About TEGEMEA
What does TEGEMEA mean, and how did the name come about?
‘TEGEMEA’, pronounced ‘Teh-Geh-May-yah’, is a Swahili word that means to ‘Trust’, ‘Count on’, or to ‘Depend upon’. Swahili is the language of the last African country I travelled to before incorporating this company. I found that travelling in Tanzania provided a little more of a language barrier than I expected, however Friendly Tanzanians everywhere, took it upon themselves to teach me a few Swahili words, no matter how brief our encounter was. Upon leaving Tanzania, I promised myself that I would try to learn the language. Instead, I started a business.
Returning back to England, I wanted a name for the company that represented the layered organization I wanted to create. After translating a few words English words to a number of African Languages, Tegemea sat well with me.
Fun fact: Swahili is an official language of the African Union and is lingua franca throughout East Africa.
What were you doing before you started TEGEMEA?
Before TEGEMEA, I was doing a number of things, all of which were guided steps towards starting this company.
I was fortunate to study Computer Science and Management at a World Class university that provided me the skills to solve business problems, using IT. For 5 years, including the three I spent at university, I worked as a PA and Office Manager for a Motivational Speaker who had a team of speakers who provided workshops for young people and teachers all over the country. Following this, I landed in the public sector, firstly as Business Support/PA to Directors, then quickly progressed as a Business Manager, managing a number of large teams of administrators, personal assistants and project support officers. In this role I also managed back office operations including finance, HR, data management, IT, legal and commissioning.
During this time in the public sector, I fell in love with travelling, connecting with people all over the world, and found a unique joy discovering Africa. With a desire to one day offer my services on the continent, I decided to undertake a Masters in International Management and International Management. In 2018 I wrote a dissertation on Post-colonial Education in Ghana.
Following university, and over the last two years, I transitioned from being a Business Manager into a Project Manager working on, and leading the transformation of various public services.
Why did you start TEGEMEA?
Over the years, I have supported various individuals and business owners with administrative tasks because I was able to and because I loved to help! I came to a point where I realised (thanks to Covid-19 and Lockdown), that individuals and business owners required good administrators, and to have them flexibly, due to increasing need to downsize amidst global economic pressures, and drastic changes in consumer behaviour. Starting TEGEMEA provided me with the unique combination of being able to help solve various operational business problems, whilst providing job opportunities, and exercising my skills as an entrepreneur. In this short time we’ve had clients from the UK, Africa and Canada, with aspirations to have TEGEMEA Business Support Officers across Africa.
What do you want TEGEMEA to be known for?
I want TEGEMEA to be known for providing world class, quality virtual business support for clients around the world, across industries, predominantly on the continent of Africa. Not only this, but I want TEGEMEA to provide training and alternative employment opportunities for individuals. Simple.
What makes TEGEMEA different?
What makes us different is that unlike many other virtual assistant companies we focus on all aspects of administration, from defining operational strategies, to providing business and project management, and carrying out generic admin tasks. We are business support assistants, which means we come with a diverse set of skills to support your business. We can assist with data, with IT, HR, Marketing, and much more.
Now you know a little more about the backstory to TEGEMEA and I, why not get in touch today and see how we can support you and your business.
Hi, I’m Abisola Ifasawo, Founder of TEGEMEA, and Senior Business Support Manager. I hope you’ve found this article useful for learning more about the company, and a bit about me.
If you have any other questions about TEGEMEA, feel free to place them in the comments, and myself, or one of the team will get back to you. If you’d like to hear more from us regularly, sign up to our mailing list.