RISING STAR

WELILE GUMEDE AZOWEL PROJECTS FACEBOOK: Azowel Projects

Welile Gumede (29) found herself at a crossroads when she was unable to secure a job, despite having obtained a qualification in chemical engineering. Instead, she decided to identify problems in her rural community and present a solution that would unlock job opportunities for both herself and others in the community.

‘I became a statistic in terms of youth unemployment in SA,’ says Welile. ‘But I couldn’t accept that I was now jobless. My business has not only created a job for me, but for 13 other people as well.’

Azowel Projects is a youth- and women-empowering enterprise that focuses on developing unused and neglected farming spaces in the Ilembe region of KwaZuluNatal. ‘The project is dedicated to generating revenue, influencing youth development and advancing community development,’ she says.

Since its inception, Azowel Projects has grown to such an extent that it now occupies 10 farming tunnels, which produce up to a ton of tomatoes weekly and supply local retailers and hawkers with fresh produce. Over the next three years, Welile hopes to increase the number of tunnels she operates to 50, with a 5% share in the national tomato market.

While she can testify that entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted, Welile advises budding business owners to give it their all, regardless of circumstantial setbacks: ‘Just start. Wherever you are, with whatever you have. You never know who is watching,’ is her advice.

She also encourages entrepreneurs to make an effort to attend business seminars and webinars, and to enter business-empowering competitions. ‘Most of those events are free – all you have to do is present yourself, your ideas and your vision, and the rest will follow.’

For Welile, winning the Rising Star Award is a validation that her work is bringing about change in the community and assuring her customers that Azowel Projects produces quality goods. But above all, she hopes the award will inspire people from rural communities all over South Africa to believe that success is possible, no matter the circumstance.

‘Creating sustainable jobs and skills development in rural communities is possible, and it disrupts the idea of relocating to big cities for work – proving that instead, we can develop the rural economy as a community, working together to see our dreams become a reality.’

‘Creating sustainable jobs in rural communities is possible.’