We look forward to sharing the day with you and the women of the Frida Hartley Shelter!
A visit to the Frida Hartley Shelter
Category: Mentor Event
The Black Industrialist
The buzz word coming from South Africa’s development finance institutions seems to be, the black industrialists. With the growing movement of African consumers wanting to buy black, as well as platforms such as Brownsense who are pooling a network of black entrepreneurs, the timing of Mbewu Movement’s “Black Industrialist” Masterclass could not have been more pertinent. Furthermore, we successfully curated a conversation where a development financier and two young black industrialists shared insights on what it takes to cut it as a black industrialist. Our guest speakers included: Lerato Mangope (Head of Corporate Funding at the Industrial Development Corporation), Thabiso Molekwa (Black Industrialist and Founder of Embombi Lager) and Palesa Lephallo (Black Industrialist and Founder of AfricanLily Haircare).
According to the Department of Trade & Industry, “the concept of black industrialists refers to black people directly involved in the origination, creation, significant ownership, management and operation of industrial enterprises that derive value from the manufacturing of goods and services at a large scale; acting to unlock the productive potential of our country’s capital assets for massive employment locally.” In support of this, billions of financial resources have been allocated to supporting black entrepreneurs across targeted sectors (see below infographic).
Source: Business Day
Whilst many might see these large sums of money and already start dreaming of rands and nairas, a key insight from the Lerato’s talk was the importance of being able to demonstrate that one is capable of owning and managing an enterprise when applying for funding. Having one’s own skin in the game is an indicator of this.
On the topic of being able to manage one’s business operations and finances, Thabiso shared his personal journey of entrepreneurship. This included insights he remembered from being a young boy selling snacks at school for pocket money, from owning pubs around Johannesburg to losing them all due to mismanagement, then recovering from debt and failure to eventually chasing his dream of founding his own brewery. The pride that Thabiso has in his product today, is a reflection of the authenticity, ambition and resilience that makes the Embombi a craft beer that has a uniquely South African story to tell.
Palesa’s insights as an emerging black industrialist had more to do with understanding customer needs at a granular level and developing a solution that addresses these needs. Although reports show that black hair care is big business Palesa explained that black hair is not homogenous and consumers trust products that are known to deliver results. This is why she invests time with her clients to intimately understand their hair care needs and educate them on the benefits of her products.
What was encouraging about this particular Masterclass was the diversity of the audience, not just from a gender and age perspective, but from an industry perspective as well. So regardless of whether you are interested in filmmaking or pharmaceuticals, beer or beauty the era of the black industrialists has arrived and is likely to last into the long-term.
Mbewu Event: Midflight – Funding 101
Mbewu Movement presents “Mid-Flight- Funding101” following from our previously highly successful master class “Taking the leap”. This master class is designed for entrepreneurs or those thinking of venturing into entrepreneurship looking to learn more about what it means to be funded and incubated.
The day will cover the following topics:
- Business incubation
- Disruptive entrepreneurship on the African continent
- Funding from a private equity perspective
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- Business valuation- understanding simple valuation methods
- Entrepreneurial trends on the African continent
- Securing online funding
- The basics of business incubations and how to qualifyLearning objectives:
Date: 13 May 2017
Time: 09:00 – 13:00
Venue: Impact Hub, 9 Walters Street, Rosebank
Delegates can expect to benefit from expert insights as well as practical application through examples, case studies and a hypothetical funding pitch to our experts. Please note that pitches will not be funded at this event and the “Meet the funders” portion of the day is to provide delegates with a real life scenario where they can test the skills learned throughout the day.
Meet the faces behind Think: A black female owned advertising and marketing agency and winners of Mbewu Dragon’s Den
This past Saturday, 4 March, creative minds and budding entrepreneurs gathered for the first Mbewu Masterclass of 2017 discussing and engaging on all issues related to Taking the Leap into entrepreneurship. Incredible insights were shared by our speakers: Nothando Moleketi (Founder and COO of Reware, a pre-loved mobile phone retailer); Abed Tau (Founder of multiple companies including Tuta-me an app based tutoring service); Munene Khosa (Founder and CEO of Mint Language Consulting, a full-service language enhancement and corporate communications firm).
