Nonku Ntshona  is the founder of Nonku Ntshona & Associates Quantity Surveyors (Pty) Ltd (NNAQS) as a medium sized quantity surveying company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Founded by Nonku Ntshona, the company brings to bear her in-depth knowledge of the property development and construction industry, and a broad range of skills gained from more than 10 y e a r s e x p e r i e n c e w o r k i n g o n p r o m i n e n t development projects in South Africa and the broader African region. The company comprises of a team of professionals largely women who have gained recognition in the Quantity Surveying profession and who bring expertise in their field of knowledge to add value to the company's range of competencies. The vision of NNAQS is to become the most sought after and distinguished quantity surveying rm in South Africa, while its mission is to be a catalyst for change and enable a greater role for previously disadvantaged societies, concentrating on increased participation of women in the construction industry.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

 Velile is the CEO of Native Rhythms Productions, a Black-owned company formed in 1998 to offer value-oriented services across the entire entertainment industry’s value chain. The company’s strategic thrust is music publishing, music production, music marketing and promotion, licensing and distribution. Other ancillary services are events planning and production, such as concept concerts. Recently, the company has entered the film industry through the production of niche documentaries focusing on cultural related rituals, as well as popular culture such as hip-hop.The company was founded on the belief that entertainment, through music and other forms of artistic expression, it is possible to communicate with people of all races and cultures and that that competing ideologies could be brought together whilst bridging cultural and racial divides.Native Rhythms manages award winning artists such as The Soil, Cama Gwini, Deepa Trybz, Indwe, Gospel In Me, Isabel Novella, Malambule, N’azania, Nkulee Dube, Pu2ma, Sol Phenduka,Zuluboy, Vuyo Tyolo, Zakwe.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

 Sibu Mpanza, was born in Mpumalanga, raised in Cape Town and currently lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. Sibu is a YouTuber and content creator who focuses on personal topics and societal current affairs. Sibu’s YouTube journey began in 2014 when he added a video of his own onto YouTube and after a mere week, he had just over 100 subscribers. In October 2015, Sibu decided to enter the Samsung Social Star Competition, after a few weeks of trying to get people to vote for him using his YouTube Channel, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, he made the top 3 and got the opportunity to fly to Mauritius with Joann Strauss, Minnie Dlamini and Gareth Pon. Sibu ended up winning the competition and became the Samsung Social Star 2015/2016 as well as gaining Joann, Minne and Gareth as his mentors. 2016 was an exciting year, from winning Runnerup for the Top YouTube Channel in Africa to reaching over 3000 subscribers on his YouTube Channel. Other milestones include being nominated for a Student Village Youth Influencer Award and making it into the Top 3 of the Cell C #BreakTheNet Competition with #GetSibuToLA trending for 3 weeks. 2017 saw Sibu appearing on 8 achievement lists including; Mail & Guardian Top200 South Africans and Kellman20 list of SA millenials to watch. He packed his bags and moved to Johannesburg where he started his own Online Content Creation company - Sibu Mpanza (Pty) Ltd where he has worked with over 20 brands that included Standard Bank, Burger King and Takealot.com. He continued to create content for YouTube and reached 8000 subscribers. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

 Natalia Molebatsi is a writer, singer, and poet (and often experiments with jazz and hip hop). She is an events coordinator, programme director and host of PoetryLives on Unisa Radio. She was born in 1981 in Tembisa Township in apartheid South Africa and now lives under the lights of Johannesburg. Natalia is the author of Sardo Dance published in 2009 by Ge’ko, and her CD Natalia Molebatsi & The Soul Making was born in 2015. Her poetry can also be found in Letter to South Africa: Poets Calling the State to Order, Happiness the Delight-Tree: An Anthology of Contemporary International Poetry, New Coin, and the Anthology of World Poetry (2010) among others. Her academic writing appears in Scrutiny2, Rhodes Journalism Review and Muziki. Beyond South Africa, Natalia has performed poetry and facilitated creative writing workshops at a number of universities and festivals in among others Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, Zimbabwe, England, Italy, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Palestine, United States and Germany. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

 Siya is an entrepreneur who inspires people to live to their full potential and recognize that they are living in the greatest Era. He has authored and self-published the book "Before You Get Married " which received a great response and generated substantial sales. Siya also works as a Senior Contracts Manager (Burkina Faso and Guinea) at Moolmans. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

 Sheila Leocádia Pires was born in Mozambique and moved to South Africa with her family at the age of 12. She is a radio and television producer/presenter. Her commitment to critical thinking is rooted in her identity as a woman and a Catholic, and she does not shy away from raising contemporary and controversial issues related to women, youth and African politics in her programs on Radio Veritas South Africa. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

