Rani, a 2014 JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (JCI TOYP) recipient in the category of business, economic, and/or entrepreneurial accomplishment, is the founding director of award winning Silulo Ulutho Technologies, a Cape Town based IT services company.
“Our mission is to empower people in emerging communities to become part of the digital movement,” says Rani. “This is done by bringing technology services to them, in their own communities, so that they may use technology to seek employment, learn, grow and connect.
“I had to redevelop the business model a couple of times to find a sustainable solution, both from an economic point of view as well as meeting the technology needs of the emerging communities. It was all good and well to have the technology available; however, people did not understand how it worked, so training in technology became a very important focus for us.
“It’s all about finding a win-win solution and finding the perfect business model, something which can get quite disheartening for young entrepreneurs who don’t know where to start looking for solutions or support when things don’t go as planned. Platforms such as this one created by Rotary is incredibly important to find solutions to bridge the gap and provide support structures for entrepreneurs to guide and mould them to successfully build a profitable entity which contributes to the economy of a country,” concludes Rani.
Rotary District Governor, Geraldine Nicol adds, “A primary goal of the 2016 Rotary Economic Development Conference is to provide solution driven guidance that can be piloted and implemented after the conference.
“We aim to find sustainable solutions in collaboration with corporate South Africa, leaders of government, civil society and communities, who are keen to identify partners and find long-term solutions for improving economic development.
“We foresee this conference to be a catalyst to maximise the resources in Rotary’s local and International networks, linking solution driven partners operating in effective job-related economic and entrepreneurial enabling activities, with those entering the workplace, especially in small business enterprises,” concludes Nicol.
Other speakers for the day include keynote speaker, Clem Sunter, 2015-16 Rotary International President, Ravi Ravindran and TSiBA CEO, Adrienne Marais.
For more information, go to www.rotarycapetown2016.com.
