Souadou Niang started as a cleaner in a renowned hotel in the USA. Through hard work she rose through the ranks to become one of the top managers of the company. Years later, she returned to Senegal and opened her own luxury hotel, with 80% of the staff being women that she trained herself.
Souadou Niang is the director of Palms Luxury Hotel in Dakar. Souadou is a Senegalese national born in Dakar.
When Souadou was eighteen years old, she relocated to New York where she worked to pay for her studies. She later moved to Washington DC. In Washington DC she looked for a job at the Ritz Calton hotel for her to continue paying for her studies. She worked at the hotel as a cleaning lady.
‘My vision was to be part of the management’ said Souadou. The hotel was a melting pot of different races and nationalities. There were Mexicans, Ghanaian and Senegalese. ‘I started cleaning toilets,’ she said.
Souadou worked t the Ritz Calton Hotel for 10 years, and after getting her Bachelors degree she returned to work for the hotel in a management. This is where Souadou developed a passion for the hotel business.
She made a plan to return to Senegal and develop a hotel venture that would display the luxury and quality service that she witnessed at the Ritz Calton Hotel.
Her dream came to pass when she opened the Palm Luxury Hotel in Dakar in 2017 with a staff complement of 60 members. 80% of the employees were women. She decided to set up a company structure that is led by women.
‘As a woman, I knew what I was capable of and I saw it in African women,’ said Souadou. She believes women are born managers because of their capacity to manager a lot of things. According to her women need little training in the form of short training courses.
The beginnings were difficult for Palm Luxury Hotel and people did not believe in her and did not expect her to last long in the hotel business because she was a woman. Many in Senegal did not believe that the hotel industry is not a place for African women.
Success for Souadou and Palm Luxury Hotel was not guaranteed. Most banks with the exception of one were not willing to assist her.
‘Today as a Senegalese and African woman, my dream is to conquer Africa and why not the world. I started cleaning toilets. Today I am a manager of my own 5 star boutique hotel with 60 employees’ she said. Her life story is inspiration for many African girls who will rise up to the occasion and become corporate leaders of African businesses the operate on a global level.