Apart from being talk show host, MC, Professional Public Speaker, Ashraf Garda is the Co-Founder of the Champion South Africa movement which was birthed with the desire to multiply the number of champions in the country to help turn South Africa into a champion nation. The movement, launched in November 2015, is currently asking: What are you doing to build your country Several local leaders, such as Vusi Thembekayo, Khanyi Dhlomo, and Yvonne Chaka Chaka, were chosen to be part of Champion South Africa, so they too can spread the message and urge more people to become champions.Ashraf believes that South Africa will become a champion nation when the government, business, and civil society synchronize its efforts towards the goal of becoming individual and collective champions.In April 2011, he became the host of the South African Broadcasting Corporation's investigative program "Special Assignment". During the 2010 World Cup Ashraf provided analysis on the games as well as the social impact of the World Cup on CNN, Al Jazeera, CBC Canada, and SABC 2's Morning Live.Born in Johannesburg, South Africa on 4 June 1962. Ashraf lived with his parents in Fietas until they had to relocate to Lenasia due to the Group Areas Act of the South African Apartheid regime. He married Jamela Cassim and together they started a business retailing textiles in the Oriental Plaza, called "Fabric Fantasy". Ashraf's entry into radio began when he hosted sports shows on community radio stations "Radio az-Zaheer" and later "the Voice,95.4fm".--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

 Pops Mohamed (born Ismail Mohamed-Jan) is a South African multi-instrumentalist, jazz musician and producer.Born in Benoni, Gauteng Pops Mohamed's career in music was the logical outcome of an early exposure at Dorkay House to the likes of Abdullah Ibrahim and Kippie Moeketsi. He started his first band The Valiants, at 14. Known by fans as the Minister of Music, he plays a wide variety of instruments: African mouth bow, bird whistle, berimbau, didgeridoo, guitar, keyboard, kora, and the thumb piano. He is also known for his wide range of musical styles which include kwela, pop, and soul. He produced Finding One's Self, the late Moses Taiwa Molelekwa's award-winning album.Pops has also performed regularly with and sits on the board of the Johannesburg Youth Orchestra Company. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

 James Urdang is the Founder and CEO of Education Africa, is a Social Entrepreneur, humanitarian and Public Speaker. He has dedicated more than 29 years helping to bring about real, positive and meaningful change to the lives of disadvantaged Africans.James has been recognized globally and is a recipient of the Klaus Jacobs Awards in Switzerland for Social Engagement and Innovation.James was mentored by the late Walter Sisulu and was honored to have been asked to speak at the funeral of the late Chris Hani. James was the first person in the non-profit sector to lead President Nelson Mandela and had the honor of presenting him the Golden Doves of Peace Award and accompany him at a number of Education Africa events.The biggest challenge for James has always been the sustainability of Education Africa and his dream is to create an endowment fund so that Education Africa can be self-sustainable --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

Nolonwabo ‘Nolly’ Qunta is a 21-year-old, Mthatha-born entrepreneur who is the co-founder of Konnect House (Pty) Ltd, the holdings company of the subsidiary, WeTalk, a leading Pan-African twitter platform where entrepreneurs, leading industry experts share knowledge about business and succeeding as an entrepreneur. WeTalk collaborates with some of South Africa’s successful entrepreneurs such as Derrick Ndzavi, Idris Sultan, Carol Ndosi, Siya Beyile, Zimasa Lupuwana, Tebello Motsoana, Brian Wesley, Jodene Shaer, Adriaan Groenewald, Jason Gordon, Adel Meyer and many more.Bringing Innovation to entrepreneursWeTalk is over a year old and grown enormously. They have been named as the best business twitter platform in their year of empowering entrepreneurs on Twitter through hosting business chats. A connection to entrepreneurs should not be restricted. They built, through #WeTalkBiz a platform that connects like-minded game changers to discuss and empower each other on how to tackle issues in the 21st century.  WeTalk has developed to be an agency that is helping create the social media marketing industry. Social media has changed a lot in the past years and has proved to be a trusted medium of communication and connection for brands.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

