Rapelang Rabana is a pioneering global leader
THE World Economic Forum announced its newest member of the 100 “Young Global Leaders” from around the world. The Young Global Leaders is a community of more than 800 enterprising, socially minded men and women who operate as a force for good in overcoming barriers that stand in the way of progress.
Rapelang Rabana, an internationally renowned entrepreneur and chief executive of Rekindle Learning, is among the 100 nominated leaders under the age of 40 being honoured this year. Rabana has been featured on the cover of Forbes Africa magazine before the age of 30, selected as a Fast Company Maverick and named Entrepreneur for the World by the World Entrepreneurship Forum.
Only four South Africans have been selected this year, namely Aarti Takoordeen, Billy Mawasha, Mmusi Maimane and Rabana.
“I continue to be stunned by all the accolades and gestures of support. Eleven years ago, when I started my entrepreneurship journey, all I knew was that I had to follow my instincts. I had no idea that tuning into the rhythm of my soul would take me so far,” said Rabana.
Her journey began in 2006 as part of the founding team of Yeigo, an innovative tech start-up based in Cape Town that built some of the earliest mobile VoIP applications.
Rapelang’s Rekindle Learning is a learning tech company with the ambition of improving the efficiency with which we learn and build skills both in business and academia. Rekindle Learning was profiled in the McKinsey Lions go Digital report as a “striking innovation” in mobile learning.
Rekindle Learning has recently launched an online bridging programme, EnglishWordPower, for first-year university students to develop their English language skills and reach the proficiency levels required to tackle higher education.
Towards the end of last year, Rapelang joined the financial advisory and private equity firm Nisela Capital as a partner and executive director. “With this move, I intend to build my skills to be in a better position to support and grow tech investment in Africa in the future,” she said.
“As entrepreneurs we have long complained about the lack of smart capital for early stage tech businesses and now I seek to be part of the solution by working on the other side.”