The Accidental Entrepreneur

Musanga Logistics founder and CEO, Njavwa Mutambo

NJAVWA Mutambo can easily be referred to as an accidental entrepreneur but as is true to life, many things that happen by accident, have the potential to later surprise.

Not too long ago he dropped out of school in the 11^th grade, but just last year his startup was a selected participant under a programme called the eFounders Fellowship, which is part of a pledge by Jack Ma, Alibaba Group’s Executive Chairman and UNCTAD Special Advisor for young entrepreneurs and small business, to empower 1 000 entrepreneurs from developing countries in five years.

As a reflection of Ma’s personal commitment to supporting entrepreneurs from Africa and helping them succeed in the digital world, 200 of these entrepreneurs will come from Africa.

Njavwa was born in 1995 and attended a bunch of primary schools in Lusaka before attending Chilenje Basic School for his junior secondary years and David Kaunda High School for his senior secondary years.

He was an afternoon pupil at Chilenje Basic School because, he says, his grades were appalling. But they did not improve in senior secondary school at David Kaunda where he was again an afternoon pupil.

“Just to show my parents that I’m a very consistent person, I went to David Kaunda as an afternoon student as well,” he says wryly.

Being at a government school proved challenging for him. Discouraged by the high number of classmates he had, it seemed he needed to do something extraordinary simply to get noticed.

Instead, he found himself exploring minor entrepreneurial pursuits and as such wasn’t taken too seriously nor did he take himself seriously.

He sold phones and conducted other side deals and by grade 11, Njavwa had quit school and started business. His parents were unaware that he was skipping class and innocently continued paying his school fees.

In the third term of grade 12, he was hardly prepared for his school leaving examinations but gave it a go anyway.

Other than English, he had unsatisfactory results in all the subjects he sat for.

When he was 18, he moved out of his parents’ house and started living in Libala, a time he describes as the roughest in his life as he transitioned from being taken care of to taking care of himself.

He worked for two months at a supermarket in Kabwata and then started business selling popcorn.

He personally operated his popcorn machine for six months and overall sold popcorn for at least a year.

He raises his shirt to expose his wrists that still bear the scars he acquired from selling the popcorn because he was unskilled in popcorn making using a machine.

When he finished school at 17 in 2012, he wasn’t certain he would pursue entrepreneurship.

“I knew that I had what it took to be entrepreneurial, not even to run a business, just to be a business person,” he shares.

In 2013, when he started to run the popcorn business, he made K30 a day and was not realising any profit from it.

However, with influence from his friend, he started another business of delivering food. That business lasted approximately two weeks.

At this point he was almost giving up and thinking he should go back to school instead. He found a second job in a supermarket but was fired after two months and saw it as a sign.

He realised that failing was easy if it involved what one does not like to do.

And so he started attending a social networking event hosted by Matthew Grollnek called Startup Hour where he became exposed to a lot of Lusaka based entrepreneurs.

It was Matthew who also introduced Njavwa to the Lusaka based technology hub, BongoHive.

In 2015, Njavwa began working on a project with Matthew and a couple of other colleagues to create an alternative work space built on the foundation laid through Startup Hour.

He spent most of his time working from BongoHive’s Lusaka office where the project was based.

One specific night at BongoHive, Njavwa was seated next to a young man and an app developer called Charles Mwanza.

Charles was hungry and asked Njavwa if he knew any restaurants that delivered food at night and out of that conversation, an idea was born.

They decided to create a website through which people could order food. With Njavwa’s background in food delivery and Charles’ experience in building apps, it seemed like a feasible idea.

Within a couple of hours they created a website called Msanga.Com and the following day they had one client who passed on the message to someone else.

The business name later changed to Musanga Logistics.

Njavwa wants to be certain that everyone he comes in contact with understands Musanga’s core business so you may be caught off guard when he asks you what it is.

Essentially, Musanga Logistics is a marketplace that connects shippers looking for transport to drivers and riders that can deliver through their platform.

The company has built a driver and customer app which enables online users in need of courier or delivery services to track available bicycles, motorbikes or delivery trucks.

Musanga Logistics has so far created employment opportunities for over 600 people earning money through their platform.

“Last year, drivers and motorcyclists on our platform earned almost US$100 000. These are people who otherwise wouldn’t get employment anywhere else,” Njavwa shares.

One of the company’s main goals is to reduce the cost of transportation for businesses to help them keep thriving.