David Alexander is the Managing Director of Sheer Publishing (Pty) Ltd, the fastest growing independent music publishing company in South Africa. Sheer Publishing represents South African songs and songwriters for the world amongst their clients are; Mandoza, Kabelo, Chris Chameleon and Jeff Maluleke. Sheer Publishing also represents international Publishers for Southern Africa and Africa – some of their clients are Kobalt Music, Reverb Music, World Circuit, Budde Music Inc Chimurenga Music, Rh Pozitif Publishing and Roba Music Publishing.David serves as the Vice Chairman of NORM (National Organisation for Reproduction Rights in Music, which is the body that represents the music publishers in South Africa. Norm is also a mechanical collection society and has agreements with the recording industry, broadcasters as well as internet and mobile operators.MAN WITH A MISSION!David is on a mission to provide a comprehensive range of copyright services to all clients, domestic, continental and international. Steeped in the richness and creativity of the arts, Sheer Publishing specializes in the representation of songs and songwriters and a quick glimpse at the last 12 months will tell you that business is soaring. From mainstream commercials to movie soundtracks, the caliber of brands knocking on Sheer’s door at the moment is a testament to their sound standing and reputation in the industry.Major clients include top advertising agencies such as Ogilvy, JWT and Clearwater as well as FILM and TV production companies.With a ten-person strong team in South Africa, and staff in Cameroon, Ghana and Kenya respectively, Sheer Publishing might be small but they excel at what they do. Born in 1996, Sheer Publishing has a vast catalog rich with South African, African and International Chart music ideal for syncing purposes. Sheer Publishing offers the ultimate one-stop solution for all your music requirements.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

D'banj is the founder of Koko Foundation for Youth and Peace Development. He is also Nigeria's first United Nations Youth Ambassador for Peace. Dbanj is a ONE campaign ambassador; he released the song "Cocoa Na Chocolate" in support of agriculture investments. 'Cocoa Na Chocolate' featured 18 other African artists and won Best African Collaboration at the All Africa Music Awards in 2014.In 2015, he was applauded by World Bank Chief, Jim Yong Kim for using his music power and high celebrity status to bringing attention to serious and critical issues in Africa with a special focus on agriculture and poverty alleviation. Jim Yong Kim was quoted saying that "I had the pleasure of meeting D’banj last month and seeing him perform. I’m thrilled he is the first artists to take part in our new Music4Dev series encouraging the global artist to raise awareness about poverty and related issues."In 2015 D'banj released the video to "Extraordinary" to raise awareness on gender equality and women's empowerment. World bank endorsed song as a song for women awareness.ProjectsD'Banj is vastly immersed in information technology, particularly in the areas of value-added services and Content digital distribution. He owns MCOMM Ltd (Median Mobile Communications Limited, A Value Added Service Content Provider) and D' Kings Men Media Limited (a 360 Media Company), which are responsible for his major digital moves in recent times.C.R.E.A.MIn August 2016, D'banj's D'Kings Men Media partnered with MTN Nigeria and the Bank of Industry to launch THE CREAM PLATFORM, a creative talent platform that was set up to help discover young creative minds across Nigeria by just dialing a USSD code on a mobile phone. It is reported that the platform, as at December 2016, had over 2 million paying subscribers and has discovered hundreds of talents from the music category alone, with tens of music videos and millions of Naira given out to winners.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

Lebo Lion is the host of Lessons with Lion, a Marketing & Entrepreneurship Podcast for entrepreneurs who want to tweak their mindsets and take their businesses to the next level.Lessons with Lion is a podcast that challenges entrepreneurs to think differently and understand that the power to succeed lies in their own hands. They are in control of their success. Lessons with Lion is about learning, it’s about community, ideas, and creativity, just like its host Lebo Lion.Lebo Lion is a marketer, strategist, and content creator who has worked on campaigns with a myriad of popular African brands assisted more than 100 entrepreneurs & small business owners to transform their businesses, & a digital doula who simplifies digital marketing for her listeners & clients.At the age of 24, Lebo Lion co-founded a tech startup called Mzansipad that aimed to give children in rural and township environments, access to uniquely created learning applications (designed by Mzansipad) that specifically focused on the fields of mathematics, science, and languages. Now Lebo is the Co-Founder of a marketing and public relations agency that’s centered around the synergy between brands and people, aptly named PEOPLE. Lebo describes herself as an ideas person which makes her addicted to finding new opportunities and starting exciting businesses.This young woman, with tweets that are quoted to “Shake tables”, has only just started to touch the world with her fearless and unique perspective of the world. And although this is just a piece of Lebo Lions story, she attributes her experience & comfort with failure as her motivation to succeed on her own terms, on her own timeline.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

Apart from being a publicist, Magazine contributor, and Blogger, Mbali is the architect of one of the most active groups on Facebook with an ecosystem of over 100k individuals engaging to source assistance and make recommendations for products and services. Her platform, I know A guy positioned Mbali as an influencer in and is now a Regional Community leader for Facebook. She is an Experienced Founder with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. She is Skilled in Digital Strategy, Budgeting, Communications Management, Hospitality Industry, and Sales Management. Strong entrepreneurship professional with a passion for creative arts and project management.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