In addition to the invaluable learnings shared by our speakers, we hosted a Dragon’s Den of our own where audience members had the opportunity to pitch their brilliant business ideas to our expert panel consisting of the speakers and Ekerete Umoetok, a seasoned private equity professional. The winner(s) stand a chance to be profiled on all Mbewu platforms, and *drum-roll*…our winners are Nkabiseng Motau and Mukondi Ralushayi, founders and creative directors of Think advertising agency. We interviewed them to find out who they are, what are their challenges and most importantly where we can find them and do business!
Q: Who are Think?
A: Our company is called Think Creative Hub and we are a creative solutions company. What that means is that we don’t tie ourselves down to a specific medium, we do above the line advertising, branding, design, animation, storytelling.
Q: What inspired you to start Think?
A: We were feeling frustrated with the old school model that permeates the industry where the execution dictates the solution that the client gets and it becomes a “force fitted” situation where you can’t explore other ideas to solve the creative problem in that business. So we were getting frustrated and asking ourselves “why does this have to be the way things go?” and we thought we would test it out by starting our own business.
Q: How would you define ultimate success in your business?
A: One place that would indicate to us that we are succeeding is if we have one place that black creatives can find a home. I worry that there aren’t many places that aren’t white male dominated environments. So an indicator of success would be offering the black female creative somewhere to go to live out your creative dreams. That’s one way, the other way is money! (LOL) We’re also really passionate about making social change, so once we start to see that happening with our work, we’ll really feel like that’s success for us.
Q: What are your current challenges?
A: The biggest one is capacity, we work a lot with freelancers and we obviously do a lot of the work ourselves but we literally need more hands because the work is there and people trust our product but they get scared we’re literally two people sitting in a room without very many systems or bodies. So we end up having to sell just the idea without the execution, so that’s a very big challenge.
Q: Where can people find you? How are you reachable?
A: They can come in for coffee at 52 Bompas Road in Dunkeld (in between Rosebank and Hyde Park), they find us online at www.ThinkIsHere.com.
Thank you so much to everyone who attended and to those who were brave enough to enter the den. Watch this space for details on our next event!
Yours in friendship and in wine
Nswana
Mbewu Movement Co-Founder
Mbewu Movement SELF WEALTH Masterclass
TO PURCHASE TICKETS CLICK HERE
Dear Mbewu Community
We invite you to our first Mbewu Movement Masterclass titled ‘SELF WEALTH’
In this Masterclass you will receive lessons on personal financial planning, including investment products, savings habits, debt management and property investment:Bekithemba Mafulela (Business Development Manager – Allan Gray) will be providing insights and learnings on the day, covering questions such as:
1. What are the various asset classes and investment products to be considered for short term, medium term and long term needs?
2. What are the optimum levels of debt and how to manage debt effectively?
3. How do issues such as ‘Black Tax’ impact young professional savings and investment opportunities?
Kgaogelo Mamabolo (Property Asset Manager – Stanlib) will be providing insights and learnings on the day, covering questions such as:
1. Is Property and worthwhile investment for young professionals
2. What are the fundamentals one should consider before investing in property
3. How does one build a property portfolio on the securities exchange?
Breakfast will be served. Please note limited seating.
We look forward to seeing you there!!
Mbewu Movement.
For more information email us on mbewu.events@gmail.com or visit our website www.mbewumovement.com
TO PURCHASE TICKETS CLICK HERE
Taking your Career to the next level.
Mbewu Movement closed 2015 off with a tremendously successful year of Mentor events. This past Thursday, in partnership with the African Leadership University (ALU), Mbewu hosted both a Mentor event and a panel discussion. The discussion for the evening was about the all-important topic of “Taking your career to the next level”.