Despite the company name being derived from the Nyanja word for ‘Fast,’ Njavwa is in no hurry to claim accolades.

He attributes the company’s growth so far not to himself but to the team of people helping him run his business.

When Njavwa first started the business, the people who inspired him are those he would see on television but it is entirely different today, he admits.

The businesses he admires today are run by people who get things done and who build institutions that last. These are also people that may not necessarily be known by the public.

“Running a business is hard. I always say it’s like building a building. You don’t tweet for every block you put. Every morning you try and lay a really nice brick. You put as many bricks as you can that day and then you go back home,” he shares.

His biggest lesson in business has been to have the right team and he has deliberately surrounded himself with people that are really good at what they do.

“I have a phenomenal team,” he admits. “My friends tell me I am lucky all the time and I think it’s true. I’m extremely lucky in that I have people who are willing to go above and beyond for the business.”

Njavwa is open about his flaws and in admitting that he does not have it altogether. He is also of the fundamental belief that a lot of businesses fail because the smartest person is the CEO and because people are hesitant to hire those who are better than them.

Although he believes that Musanga Logistics still has a long way to go, he is learning to pace himself.

At present he has 22 employees and the company makes thousands of deliveries every week.

In a few years’ time, the story will likely be that although he stumbled upon business, his success has been no accident.

“What we’re doing today may shift tomorrow but the people who are in the business are going to be here for a while,” he says.

Keeping the peace in CAR

CAPTAIN Barbara Musonda was promoted to the rank of Captain on September 17, 2018. The picture was taken while she was in the Central African Republic (CAR) mission area as a Lieutenant.

 

