Fuma shows the way
Komani-born man in contention for top international award
Motivational speaker and activist Masonwabe Fuma, 28, has bagged a nomination at the Forty under 40 Africa Awards in the category of community developer of the year for his Sakhulutsha eAfrika mentorship programme.
The awards honour and celebrate a cross-section of the continent’s most influential and accomplished young business leaders under the age of 40.
Fuma is a Johannesburg marketing maven, award-winning entrepreneur and activist, who hails from Komani.
He said: “I have a deep commitment to social justice, and I am seeking it for all who are marginalised and [living] in squalor and this I do through the various projects I am involved in.”
Fuma is the executive chair of Mentorship Foundation Africa and MD of Sakhulutsha eAfrika, a centre for youth development, advisory, local enterprise and research.
He hosts leadership talks aimed at changing teenagers’ mindsets and helping them to excel in life.
“In 2019, Stepping Stone Junior School in Komani introduced the Masonwabe Fuma Excellence Award, awarded to a Grade 7 pupil who has achieved excellence throughout junior [school].”
Fuma has also established the Masonwabe Fuma Bursary Fund, with applications for the 2022 academic year having opened near the end of January.
The bursary assists academicallydeserving youth from poor backgrounds access tertiary education.
Fuma said the awards were aimed at recognising and celebrating exceptional young leaders.
“The awards identify projects and individual achievements that have enabled young achievers to set themselves apart from their competitors and have produced clear and compelling value, return on investment, and other relevant results,” he said.
The awards are set to take place on March 26 in Accra, Ghana.
Fuma is nominated among 53 other young people across the continent, along with eight other South Africans.
The jury is seeking outstanding entrepreneurs, executives, managers and professionals in the public and private and non-profit sectors and will recognise attributes such as achievements in business, experience and innovation, vision, leadership and community involvement.
Fuma said: “The categories cover a wide range of all the various sectors, ranging from banking and finance, energy, family business, agriculture, theatre and arts, journalism, fashion, law, sports, event management, health, technology and innovation, among others.”
He is a 2021 Sunday World Unsung Hero and a 2021 Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young, Eminent and Accomplished South African.
“I ran to serve on the board of the National Youth Development Agency [NYDA] of SA and I am now studying business administration at Wits Business School.”
He has represented African youth on international platforms staged in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Finland, Canada, and Mauritius.
“I was one of three South Africans selected to represent SA at the World Youth Summit in Imphal, India, in 2015.
“In the same year, I was the only youth leader from the African continent at the third Asia Pacific Student Forum in Depok, Indonesia, where we discussed and came up with solutions to socioeconomic issues [poverty] in developing countries.”
Fuma was a top-eight semifinalist out of 33 Enactus competing teams in 2016.
He was one of four student leaders and entrepreneurs selected to represent SA and the University of Johannesburg at the SLUSH Conference hosted in Helsinki, Finland, in 2016.
In 2017, he was selected to represent SA and EnactusUniversity of Johannesburg at the African Economic Platform hosted by the AU in Port Louis, Mauritius.
“I am a foot soldier in this long relay of Africa’s development, so I try to respond to existing problems with practical programmes,” he said.
People can vote for Fuma online at https://fortyunder40 africa.com/vote/ and navigate to the community development
category.
A vote costs R5, and people can vote as many times as they want.