Every year the Anzisha Prize rewards 12 of Africa’s youngest entrepreneurs age 15 to 22 with prize money and access to mentors, business contacts, investors and other young business owners.

Domitila Silayo, 21, was one of the 2013 Anzisha Prize winners. She spoke to HowWeMadeItInAfrica about how she founded Jatropha Soap Production in Tanzania.

Jatropha plant oil is credited with medicinal powers and Silayo got the idea to make handmade soaps with it when she attended an agricultural festival with her brother in 2012. There she learned that jatropha has healing properties for skin problems such as ringworm and dandruff.

“We have jatropha plants in our country but people are not using it,” Silayo said. “So I thought that was an opportunity.”

After doing research and getting money from family members to buy jatropha oil
and equipment, Silayo and her brother started making jatropha soap in a rented room.

Today she makes about 1,000 bars of soap a month and has a full-time employee. In 2013 she won third place in the Anzisha Prize.

Silayo said she believes her entrepreneurial success comes from trying to solve a problem in her community, and suggests others do the same.

“My society has a lot of people who are suffering from different skin diseases and the jatropha soap is one of the soaps that help in curing (them),” she said.

She said she learned that business success means hard work, humility, determination and focus. “I have learned that you also don’t need to do everything yourself. Entrepreneurs should learn to delegate to other people. You need to have people who can help and advise you. You don’t have to leave all the baggage to yourself.”

She advises young entrepreneurs to be brave enough to try new ideas and think differently.

“You should know that entrepreneurs who are successful right now also faced many problems when they first started out,” she said. “Entrepreneurship is a process. It’s a process that someone faces and has to go through – from a small stage to a higher stage – without losing hope. Always try to pull up your socks and open yourself up to new ideas. And have the courage to know that you can do it, because all entrepreneurs face the same problems. You are not alone.”