ZINHLE MASEKO

Nominee's Province:
Gauteng

Age:
28

Project Name/Description:

More info:

Despite the obvious hurdles that young female entrepreneurs face in South Africa, Zinhle Maseko has always worked to break these down. Having begun her career at one of the big four banks and worked her way up, she has become a multi-award-winning IT risk manager. Outside of the business boardroom, she has distinguished herself as a speaker, angel investor, social entrepreneur, and technopreneur. She is also one of the creators of The Marking App. As recognition to the strides she has made, Maseko was named one of the SA Top 30 Female Founders in Technology by the SA Innovation Summit in 2021. The following year, she was chosen by SEDA to participate in the 2022 Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Saudi Arabia. She has also collaborated with the creator of Bloc Footwear to help expand the brand and business as a way of working with and investing in African start-ups. Bloc Footwear is a South African footwear business that creates attractive and comfortable athleisure shoes, allowing Africans to express themselves via customising. The young entrepreneur intends to localise manufacturing to capitalise on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and invest in more complicated shoemaking processes, which would lead to additional job prospects for South Africans. Another intention of hers is to expand Africa's start-up ecosystem by investing in more innovative start-ups, believing that this is the surest road to Africa's success.