A specialist attorney, with over 14 years experience, founder of Yugandrie Maharaj Inc. Law firm, a well-established client-centered Law Firm offering a personal approach to legal services. Backed up by a highly capable team, The Law firm was founded by Yugandrie Maharaj, situated primarily in Pietermaritzburg.Driven by her sheer determination to succeed, Pietermaritzburg mother and successful attorney Yugandrie Maharaj have become one of the most respected names in the legal profession. Outspoken, courageous, ambitious and spiritual, Maharaj is proud of her Indian roots and is grounded by her belief in the teachings of the Art of Living Foundation and humanitarian work.Despite being part of an industry that bears a reputation for being cutthroat and status-driven, Maharaj draws on her spiritual side to give the legal profession a human face that will inspire others to emulate. Not content with just running a successful and prosperous law firm she has embarked on a journey to spread the paradigm – for a business to grow and be truly sustainable it needs to have heart, be grounded in people and be profoundly generous.She began by rebranding her firm: Yugandrie Maharaj Incorporated, into the highly successful YMI as a brand it is now poised to leverage opportunities in:1.      Conveyancing and other traditional legal services2.      Expert debt counseling3.      Developing a franchise model to take debt counseling nationally4.      Entrepreneurship programmes for unemployed graduate youth5.      Holding knowledge sessions in communities plagued by violence and povertyShe holds a BA (LAW) LLB degree from the then University of Durban-Westville and while Maharaj enjoys much success now her story is one of the rags to riches.  Her journey was not always this rosy. She is not shy to admit her childhood, especially her formative years were very “traumatic”. Maharaj says, “I was the eldest in a family of three children with an alcoholic father and a simple, humble mother.” After much hardship, Maharaj completed her legal studies and 14 years ago become an attorney. Her determination and desire to excel and deepen her knowledge saw Maharaj go on to seek out experience in family & divorce law, commercial law, insolvency law, criminal and civil litigation as well as conveyancing. Her success is most evident in the formidable R10 million property portfolio she has subsequently built. But as far as success goes the sky is not the limit for Maharaj. She has not forgotten the bumpy road she had traveled, nor does she ignore the fact that there are still so many people, particularly women, trapped in poverty, limited by circumstance and the lack of opportunity, and who needed help in shifting their mindsets.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

Rabbi Yehuda Stern serves at Johannesburg's largest Jewish synagogue, Sydenham Shul.Rabbi Stern was born in Melbourne Australia and has studied in Israel, USA, England, and Russia. He is married to Estee and they have five children.When joining the community in 2007, Rabbi Stern, together with his wife Estee, took on the challenge of developing activities for the Johannesburg's Jewish Youth and Young Adults. Today his 'Young Jewish Joburg' activities are of the most popular in the city.Rabbi Stern is a young dynamic rabbi who is in touch with the world of social media and sees it as a platform that enables him to communicate with his community.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

Rayana Edwards fuses culture and clothing to empower women through her business Harem Clothing and her project Sari for Change. Harem Clothing focuses on creating the modern modest dressing for women of all ages. Sari for Change trains unemployed women to reproduce new garments from donated saris. Upon completion of the Sari for Change training, the women are encouraged to launch their own businesses. They also continue to receive mentorship and have the opportunity to partner with Harem Clothing. Through both endeavors, Rayana not only dresses women but creates employment opportunities for them.Championing job creation in developing markets for the unemployed and marginalized is a mission, sales, and marketing guru Rayana Edwards is determined to offer in an economy that seldom allows for equal participation by the creators and owners of the production chain in the fashion industryA passionate and active member of various women groups and organizations Rayana believes that the world is being run by women on a sub-conscious level and her mantra is “a fusion of women creating new influences through a collective creative expression.With earlier businesses in Cape Town, Nairobi and Johannesburg where she has worked largely in property development Rayana embraced her love for fashion and clothing by opening her first ladies boutique Cape Connections when she lived in Nairobi. The high-end boutique catered for movers and shakers, politicians, president’s wives, and largely expat communities.Sourcing and buying for her boutique saw her cross many an ocean and to the most exotic destinations in and around Africa and the rest of the world and offered her insight to a passion and love with art, design, and beauty in the imperfections of African craft.Rayana’s developmental started with her introducing artists to mainstream businesses and she instinctively knew her purpose of  honing in on the talents and gifts from women that could work their craft and handwork from all parts of the world allowed her life purpose to be realizedHer overwhelming passion for Africa consumed Edwards and it’s what drove her mission to seek to develop the continent that was the catalyst for Rayana that defined her business positioning.After relocating to Johannesburg from Nairobi, where she dabbled in the corporate market Rayana took the plunge by filling in the gap of merging the informal sector of craft and indigenous handcraft from Africa to mainstream businessWith her first imports sandals from Kenya, Rayana knew she was in the right market when she struck a deal with leading fashion house Sun Goddess who bought the range for their participation in SA Fashion Week.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