The audience comprised of young professionals from a wide range of career and academic backgrounds, all eager to learn from our diverse speakers but equally ready to question and share their personal experiences.
Our keynote address for the night was delivered by Fred Swaniker, Founder and CEO of ALU. Fred began the evening with some qualities that we as young professionals need in order to realise our career aspirations. These skills included and are not exclusive to: innovation, passion, sound decision making, and vision. The audience suggested that all of which could be cultivated through formal education, learning from mentors and coaches, forming networks, and being provided with the ability to constantly measure ones progress.
To realise our dreams, to take our career to the next level, it is important that we mature the skills we need to establish ourselves as leaders in any kind of organisation. Fred shared some of what he had learnt from his experience while pursuing his MBA at Stanford Business School.
It is important to build and maintain networks; Fred’s experience at Stanford proved this to him when he started the African Leadership Academy (ALA) and again later ALU. The networks we establish through past professional experience, university, and social organisations such as Mbewu Movement contribute towards your aspirations. The networks expose us to potential future investors, mentors and partners.
The networks however, are only a foot on the threshold; to realise the aspirations one needs a broad view of the business world and to understand various parts of the business works; Fred advised. Having a broad knowledge, knowing something about everything is a wise trait of leadership.
Maya Angelou said: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”, how we treat others, how we evoke emotions in others matters in the work place. Skills that we seldom put much effort into, and are often regarded as “soft skills”, are what Fred called “Touchy Feely”, and regard it to be very important. How we interact with the people we work with is equally as important as how we understand the business works. The people you work with, the people who will ultimately work for you respond to the way you treat them and how you make them feel. As young professional we need to cultivate a strong sense of self-awareness, buy doing so we become aware of how people around us react to our actions and mannerisms. Positive interaction with people yields positive response.
Fred closed off his address by announcing some exciting news – the African Leadership University is launching an MBA programme that will have an “Africa” focus. The ALU MBA combines curricula from world-leading institutions to create a uniquely innovative Africa-focused programme. The programme will be launched in the next few weeks, the details will be on the ALU website and their Facebook page.
Our master of ceremonies, Ayanda Bam – a seasoned management consultant, facilitated the panel discussion for the evening. The panel was made up of powerful young executives i.e. Nhlanhla Dlamini, Ntokozo Mbuli and Naseera Ebrahim. The discussion started with the panelist sharing some of the challenges that they have faced in their journey to the top; which resonated with the young professionals in the room.
Key take-outs from each of the panelists:
Ntokozo spoke about finding the access gap for media in the corporate world, being able to articulate and impress the importance of media to the corporate world. These are skills that the job does not teach, only experience can teach. Her advice was to believe in what ever craft you do.
Naseera stressed the importance of surrounding yourself with like-minded people, making full use of your immediate and extended network – it takes an army to build a successful career. She added that while climbing the professional ranks executive presence is important from the very beginning, keeping score of yourself and how you interact with fellow and senior colleagues will help you maintain the standard of executive presence and confidence you desire. Lastly, Naseera pointed out a bad habit that women, herself included, have and that is to ruminate. This erodes our confidence and causes us to second guess our ability. Be aware of this, ask for feedback and improve your interaction.
After a humorous comment around ‘black tax’, Nhlanhla closed off the discussion with some strong advice: “You will never have the full skills set, play to your strengths”, back your deficiencies with diligence and hard work.
The evening was filled with rich gems of advice and shared experiences, many of which those who attended will not forget soon. Our keynote speaker as well as our panelist’s shared similar words of advice.
I could sum up the evening by quoting John Donne: “No man is an island entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main”. Indeed Fred and our panel stressed the importance of networks, human interaction and a support system that will back up your deficits.
If we as young professionals could take anything away from the last Mbewu event of 2015, it is that no encounter with any human, is a useless encounter…every interaction counts for something whether towards that person’s life or your life, it is up to you to make it a positive interaction. Lastly, the evening demonstrated that there is no formula to success, just common ingredients.
