Phiwa Nkambule Explained

Phiwa Nkambule
Birth Name:Sicelo Phiwayinkosi Nkambule
Birth Date:1992 1, df=yes
Birth Place:Manzini, Eswatini
CEO of FinanceGPT Labs
Years Active:2013–present
Boards:Royal Science and Technology Park (2019–2021)[1]
Known For:Founding Riovic and Cybatar.

Phiwa Nkambule (born 24 January 1992) is a technology entrepreneur and technology businessperson. He is the co-founder and CEO of FinanceGPT Labs.[2] He previously founded Riovic and Cybatar,[3] and sat on the board of the Royal Science and Technology Park.[1]

Early life

Phiwa Nkambule was born in Manzini where he also spent his childhood.[4] [5]

In 2006, as a 14-year-old, he began fixing and building computers with his uncle in a small township in Eswatini. Nkambule moved to South Africa in 2007 for academic purposes.[6] Phiwa was a law student at the University of Pretoria before quitting to start his first technology company Cybatar from his garage in 2014.[7] It was at the university where he taught himself web and app development.

Entrepreneurship

Before leaving the University of Pretoria Phiwa attempted to work with the Swaziland National Library and the Manzini Regional Education Office in 2013 but was rejected.[8] After dropping out of university in 2014 Nkambule founded Cybatar, a technology company focused on fuel delivery from his garage in Pretoria, South Africa.[3] [9]

In 2015 Nkambule co-founded Riovic, an insurance technology company.[5] [4] [6] [8] [7] The company owns and operates online platforms that connect consumers with insurance, credit and investments.[10]

In May 2019 Princess Sikhanyiso, the eldest daughter of King Mswati III of Eswatini and the Eswatini Minister of Information, Communication and Technology appointed Phiwa to the board of the Royal Science and Technology Park, a state-owned enterprise created to foster the conception of inventions and facilitate their patenting and help knit various elements of the R&D cluster together.[11] [1] [12] [13]

Politics

In September 2021 Phiwa Nkambule discovered that he had been removed from the board of the Royal Science and Technology Park through the company's website without any official communication. This follows his public support for the unbanning of political parties after the political unrest that took place in June 2021 in Eswatini.[14] The Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology claimed that his 3-year term which started in May 2019 had lapsed.[15] [16]

Philanthropy

On 24 October 2015, he released the first tuition crowdfunding platform in South Africa in the wake of the FeesMustFall protests that saw the country's tertiary institutions shut down to help save students from tuition debt.[17] [18] [19] He also launched a free online learning platform for digital skills aimed at reducing the youth unemployment rate in South Africa.[20] [21] [22]

Awards and recognition

Phiwa Nkambule was invited to deliver a keynote address on Digital Technologies in Insurance at the 13th International Microinsurance Conference in Peru, South America in November 2017.[4] [5] [23] [10] [24]

In June 2018, he was named in the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list of most promising entrepreneurs in the technology category. In October 2018 he was named in Destiny Man’s Power of 40 list, a list of 40 trailblazers under the age of 40.

In September 2020 Nkambule was one of the entrepreneurs named in a book titled "Entrepreneurs Who Changed History" published by Dorling Kindersley, profiling more than 90 leaders of industries across the world and throughout the ages – from the enterprising bankers of the medieval world and the merchants of empire, to the titans of industry and the geniuses of Silicon Valley.[25] [26] Phiwa is also featured as one of two real-life programmers in a juvenile nonfiction book published by Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP, titled "Simple Algorithms", which teaches children how algorithms are behind many of the things they do on the internet, from searching for information to making video calls.[27] [28]

In December 2021, Phiwa was named Social Media Personality of the Year by the Times of Swaziland. He was recognized as an influential and well-loved persona on the internet for being vocal and eloquent about the political unrest in Eswatini through his verified Twitter account by the national publication.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: BOARD MEMBERS – Royal Science & Technology Park. Royal Science & Technology Park. July 8, 2019. August 28, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210828100947/https://rstp.org.sz/board-members/. dead.
  2. Web site: South Africa's FinanceGPT simplifies financial analysis, set to interface in local languages. Annie. Njanja. September 22, 2023.
  3. Web site: SA start-up uses crowdfunding for insurance. Paula. Gilbert. May 13, 2016.
  4. Web site: Eswatini Born Entrepreneur Develops FinTech Platform. May 3, 2018.
  5. Web site: First Liswati Makes it to Forbes List. new.observer.org.sz.
  6. Web site: Swazi Born Entrepreneur Making Waves in SA Insurance Industry. July 9, 2016.
  7. Web site: Why this 25 Year Old Fintech Entrepreneur Thinks Your Peers are Your Biggest Investments. May 18, 2017.
  8. Web site: Forbes listed Liswati rejected by his own country. June 6, 2018.
  9. Web site: Swaziland-born entrepreneur introduces crowdfunded insurance. July 1, 2016.
  10. Web site: Riovic Corporation: Private Company Information – Bloomberg. www.bloomberg.com. December 15, 2023 .
  11. Web site: Forbes Africa 8 Years And Growing – Forbes Africa. October 14, 2019. June 16, 2021. en.
  12. Web site: October 16, 2020. Sthofeni, Prince Hlangusemphi, Walter Bennet joins RSTP as board members. June 16, 2021. Independent News. en-US.
  13. Web site: Mbingo . Bodwa . RSTP BOARD IN SHAMBLES . 2024-06-06 . new.observer.org.sz.
  14. News: Soble . Jonathan . 2017-01-30 . Masaya Nakamura, Whose Company Created Pac-Man, Dies at 91 . 2024-03-01 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  15. Web site: Times of Swaziland.
  16. Web site: Sukati . Sibongile . RSTP Board Member's Questionable Removal . https://web.archive.org/web/20211220123128/https://www.pressreader.com/eswatini/times-of-eswatini/20210916/281509344316246 . 2021-12-20 . PressReader.
  17. Web site: Crowdfunding site launched to help 500 SA students cover tuition fees by end of 2015 – htxt.africa. October 28, 2015.
  18. News: Crowdfunding to aid #FeesMustFall campaign. Mzekandaba. Simnikiwe. October 28, 2015. ITWeb. November 8, 2018. en-ZA.
  19. Web site: Crowdfunding platform EduFund seeks to save SA students from tuition debt – Ventureburn. October 26, 2015.
  20. Web site: Free online academic institution launched. www.bizcommunity.com.
  21. Web site: Today's Top Entrepreneurship and Business Stories (7 August). August 7, 2017.
  22. Web site: FREE ONLINE ACADEMIC INSTITUTION LAUNCHED – Social TV. social-tv.co.za.
  23. Web site: Munich Re Foundation – Contact. www.munichre-foundation.org.
  24. Web site: What does the Fourth Industrial Revolution hold for Insurance? – Access to Insurance. a2ii.org.
  25. Web site: Entrepreneurs Who Changed History by DK. www.penguin.com.au.
  26. Book: Entrepreneurs Who Changed History. Dorling Kindersley. 2020. 9780241410271. 311.
  27. Book: Simple Algorithms. Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP. 2021. 9781538274514. 24.
  28. Book: December 15, 2021. Simple Algorithms. February 8, 2024. 978-1-5382-7451-4 . en-US . Thompson . Sam . Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP .