The Founder 2026
Meet Nana Ama...
I grew up with Shea Butter the way most Ghanaian children do — it was simply there. In the kitchen, on our skin, passed between hands without much ceremony. It was not until I was living abroad, working in manufacturing and technology, that I saw it through different eyes. The natural hair movement was sweeping across the United States, and suddenly, an ingredient I had taken for granted my whole life was being celebrated worldwide. That moment stopped me. And one question rose to the surface that I could not shake: if the world already knows how powerful Africa’s ingredients are, why aren’t we the ones leading with them?
That question changed everything.
I came home to Ghana in 2014 carrying nearly a decade of experience in industrial systems, operational efficiency, and manufacturing strategy — and a deeply personal vision for what to do with it. What I found was an opportunity hiding in plain sight. Indigenous ingredients like Shea Butter and African Black Soap had been trusted for generations, yet the innovation they deserved had never quite arrived. And beneath it all, I could see something stirring — a manufacturing sector with real capacity to grow, and women with the talent and drive to lead it. I knew this was my moment to build something that could truly matter — not just as a business, but as a movement.
That is how NAYA Naturals was born.
As Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NAYA Naturals Limited, I lead the company behind the NAYA by Africa brand with the same discipline and passion that has defined my career from the start. I am a STEAM advocate who believes that science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics are the tools that will shape Africa’s next chapter — and I have spent the better part of two decades putting that belief into practice.
Today, NAYA Naturals has grown into a vertically integrated business spanning manufacturing, branded retail, and distribution — built with the kind of care and rigor that I believe every African-made product deserves. My mission has always been bigger than a brand. It is about job creation, women’s leadership, and showing the world what African innovation truly looks like.
People often ask what prepared me most for this work. Honestly, it was learning to see my education and work experiences through STEAM — through science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Not as subjects, but as ways of solving real problems for real people. I have always believed that STEAM is not something you study and set aside — it is something you live. The science behind every formulation we develop, the technology needed to bring it to life, the engineering in every process we design, the artistry in every product we bring to market, and the mathematics behind every business decision — that is my real education. NAYA Naturals is, in many ways, STEAM made tangible.