Thabisa Faye
On behalf of Mbewu Movement
Thabisa has recently completed her MA in International Development Management.
ALU & Mbewu Movement Present: Taking Your Career To The Next Level
You are invited to our next Mentor Event in partnership with ALU (www.alueducation.com) – “Taking your career to the next level’.
Keynote Speaker – Fred Swaniker, CEO of ALU
Panel Discussion –
Nhlanhla Dlamini, MD of Maneli Group
Naseera Ebrahim, Legal Exec at Massbuild
Ntokozo Mbuli, Director at Clive Morris Productions
Click on the following link to find out more and to purchase tickets:
Women and Wealth
In honour of Women’s Month, we as Mbewu Movement hosted our first women’s day event this past Saturday (22 August). Our discussions covered two very distinct yet equally important views about “wealth”- Wealth of Self and Financial Wealth
Wealth of Self
Happy Ralinala, Head of Business Banking Absa (Barclays), took us on a journey of spiritual wealth. What resonated most with me is the notion that women are apologetic about things that make us whole and happy. It is in our nature as women to compromise at the expense of our own fulfillment but that in itself is not only a disservice to ourselves but to those around us. How many times have you conceded to do the grunt work in your workplace or agreed to eat dinner at a place you don’t really like purely to keep the peace? These may be trivial examples but it speaks to the daily sacrifices we often make as women, depleting our own personal wealth. We owe it to ourselves to enjoy the things that bring joy to our lives. So live a little, eat that cupcake, take that holiday, and go on that yoga retreat. However we should be mindful of how much emphasis we place on material possessions. Happy asks, if we lose it all today, what will be left that will truly define you? Fulfill yourself spiritually by contributing in your community for a lack of humanity is a lack of integrity. Be brave enough to accept who you are, see your flaws as opportunities and use your strengths to speak your truth.
Building your Financial Wealth
Thandi Ngwane, Head of Emerging Markets at Allan Gray, provided us with invaluable advice when approaching our financial wealth. She says the relationship between women and money is somewhat dysfunctional. On the one hand, we are very practical and resourceful and have that unique ability to stretch the Rand however we tend to be short term oriented, impatient and inconsistent. We don’t take long term views when it comes to savings and investments. There is a plethora of investment and savings products in the market and it’s often daunting to a first time investor, Thandi advises us to consider the following when starting our investment portfolio:
- Time– take a long term view, the magic of compounding interest can only work in your favour
- Risk-understand the difference between investing and saving. The former is more likely to carry risk
- Have your own plan– herd mentality may not be in line with your investment objectives
- Product choice– make sure the products you choose to invest in align with time horizon as well as your risk and return objectives
When looking for an investment partner, ensure you can answer these three questions:
- Does this asset manager have a long term track record?
- Is there consistency in the investment team complement?
- Are my expectations realistic?
In conclusion, Thandi’s message was to invest invest invest! By age 23, all things being equal, we should start saving for retirement. Cut out the plastic and pay yourself first. Thandi left us with this very apt quote from Sophie Tucker: “From birth to age 18, a girl needs good parents, from 18 to 35 she needs good looks, from 35 to 55 she needs a good personality, and from 55 on she needs cash.”
Thank you to all the ladies and gentlemen in attendance. Be sure to join us next year for another amazing event!
Best
Nswana
On behalf of MM
Nswana (co-founding member) holds an MSc in Investment management and currently works in debt capital markets
Mbewu Movement Annual Womens Day Event – Women and Wealth
Mbewu Movement invites you to our 1st Annual Women’s Day Event with guest speakers Happy Ralinala and Thandi Ngwane
The theme of our Women’s Day function is WOMEN and WEALTH – defining the holistic meaning of wealth, addressing the importance of financial independence for women and to receive practical lessons on how to make the right investment decisions.
