaker

    Panels at the 81st UN General Assembly

    Presenting the findings of the book on several panels during UNGA 81.

  5. SeptemberNew York, USA

    Co-host

    Africa Women CEOs Network dinner

    A private dinner for women CEOs on the sidelines of UNGA 81.

  6. SeptemberNew York, USA

    Guest speaker

    Brooklyn College Presidential Lecture Series

    In conversation with President Michele Anderson on leadership, conflict and women, peace and security in Africa.

  7. August2026

    Panellist

    Conference on the US and Africa

    Panel on peace, security and regional stability.

  8. 25 JulyMilton Keynes, UK

    Author

    UK Book Launch

    The launch of the book, moderated by Ayodele Oluwaropo, with leaders from international development, academia and the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Speaking, orders and partnerships

Bring the book to your organisation

I speak at conferences, parliaments, universities and funder gatherings, and present the book with a short film on women entrepreneurs in post-conflict recovery. Bulk orders for programmes, delegates and libraries are welcome.

  • Women and post-conflict recovery
  • Gender-lens impact investing
  • Women in peacebuilding
  • Family and women's entrepreneurship
  • Faith and enterprise

Email

tes@thelmaesolanke.me

LinkedIn

Thelma Ekiyor

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Based in

United Kingdom