Taynita Harilal is no stranger to the hustle and opportunities of entrepreneurship. The 22-year-old from Johannesburg first received media attention when she raised in excess of R150k for a tombstone of the late South African singing legend, Dolly Rathebe, garnering her place among the Lead SA Young Heroes in 2015, Yo TV's Achiever of the year among other accolades. She was born and bred in an entrepreneurial household and is making constructive use of the first-hand experience that this ongoing opportunity has provided by launching her own online television cooking show #BunniesintheBurbs #OurFamilyKitchen a JT Comms productionA student at Wits University studying for her Honours in Development Studies and International Relations, Taynita Harilal lives in Craighall Park and continues to innovate and build on creating new futures to influence the changed world she would like to live in. Taynita is very much an influencer, a change agent and a passionate and innovative responsible global citizen. She sees the power of her youth in a new South Africa as the opportunity to become part of a solution to positively support social cohesion efforts.She is an international traveler and a well-established persona on the SA creative and business industries with distinctive leadership qualities. , Taynita has a number of accolades under her belt and already has her own TV show on YouTube and on Viva Nation TV called #BunniesIntheBurbs which she hosts and crafts strategy on. The show launched on 9 August 2016 on Women’s Day and it’s a platform where Taynita cooks in her family kitchen showing the power of digital to shape ideas and connect to people. The show is about showing the power of sharing conversation, cuisine and culture to share our heritage and tell our stories on a world stage.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

Using her acclaimed skills and highly sought after expertise as an international speaker and business coach, Deysel who herself is an entrepreneur, runs an international entity, Deshun Deysel  & Associates which lists some Fortune 500 companies and disruptive start-ups as clients;  D&A provides business and executive coaching to a new breed of digitally savvy leaders. Deshun Deysel is a leading female mountaineer with a 15-year career as a high altitude mountaineer. She has been on 14 major expeditions in five continents.In 1996 she made history by being part of the first group of South Africans to plant the new democratic flag on the top of Mt. Everest. As a novice climber Deshun was only able to reach Camp 2 at 6,500 meters (21,325 feet) that year but subsequently returned to Everest in 2003. Bad weather, however, thwarted that attempt as Deshun made her way to the summit. Again she had to turn back – this time a mere 500 meters from the top (8,848 meters, 29,028 feet).Deshun has been an active promoter of high altitude climbing among women in Africa, where the sport is not widely known. She has had to fight stereotypes as an African female mountaineer in order to accomplish her high altitude dreams. Although her dream to reach the top of Mt. Everest has not yet been realized, her climbing exploits have inspired hundreds of Africans to see high altitude mountaineering as a reachable goal.Deshun has led groups to Mt. Everest Base Camp, including Olympic decathlon legend and Laureus World Sports Academy member Daley Thompson, as well as three groups to Mt. Kilimanjaro. She has also successfully climbed Mount Meru (Tanzania), Mount Kenya (Kenya), Mount Elbrus (Russia), Mount Kala Pathar (Nepal) and Mt. Blanc (France).--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support

founded Zanusi Brand Solutions, a 100% black female-owned Integrated Branding, Marketing and Communications Services Firm in 2001 after 20 years' corporate experience in multinational FMCG companies in South Africa, Kenya, and the USA. Zanusi has clientele in Africa, the UK, and the USA where it has delivered brand-building strategies and activated plans for blue-chip companies and state-owned entities.Nomahlubi has also played an active role in the Association of Marketers in South Africa including judging Advertising for the prestigious Loeries Awards. She has served on several Boards including being the vice-chairperson of the Association of Advertising Agencies (AAA), a non-executive director of Primedia Face2Face, Cashbuild, Foschini Group as well as a member of the AAA Executive Operations Committee, ASA’s Advertising Properties Committee and the Advisory Committee for UNEP’s (United Nations Environment Programme) Advertising and Communication Initiative.She was invited to the United Nations deliberations on “Promoting investment and sustainable development in Africa with the objective of eradicating poverty”. She has written numerous articles and has delivered several papers, the latest titled: “Reaching the African consumer – lessons for European brands” presented at the European Association of Communications (EACA) in October 2000.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneur-connect-africa/support