Zime Nxumalo thrives on being an adaptive student and responding to changes in the world aiming to make a contribution towards providing solutions to societal problems and improving the lives and livelihoods of the broader society through her business.
Nxumalo, a 19-year-old, second-year-undergraduate Information and Communications Technology student entrepreneur from the Durban University of Technology (DUT) is the founder and CEO of Zime Wezwe Creatives.
It is a software development company that specialises in quality website and application development which is also currently developing a prototype for the real estate industry using blockchain technology.
The current 2022 Huawei student ambassador is the recipient of the innobiz 2022 most improved business of the year award. She has also recently been given the opportunity to give a presentation on “Industry Disruption using Blockchain Technology” to final year MBA students at the Northpark University of Chicago in the United States of America. Nxumalo further participated in the 2022 Fall Global Masters School Programme in which she represented Africa and DUT at the University of Missouri, St Louis.
Speaking of her recent trip to Chicago, Nxumalo said her trip came about as a result of a privately financed scholarship-programme, the partnership between the prestigious innobiz Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa, the Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), Germany, in collaboration with the Northpark University of Chicago (NUC) that had formed the kick-off for the 2022 Global Master´s School (GMS) programme. This programme was held in Chicago at the University of Missouri – Saint Louis (UMSL), USA, and the GMS is based on a trilateral agreement between the three universities Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), the Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK), Finland, and the University of Missouri – Saint Louis (UMSL) in between the GMS-programmes are rotating from year to year.
The theme of the 2022 GMS was “Jumping the pond – How can an American brand succeed in Europe?”, in which three international teams equipped with 10 Germans, 1 Finnish, 7 US-American students and Nxumalo had to solve problem statements that had been provided by the American brand called Flipstik.
Nxumalo said that Flipstik is a hands-free kickstand solution for mobile devices, which was developed by the founders Akeem Shannon (CEO), Andrew Tychsen (Director of Marketing) and Dan Lauer (Founding Executive Director of UMSL Accelerate).
She added that they created a simple device using NASA technology that attaches to any flat smooth surface. During the GMS the three founders outlined the journey of the product from Shark Tank to getting endorsement from Snoop Dogg as well as P-Diddy to the US-market launch.
“It was the task of the students to analyse the current international consumer product trends and then to develop a global marketing and distribution strategy for UK and Germany and finally to enable for this brand to break into and succeed in the European market,” she stressed.
Joseph Rottman, a Professor, Associate Dean of Graduate and International Programs International Business Institute, Information and Systems Technology, University of Missouri–St Louis, said Nxumalo was the most impressive 19 -year-old that he has ever met.
“In developing international strategies, we must not neglect the African continent. That’s why I also want to continue investing in young, African talents in the future,” said Mr Ernst Schulten, Director of the International Office at Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) who has privately financed the intensive programme of Nxumalo and also took care that her round-trip to Saint Louis via Johannesburg, Frankfurt and Chicago which was carried out safely and accordingly to the needs of the young, blockchain talent.
For Nxumalo, she is actually the first person in her family to get onto a plane – never mind going overseas.
“The experience was definitely life-changing as my perspective on life and business has changed and this is due to the diversity in cultures and ideas that I had been exposed to. The trip kicked off in Chicago where I had given my presentation then the rest of my trip was spent in St Louis at the University of Missouri. It was a great experience as we had toured some of the tourist attractions in these buzzing cities,” she said enthusiastically.
Looking at her entrepreneurial skills and how it was honed, Nxumalo gives credit to her family.
“I believe that this is something that had been ingrained in my siblings and I from a very young age as we used to let our imaginations run wild as we ‘established’ our own ‘countries’ which were just our bedrooms with our ‘country names’ stuck onto the walls. We had boarders, tollgates, royalty and the works. We had to learn at that very young age how to properly manage a ‘country’. From the tender age of 7, we taught ourselves some basics in supply chain management, investing, customer relations and accounting,” she expressed.
Nxumalo commented that those teachings have only been expanded by innobiz, a business incubation programme at DUT that has not just changed her life but also the life of her family by not just giving her the skills that she needed to establish and manage businesses but also a space to fail forward then innovate which is not something that is available for most University students even in developed countries.
Pictured: Mentor, Professor Keolebogile Motaung: Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation & Engagement.
Pictured: Ernst Schulten, Director of the International Office at the Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), Zime Nxumalo, and Joseph Rottman, PhD, Professor, Associate Dean of Graduate and International Programs at the International Business Institute at the University of Missouri – Saint Louis (UMSL).
Explaining more on her business, the ‘Digi fundi’ said that in 2019, she was in her matric year when her family went through a financial breakdown, hitting rock bottom and losing everything.
“I started my business at the 17. Although the youngest, I viewed it as a means to make ends meet then it was officially registered on the 10th of September 2021. I have been in business for more than a year now. I believe that students and the youth at large should be the pioneers of their future. We have the ability and the chance to change the entire trajectory of this nation – we should use it,” she quipped.
No entrepreneur can grow without facing challenges and Nxumalo is no exception, adding that mastering time management as well as focus is something that she has not yet perfected but is working towards it.
However, she confessed that her ultimate challenge has been fear.
She has now learned that once one masters one’s mind and silences one’s fears – one can do wonders so she is learning how to rise above her fears and to remain humble through the process.
In her journey to success Nxumalo is fortunate enough to have been exposed to many roles models and mentors, the biggest being the dynamic Professor Keolebogile Motaung: Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation & Engagement.
She has graciously made her her mentee which is a dream come true for Nxumalo.
“She pushes me to challenge myself and has been helping me to properly navigate the business world. This truly speaks volumes of her humility as she tirelessly pours herself as well as her resources into bettering the lives of others which makes her truly a noble character,” she added.
Professor Motaung expressed how proud she is of her mentee and how exhilarating it is to see her grow in leaps and bounds from a student to an entrepreneur to an international role ambassador for DUT.
Her biggest lesson learnt from her mentor is not being afraid to take up space especially as a woman.
“I have learnt to walk into a room in full authority, knowing that I belong there and this is something that I have learnt from observing Prof Motaung, how assertive she is in everything that she pursues. My advice to fellow student entrepreneurs is that you need to believe in your own potential. Your enemies cannot see more potential in you then you do in yourself,” she commented.
Going forward, Nxumalo wants to continue working on the value chain of her business which includes transforming the real estate industry in South Africa based on blockchain technology.
“Complete my degree then pursue my MBA in ICT. Furthermore, engage in the development of my community and establishing an Arts Community College then a chain of private clinics and hospitals with my mother,” she said.
Pictured: Zime Nxumalo after her presentation at the Northpark University, Chicago.
Waheeda Peters