NKOLE NKOLE

Lusaka

THE day was April 30, 2016 when Captain Barbara Musonda first reported for a peacekeeping mission in the town of Birao, Central African Republic (CAR).
It was her first time to be deployed in a country experiencing war where she would be expected to fight at the battlefront alongside her fellow male officers.
She was to be based in Birao, where the headquarters of the Zambia Army Contingent in CAR is situated.
If she had any anxiety about what she was getting herself into prior to her departure, this was reinforced when she touched down at what seemed nothing like an airport in appearance or function.
“When I got to CAR I realised there was nothing to look forward to. There was run-down infrastructure at the airport and there were no roads,” she says.
Growing up, Capt Musonda was familiar with the uniform. Her father, Michael Musonda, once served as Assistant Commissioner under the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Zambia Police Service.
Her aunt, Patricia Musonda, is presently based at the Kabwe Municipal Council as a firefighter.
And so when an opportunity arose for Capt Musonda to join the Zambia Army in January 2011, she grabbed it by the lapels.
Before joining the army, she studied social work at the University of Zambia (UNZA) from 2006 to 2010 and with her undergraduate degree, enlisted in the Zambia Army.
“Because I joined with a degree, I joined as a specialist,” she shares.
In between January and December 2011, she trained under the Zambia Army and upon being successfully commissioned at the end of her training, she was sent to Chipata under the 4th Battalion, Zambian Regiment.
There she was appointed Platoon Commander under the Corps of Infantry or ground forces.
This meant she was given the authority by the President to command a body of men; a responsibility she considered an honour especially as to date there aren’t many female officers that have filled this role.
In March 2014, she was transferred from the Corps of Infantry to the Corps of Medical, which is under the 5th Battalion of the Zambia Regiment in Kaoma.
There she was based at Luena Camp Hospital as part of an HIV/AIDS management programme.
“I found it very fulfilling to be there and worked not only with the men in uniform but with people from different backgrounds,” Capt Musonda says.
She stayed in Kaoma until August this year when she was again transferred from the 5th Battalion, Zambia Regiment to the Zambia Army Headquarters at Arakan Barracks as Protocol Officer.
Between April 2016 and April 2017, the Zambia Army piloted the Female Engagement Teams (FETs) training comprising 30 officers and Capt Musonda was one of the lucky 30.
The training was part of the Zambia Battalion II (ZAMBATT II) deployment and is a concept in line with the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) policy requiring all member states to deploy trained FETs by August 2018 in some of their infantry battalions operating in missions with a Protection of Civilians mandate.
FETs are well trained officers with developed skills in the fields of protection of civilians, community engagement, child protection and conflict-related Sexual Violence.
According to the UN, Zambia is considered a leader in ensuring the involvement of female peacekeepers by spearheading the FETs training.
Zambia’s history in peacekeeping dates back to 1988 with the first troops deployed in Chad and to date has deployed a total of 718 military observers and staff officers since 1982.
The UN Security Council adopted resolution 1325 on women and peace and security on October 31, 2000.
The resolution reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction.
Among the many lessons peacekeeping taught Capt Musonda was the value of sacrifice.
“Personally as a peacekeeper I sacrificed my life because I left a daughter behind and went to a war stricken country where anything can happen,” she shares.
But taking peace to the people of CAR who she says needed it more than her was far more important than staying home.
During her time as a peacekeeper under the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission (MINUSCA), her original appointment was as a Gender and Child Protection Officer.
“It meant I had to coordinate the local women and the children. Some of the women were being sexually assaulted and raped by rebels but had no one to talk to,” she explains.
One of the things she had to do to help her adapt was learn a little French which is the official language spoken in CAR.
Capt Musonda also forced herself to learn greetings in Sango, CAR’s other official language and to adjust to the extreme temperatures in the Central African country which on a blistering hot day can rise as high as 46 degrees Celsius.
As her time there progressed, she began to empathise with the people of CAR. She ate their food and drank their sweet tea which is naturally taken while hot and in this way warmed to their culture.
In Birao her day-to-day activities involved coordinating the local women. Many of them had experienced rape and sexual assault as a result of the ongoing conflict but had no one to talk to.
Because CAR is a Muslim country, female peacekeepers are the ideal links to the local women who ordinarily are not allowed to have friendships with males other than their spouses.
More often than not, the local women hold a lot of valuable information and are the secret keepers with indirect links to rebel leaders.
To help the women open up and share their experiences, Capt Musonda got close to them. The war had confined the women to their homes and her task was to organise them into women’s groups.
“They had women’s groups at one point but they were dormant,” she says. “As female peacekeepers we had to win their trust and convince them that we would protect them as they met in these groups.”
Through the groups, the women were able to bond and to speak openly about the trauma they experienced especially as victims of rape and sexual assault during war.
Together with the women of Birao, Capt Musonda and her fellow female peacekeepers regularly cleaned the only hospital in Birao.
Other than the women, the children of Birao were also a delicate group to work with but she found a way to connect with them.
Part of the Zambian contingent in CAR comprised qualified teachers who she approached to teach the children of Birao.
“The children didn’t like school so much, especially in the war environment, so sometimes we organised games for them to play according to their ages,” she shares.
This exercise helped the CAR children experience a part of their childhood they were missing as a result of war.
Outside the geographical and cultural challenges were the gender stereotypes Capt Musonda had to conquer.
“Generally in peacekeeping missions, the number of male officers to female officers is higher. When deployed in a foreign mission, the men will not expect you to work at the same capacity as them, so as women, you are belittled. If you don’t move with your head high and set boundaries, it can be frustrating,” she says.
Capt Musonda has no regrets about joining the army and would gladly lend her service to a peacekeeping mission again.
As for the FETs, she says: “Female Engagement Teams have come in handy because we are the only ones with access to the women in countries such as CAR. That is the greatest thing that I did. It was worth the sacrifice. I learnt so much, gained so much experience and found my daughter in one piece when I returned.”

