4 Entrepreneurs That Made It To The Forbes Under 30 Summit
4 Entrepreneurs that made it to the Forbes Under 30 Summit. These inspirational entrepreneurs have taken their best talents and turned them into money-making solution based enterprises. Their genius ideas have put them on the map and awarded them an opportunity to feature in one of the best publications and go on to be recognized as one of Forbes 2020 Under 30 Summit list of go-getters.
1.Nijel Amos
The talented 800m athlete was recognized for obvious reasons; his mastery on the track field. Moreover Forbes acknowledged him as a sports phenomenon as he made it up the podium at the 2020 Summer Olympics; making him the first Motswana to win a medal at the prestigious sporting event. He is the founder of a foundation called Chase Dream Empire to empower youth, particularly ex-convicts. Amos was not so fortunate in this year’s Olympics taking the 8th position in the men’s 800m final in Tokyo post an incident where he was accidently tripped and fell in the semi-finals.
However Amos has had his fair share of glory and remains a star to be reckoned with clocking some good times during the 2019 IAAF season. In 2014, he won numerous gold medals: the 800m and 4x400m relay in Marrakech. The following year, he went on to impress at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games where he won a gold medal and later won gold in the 800m at the All Africa Games.
2.Newman Tshepo Ramatokwane
Ramatokwane is the founder of Native Stretch Tents and Canopies (PTY) Ltd. While school was not his strongest card on the table, business was always embedded in his mind as he grew up in a business orientated family. His business has 20 permanent employees and part time contract employees.
The company initially hired out stretch tents only, but with the rapid growth, they began manufacturing furniture. Ramatokwane also invested in a mobile bar service, transport and logistics, and in an accounting firm. The young entrepreneur told Forbes that he also owes his business skills to some of the good books he read including ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
The company has executed over 300 events, including the Southern African Inter Revenue Games, De Beers Diamond Week 2019, the Presidential Inauguration 2019 and the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation V-Sat Launch.
3.Tony Mautsu
Behind that dashing debonair smile is the founder and Managing Director of Social Light. In his younger days he was known and nicknamed the ‘social media guy’. The name stems from a story he often narrates on his come up; of how while he volunteered at a marathon in 2014 and used social media to generate inspirational quotes and respond to inquiries.
Social Light is geared towards introducing cutting edge-tech services to assist companies position their brands and acquire in-depth information on client sentiments through big data mining and monitoring tools in Botswana. They offer services such as video animation, graphic designing, content creation, HD-live streaming, application management and social media management.
Some notable moments for the company include work they did for the 2017 Global Expo Botswana which hosted founder of Virgin Group, business magnate and billionaire Richard Branson. In 2019, they worked with the Youth Town Hall Meeting organized by the Botswana Government which featured telecom giant, Strive Masiyiwa.
4.Thobo Khathola
Khathola is the founder and Chief Executive Officer for Lion Tutoring. His background story involves his personal experience as a university student tutor and a strong desire to improve the pass rates of students in Botswana. From operating from the back of his car boot to taking up loans with friends and family the young educator did it all to layb a foundation for his business idea.
“One happy client from my church turned into two. Two happy clients turned into 10. Ten became 100 and now we enroll more than 1,000 clients each year,” he told Forbes. Khathola founded Lion Tutoring which he says works like the ‘Uber for tutors’. He now owns offices in Botswana and South Africa with an employer capacity of 300 and counting.
The business has won three awards for three consecutive years from 2017 that is the Best Youth Owned Business in Botswana at The Botswana Youth Awards and The Palapye Business Awards. In addition to his accomplishments khathola has also founded the Lion Tutoring Community Based Project which provides assistance to communities such as the SOS Children’s home, Childline and Mogonye Primary school.