To purchase tickets click here
Happy Ralinala
Happy Ralinala is the Head of Absa Business Banking South Africa. She has a career that spans over 15 years in Financial Services. Her experience and knowledge span a broad range of financial services, covering the end-to-end value chain of a business. Happy holds a Masters in Business Administration, a Diploma in Financial Management and has completed a Women Development Programme with the University of the Free State.
Thandi Ngwane
Thandi is the Head of Emerging Markets at Allan Gray who has been at Allan Gray since 2009 fulfilling the Head of Private Clients and Strategic Markets roles. She is a lawyer by profession and has completed an executive education programme at Harvard Business School and a leadership programme at the Fuqua School of Business (Duke University)
Event Details:
Date: Saturday, 22nd August 2015
Time: 10am
Tickets: R100 on quicket.co.za
Venue: Level 1, Oxford Corner, 32a Jellicoe Avenue, Rosebank
Purchase tickets by Tuesday 19th August
To purchase tickets click here
We look forward to sharing this momentous occasion with you!
Mbewu Movement
“The next African Leader starts with You-th”…Fred Swaniker
He is acknowledged as being one of the ’10 young power men in Africa’ by Forbes Magazine, recognised by President Barack Obama as one of the ‘Young Global Leaders’ and he is also one of the individuals who is shaping where the next African generation is going; he is Fred Swaniker.
Today marks a symbolic, historic event in South Africa, which is now referred to as Youth Day , the lessons learnt from the Fred Swaniker mentor session are extremely fitting as an ode to the youth on and off the African continent.
Unlike most of our previous mentor speakers, as our first male speaker, Fred took a unique approach to the session. He said a few, succinct introductory words and opened the discussion to the floor. The audience was diverse in both gender and country origin, our attendees were from Cameroon, Congo, Nigeria and South Africa amongst others. The pool of questions bounced onto Fred definitely illustrated the myriad of concerns and potential solutions we as the African youth have about our continent.
Fred made quite a number of powerful statements that were so hard-hitting you could feel a resounding unison vibration in the room. Two of the many powerful statements Fred threw our way were:
- Did you know if you, as the youth, joined forces, you would form the biggest political party ever to exist
- Power is not supplied, power is demanded
We all sort of sat there and thought, ‘wow, ok…all this education and we fail to find one common purpose as the youth, join forces and stand for something”. Fred’s success stems out of one, clearly defined goal, which is to “Develop the next generation of African Leaders”. Fred very boldly and proudly said “My team and I are grooming the next African presidents, CEO’s, CFO’s etc…in fact, the graduates from the African Leadership Academy (ALA) have gone on to become CEOs and MD’s of their own companies…I’m still waiting on the Presidential Candidate student…soon though”
Fred is one of those individuals who after all the expensive American education decided that his sole purpose in life is to contribute to the positive African story. Where many see gloom and doom especially when it comes to the education system in most African countries, Fred has decided to put solutions in place. Fred and his team are currently working on developing the “Best African University” (called: ALU), which will have roughly 24 campuses around the African continent. To ensure world-class quality of the courses given, Fred has partnered with a few American Ivy League universities, such as the Harvard Business School.
The Echoing Green named Fred Swaniker as one of the ‘top 15 social entrepreneurs in the world’, and true to form, Fred shared the 3 questions he asks himself before he takes on a new project:
- Is it big enough?
- Am I uniquely positioned to make this happen?
- Am I really passionate about it?
In an answer to another question posed to him, Fred responded by saying: “I was never driven by money, I was driven by passion and impact…and the money follows when you get those two things right”.
A sexy MBA degree from Stanford or any other prime University in the world is meaningless if you never figure out what impact you want felt with your life after obtaining it. Whilst “it is not everyone who wants to help make the world/Africa a better place” (F. Swaniker); those who do, should define it for themselves and get to it.
Our time is now as young Africans!
Inspired,
MM
Mbewu Movement 