What’s your name and designation?

My name is Ngwakwana Moloto. I’m a Risk Officer: Technology and digitization services, underpinned by risk and assurance in both the corporate, public and medium enterprises sectors.

Tell us about your journey. How did you get started with your business and what inspired you to do so?

The journey began when I felt my corporate career did not quite resonate with my achievement plan for the next 10 years, and I felt slightly restricted in achieving my own personal career goals. I understood that I had overcome some milestones but, I wanted to position my value beyond the local environment. Tsa Afrika was born out of that process and aims to achieve organisational success for leaders, people and communities.

The inspiration was to lead a service platform that digitally connects engineers, business architects and “solution thinkers” across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, collaborating with African industrialists for 4IR solutions in transport, ICT and project risk. I believe we are in the hyper-digitization century and my partners had a vision to uplift pan-African and regional entities to deliver faster and competently with appropriate risk management to ensure the successful delivery of infrastructure, science and technology programmes for the wealth of Africa including its people.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when starting your business and how did you overcome them?

Transitioning from corporate executive to holistic entrepreneur tackling South Africa and the rest of the continent with our skillset in risk, tech and programme management. The solution for us was to start small and enable recommendations from our customers’ lived experiences. It was also for us to form alliances where we didn’t have the size of capital to respond to a particular opportunity.

What unique aspects of doing business in South Africa would you highlight (good or bad)?

The general business environment is extremely dynamic and unpredictable, especially if introducing a new concept. The onboarding of professional services expertise is perceived only to be for giant corporates and not for your everyday business person…this often creates a climate of limited risk knowledge to protect business assets into the future. We aim to offer robust and simple solutions to be a risk analyst on-call for all forms of businesses who have an interest in expanding, integrating and leading in their chosen markets. It’s also important to be multilingual when engaging in the industry, this created better events to connect and close the deal!

How do you differentiate your business from competitors?

We are authentically local but have positioned our name, logo and pan-African mission to enrich corporates/SMME’s and Co-Operatives with our regional expertise. Our website and business approach highlight our African identity to effectively service our target market, where we can connect with African industrialists.

What strategies have you found to be most effective in growing your customer base?

Excellent work breeds constructive word-of-mouth which has assisted in raising the profile of the business and further opportunities for a sales event. Being accredited in the Institute of Directors, whilst leading some leadership seminars and the Insititute of Risk Management South Africa. Leveraging the contact points and network to leverage our mission and vision of the business, has been lucrative.

What’s one mistake you made early on that you wish you could go back and fix?

Starting a delayed timeline as a startup and not investing enough in IT infrastructure.

What’s the most rewarding part of being a business owner?

Activating ideas for a positive business change, being mindful of the people we impact and the environment in which we live.

How do you approach innovation and staying relevant in your industry?

Innovation for us is about offering localized risk value to clients in their ecosystem or at a click of a digital tool. Innovation for us is about transforming ideas/opportunities into tangible revenue. Always starting with the root or seed of the strategy, and materially making an impact in the marketplace. Our benchmark in the industry is about seeking professional accreditations in the work we do as we engineer solutions for the client. We participate in industry-led engagements to demonstrate our core capabilities, knowledge and skillset.

How has your business adapted to the digital age, and what advice would you give to others looking to do the same?

We run a digitally-led office as part of our customer value proposition, for one-click conversations, where specialist risk management services are digitally optimized.

What advice do you have for someone just starting a business in South Africa?

Be resilient, stay focused, adapt to change and don’t compromise on your brand promise!

For more information, visit Tsa Afrika Resources & Projects’ listing.

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