Our people and partners make all the difference in the world.
Amelie N’Zi
Amelie N'Zi
Managing Partner
A Champion for Change
Being gifted with a certain talent allows Amelie to see the big picture in different contexts where she often finds herself able to act constructively and bring about change, while identifying the adjustments needed for consistent and sustainable progress.
In 2009, from her humble home in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Amelie N’Zi created a space and set up a modestly equipped workshop to create and develop a globally-oriented craft business. By combining design and craftsmanship, Amelie honored and promoted the tradition and history of craftsmanship, the context, local materials, and people, while recontextualizing and revaluing craftsmanship through avant-garde and sophisticated design. The AMANIA brand (named after Amelie’s first name, “Amanie”) was launched in 2010 and has since produced high-end clothing and handcrafted products, mainly sold at trade shows and exhibitions.
In 2020, Amelie co-founded Dingui Akassi International, an international social impact organization based in Côte d’Ivoire focused on the social and economic empowerment of women and girls through capacity building, and the production and export of premium handicraft and agri-food products.
In 2023, after a small-scale experience, the organization moved into a new, fully equipped workshop and began producing on a larger scale in preparation for global export. Before a career reconversion to design and craftmanship in 2002, Amelie first worked for 20 years in the oil industry, notably in Purchasing, Logistics, and General Resources, after studying Business Administration, then Management and Marketing.
On a social and community level, Amelie is involved in several women’s service clubs, including BPW International – Business and Professional, where she was president of the Bassam Impérial Club in Abidjan from 2011 to 2023, and SOROPTIMIST International, where she was president of the Abidjan Ivoire Club from 2016 to 2018. Amelie has been a member of the Belgian Chamber of Commerce since 2012, and since 2025, when it became the Belgian and Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce – BELUCI – in Côte d’Ivoire.
She has been the Côte d’Ivoire representative of AFRICA EXPERT since 2022, an intermediary agency based in Saarbrücken, Germany. She is the Côte d’Ivoire representative of SES – Senior Expert Service, from 2022 to 2025, a public organization that sends volunteer experts based in Bonn, Germany. She has been a member of the BPW International Twinning Taskforce since 2025, an international working group dedicated to twinning BPW-affiliated federations and clubs around the world.