South Africa’s film and finance warrior women come together in conversation

In an effort to keep the conversation around the female economy still going, Nedbank this past weekend invited its female stakeholders to a private viewing of the critically acclaimed film The Woman King, at the Hyde Park Nu Metro cinemas, allowing their guests to truly immerse themselves in the revelry that is the African sisterhood by recreating the atmosphere of the Dahomey Village – the kingdom from where the most powerful female warriors in the world hail.

Present at the screening was SA’s revered actress Thuso Mbedu who plays the character of Nawi opposite the powerhouse Viola Davis. Mbedu shared much insight into her role as Nawi as well as the build up to it with Nedbank’s Executive Head of Marketing, Retail and Commercial Banking, Buli Ndlovu, and Lizzy Mogale, Managing Executive for Insights and Advisor.

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What does a bank have to do with a movie?

Earlier this year, the bank initiated its #celebr8herstory campaign, where it championed the authentic stories of African women, creating a conversation around the female economy.

That conversation is still going. The storyline of the movie was one very near and dear to the bank’s heart of the campaign, as it told the story of Nanisca and Nawi, two Agojie warriors who fight against the odds to take their stand as powerful women in their society.

Now while both Nanisca and Nawi are fictional characters, the story of the Agojie – an all-female army of the most feared warriors in Africa – is real and one very authentic to the African landscape.

“The Woman King is deliberate and intentional about elevating women’s stories and highlighting the role female warriors played. As Nedbank, we’re deliberate and intentional about empowering women in their finances,” Mogale explained, “as such, we have chosen this movie as a platform to continue the conversation around the female economy going.”

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Girl-talk about careers, finances, faith and life

Mbedu delivered a stunning performance in her role as Nawi – and probably one of the best in her career as an actress – affording her the admiration of all attendees who were curious to know what it took for a girl from the sleepy town of Pietermaritzburg to make it all the way to the silver screen in Hollywood – and especially so in such a physically demanding role.

“Something like this requires a lot of work,” Mbedu told the audience, “And I really, really put in the work.”

Mbedu told of the long road from KZN to Hollywood and finally to the role of Nawi, where she had to put in hours at gym with trainers, pushing her body to its limits.

“I would stay an hour after the trainers were done to keep going, to make sure I was ready. They would tell me: Thuso, you need to go home and rest. I just wanted to give it all I had in me to achieve my goals,” she said.

She advised women to do the same with their goals, hopes and dreams. “God obviously created you to do something significant. For me, it was acting. I know this is what He called me to do. For you, its probably something else – all I can say is: go into it like God sent you in there to do it and believe me, you will succeed,” she said.

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The Agojie warriors

Mbedu explained that it saddened her that while she was a child from Africa, she has not heard the Agojie’s story before and had to hear it first from a Hollywood producer.

“It made me sad that it’s a forgotten story about women who fought as well as endured – women who were critical in decisions about who they are in their lifetime, and we knew nothing about it, because we were sold a particular narrative as Africans. And so I wanted to tell this story,” Mbedu said.  

The Agojie were an all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey that existed from the 1600s until the early 1900s. They are one of the few documented female armies in modern history.

The emergence of an all-female military regiment was the result of Dahomey’s male population facing high casualties in the increasingly frequent violence and warfare with neighbouring West African states.

The women soldiers were rigorously trained in pain endurance and speed. It was also noted that the women soldiers were consistently judged to be superior to the male soldiers in effectiveness and bravery in battle.

All female suppliers on board

In line with the theme of female empowerment and promoting the female economy – a concept first introduced in 1997 exploring the industries throughout history that were dominated by female entrepreneurs –  the event saw all female suppliers’ banding together to make it all a success.

“We know for sure that the future is female,” Ndlovu had said, “And we intend to get it there”.