Quitting work to follow one’s heart

Executive Director of the Sani Foundation, Michelle Chimuka

NKOLE NKOLE

Lusaka

WHEN Michelle Chimuka quit her job in 2014 at age 23, it was all for love. There was someone special in her life she wanted to devote her time and attention to, but she could not do it whilst working full-time. After finishing secondary school in 2006, she studied the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) at the Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies (ZCAS).
For her first job, she was employed at the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche (Zambia) as an audit associate and worked there for two years before moving to the Zambian Governance Foundation (ZGF), a local organisation that gives grants to NGOs.
She worked in the grants department to manage the different grants that were paid out and ensuring they were used appropriately.
Michelle has a 22-year-old younger brother called Michael who has down syndrome. Five years ago, when Michael was 17, he had been to every special education school his family could find in Lusaka.
“We had run out of options. It was sort of the same thing from one school after another,” Michelle says.
Michael was not making any serious intellectual progress despite growing older. At all the different schools, he was either being taught how to write his name or how to read.
His family wanted more for him and Michelle in particular took it upon herself to see how she could help her brother learn something that would actually be useful to him as he got older. She was only 23 but determined to see her brother’s life change.
She began to research special education institutions in Southern Africa and found a lot of interesting schools in the process.
Michelle emailed at least 20 of those schools. Some did not respond at all while others were concerned that Michael was 17 and would be out of the school system after a year. It, therefore, did not make sense to them to have him for only a year.
“There were places that said they only take South African students because they are government-funded and also places, that said they could enroll him but did not have boarding facilities,” Michelle explains.
Despite the setbacks, she kept looking until one day when she discovered an interesting place called Sunshine Zimbabwe Project that offered academic education and vocational skills training.
Michelle did a little bit more research on the institution and got in touch with its administrators. At some point, she boarded a bus heading to Harare and went to see the institution for herself.
“In person, it was far more fantastic than on the internet and I came back thinking of how we could get Michael into the place,” she shares.
However, the institution like many others she had come across on the internet in 2013, did not have a boarding facility.
Other options were suggested to Michelle and she even began looking for accounting jobs in Harare just so she could move there with her brother.
None of this worked out and in the six months she was trying to get Michael into an institution, she was still working at the ZGF.
She then decided to go back to Harare a few months after her first visit but this time with the intention to replicate some of the ideas she saw being practised at the Sunshine Zimbabwe Project.
Michelle spent a bit more time there because she was trying to learn what they were doing.
“By the time that I went back, I was thinking I want to do this work. Somehow, I am going to figure out a way to do this work in Zambia because it was just so interesting and nothing like that existed,” she says.
Michelle was particularly impressed with the way the training at the institution in Harare was structured. She spent a week there simply taking in all she could before deciding on the best way forward.
The institution in Zimbabwe did skills training where trainees with different intellectual disabilities such as down syndrome and autism were taught different skills.
Some trainees made crafts out of recycled material and others worked in a vegetable garden. Once a week, they went horse riding or would play sports like golf and football. They also had computer classes where they would learn how to use the internet and all had Facebook and WhatsApp accounts.
Despite their intellectual challenges, they were being taught to live normal lives by doing normal things.
“It was just a really interesting structure and even just interacting with the young people there, they were all friends and it was all fun. It wasn’t like going to school where it’s boring. It was just such a nice atmosphere,” Michelle recalls.
So inspiring was the project in Harare that Michelle decided to form an organisation structured around teens and adults with intellectual disabilities.
She felt she couldn’t wait for someone else to start it especially that her brother was not getting any younger, so she quit her job at the ZGF even though she had no idea how she would pull it off with no money and no training.
The Sani Foundation’s vision is to facilitate the full inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities in both rural and urban areas of Zambia into all aspects of society.
The organisation seeks to provide inclusive employment for young people with varying cognitive levels and is presently the only organisation in Zambia that gives individuals with intellectual disabilities the chance to learn skills that prepare them for employment.
After Michelle formed the organisation with the assistance of close family members, she went round to a number of schools to see if they could offer up a classroom for free on Saturdays.
Most of the schools she approached were unwilling to give up space but Cheshire Homes in Kabulonga came to their rescue. Every Saturday from 9 to 12 hours, Michelle got friends and family and whoever she knew was available to go to Cheshire Homes and work with the kids.
They taught them how to read and write and make simple crafts and it’s from there that the Sani Foundation took off.
Month after month, it grew beginning in January 2014 as more people offered to volunteer and more children started showing up. They had children with intellectual disabilities coming from as far as Matero and Zingalume.
By mid-2014 there were so many parents taking their children over that Michelle realised there was need for meetings more than once a week. They needed to make it more permanent.
With some help from family and friends, the foundation raised just enough money to rent a house in Woodlands in Lusaka for three months.
“That’s how we started a full-time programme and hired two full-time employees who were coming here to teach,” she shares.
Although it started small, they kept in touch with the Sunshine Zimbabwe Project to learn how to navigate different challenges.
From only two volunteers in the beginning, the foundation now has 11 paid staff that includes trainers and job coaches and about 23 trainees.
When someone with an intellectual disability enrolls at the foundation, the only condition is that they must have an intellectual disability and be 14 years or older.
Unfortunately, there are not enough spaces in Zambia offering the kind of services found at Sani Foundation despite there being great need for them.
Michelle and her family are therefore hopeful that the initiative they have started will inspire other people to take up the mantle and shine the light on the importance of giving people with intellectual disabilities the chance to be independent and thrive in all spheres of life.
As for Michael, he has learnt new skills under the foundation such as juice and smoothie making. He is now able to make money through a mobile juice bar that operates at the weekends in different parts of Lusaka.