Tekane Ledimo

• Bachelor of Commerce degree, University of Cape Town
• Postgraduate Diploma in Development Finance, University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business

• Led Nisa Finance: to being selected and awarded by Rand Merchant Investment Holdings’ (RMIH) AlphaCode Incubate as one of the top eight fintech and insurtech companies in South Africa –  awarded by the Bertha Centre in Cape Town, in collaboration with the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, as one of the most innovative and promising businesses impacting SMMEs in South Africa (2018) and awarded by Telkom Innotech FutureMakers, following an incubation programme, for demonstrating the most traction and growth — from ideation to building a minimum viable product (MVP) and executing multiple iterations — as the standout tech start-up in Cape Town
• Successfully concluded a fundraising transaction with one of South Africa’s leading development finance institutions, securing wholesale balance-sheet capital for Nisa Finance to on-lend to small, medium and growing enterprises nationwide.

Johan Rupert, Christo Wiese, Koos Bekker and Michiel Le Roux serve as role models, having built — and continuing to build — tangible legacy businesses that stand the test of time. Their work ethic, organisational culture and relentless drive to keep working and building, even at an advanced age and despite their considerable success, are admirable. Their stories reinforce the truth behind the saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day” — real, tangible wealth takes years and multiple generations to build. Overnight success is neither sustainable nor enduring. This has taught me that one can build and manage multiple businesses simultaneously and make each one successful.