How Ropafadzo Musvaire & Bekithemba Ngulube help increase informal retailers' margins with Kweza

AfricaX Podcast

In this interview meet Ropafadzo Musvaire & Bekithemba Ngulube, two co-founders of the Kweza founding team.

So Kweza is sort of a last mile logistics solution that is working with informal retailers in South Africa. The team noticed that the informal retailers, called spaza shops in South Africa, often pay a premium for their products.

So the solution that they came up with is to source the best pricing from a wholesale level, aggregating the demand and buying power from the spaza shops while allowing the the spaza shop owners direct orders at a steep discount through the Kweza mobile app and delivering their orders directly to their stores.

In the interview Ropa and Beki speak about

• How they initially tested their idea in the offline world going out to wholesalers and spaza shops doing their research
• How they work as a panafrican team, how they got to know each other through the MEST incubator program
• And what drew them into entrepreneurship individually

We also speak about the biggest challenges they faced in their entrepreneurial journey and their biggest learnings as well as their advice for young people in South Africa.

There are a lot of valuable insights in this interview that Beki and Ropa share and we hope you enjoy the interview as much as we did. And now, without further ado, enter Beki & Ropa.

P.S.: You can also check out the interview with these two changemakers on Youtube.

_______________________

YOU LIKE THE AFRICAX PROJECT?

Here is how you can learn more and support...:

👉🏾 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africaxproject/

👉🏾 Check out our Blog: https://www.africax.org/blog to listen to all of the episodes as a podcast and watch the videos

👉🏾 Donate and help us empower the next generation of young entrepreneurs and changemakers in Africa through https://www.yesfoundersfoundation.org with as little as 10 USD

👉🏾 Or last but not least GET THE AFRICAX BOOK HERE... and follow the epic adventure of Dulcie Mativo and Thomas Jakel as they travel the African continent overland with an electric motorbike, to interview over 100 inspiring changemakers in 20 countries, from Morocco and Mauritania to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and many more... Get access to the the charge map for the electric motorbike, the interviews with 100 changemakers, entrepreneurs and social innovators and our 10 'secrets' to travelling the African continent electric.

Here some of the 5 Star reviews of the book:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Now this adventure and story telling is something else!!! I’m now in Ghana. Completely grateful for Abo as well. Liberia was the epic best disaster." - a reader

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Such an amazing read. Probably the first book I’ve read in a year - since 2020 I’ve mostly been doing audio books ; but this is so worth it. It’s made me crave a good read again, thank you." - a reader

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A wild and captivating read that combines both a unique adventure as well as inspiring accounts about Africa's young leaders and social entrepreneurs. If you are into travel and inspiration, this book is for you. Thumbs up."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "I started reading into this book without high expectations but then got really pulled into the story. So much so, that I found it hard to put the book down. It is a wild mix of pure adventure, fun storytelling that has you on the floor laughing, the inspirational vibe with all the interviews with African entrepreneurs and then the zen attitude this couple gives off, even when they are stuck in the mud between borders or lose their support vehicle. Great read. Can only recommend."