Rhoda Afrika's blooming flower business

Rhoda Afrika, who began her flower business in an outside stall, will supply thousands of flowers to around 40 Shoprite and Checkers stores in the Free State this coming Valentine's Day.

Afrika, a third generation flower business owner originally from Cape Town, moved to Bloemfontein years ago with the hope of finding new opportunities to grow her business.

After successfully setting up and running a few outdoor flower stalls, the Shoprite Group approached her in 2011 to supply flowers directly into its stores. Rhoda now supplies to over 15 Shoprite and Checkers stores regularly and up to 40 stores on special days such as Valentine’s Day.

“Flowers are my passion – they have been in my blood from a young age. There is so much love in flowers because they help us to mark so many different occasions in life. It gives me great joy to know that I can spread this love to so many people this Valentine’s Day and on all the special days we celebrate,” she says.

The Shoprite Group is working with women like her, who have the potential to become suppliers to its stores, partnering with them to mentor and grow their businesses so that they can go on to create even more opportunities for jobs and skills development. This forms part of the group’s ongoing commitment to empowering women who are making a difference in the business world and in the communities where its stores are located.

Since partnering with the Group, the growth in ‘Afrika Flowers’ has enabled her to create jobs, provide a good education for her children and even pay for specialist medical treatment for her mother.

“I can’t believe that today I can truly say I control my own business. It does not seem true but it is. With the support of Shoprite and Checkers, I am working to build something that I will be proud to hand over to my daughter one day,” she concludes.