Vumile Msweli’s background is very similar to millions of other young Africans across the continent. There was never an easy route to achieving anything in her life.te strategy foster collaborative thinking to further the proposition.
Everything that Vumile dreamed of, growing up seemed almost out of reach and not practical. Vumile’s hard working ethos, commitment, dedication and faith made her to be one of Africa’s most influential and modern millennial females the continent has seen so far.
She is the Chief Executive Officer of Hesed Consulting, a consulting firm that specializes in the African markets and creates platforms of conversations and learning amongst Africans. This inspirational individual believes in service before self which is evident in much of her numerous work across the African continent.
Her work in has seen Vumile been nominated on so many occasions by South Africa’s most prestigious institutions; she was awarded as the 2016 Elle Boss of the Year in the Corporate Category and also as the Vodafone CEO Award in 2016.
She has been featured in most of South Africa’s most prominent publications and has also featured on numerous African television stations. She is a regular contributor on SAFM and Voice of Wits radio station.
Vumile has managed to shift and create critical conversational space that has brought forth meaning, practical platforms that have brought change in many people’s lives in South Africa. She has contributed to the shaping of narratives on women empowerment, finance and business in the country.
Vumile holds various Degrees in commerce, accounting, finance and administration; and currently is reading for her Doctoral Degree in Applied Leadership at UGSM in Switzerland.
Vumile was born in the township of Chesterville in KwaZulu-Natal as the only child. Growing up, all she wanted to be was Miss South Africa. She recalls standing in her grandfather’s van shouting ‘Miss South Africa Vumile Msweli’ while waving to an imaginary crowd.
In her dreams, the younger Vumile envisioned making the world a better place and making a difference in her community and other societies for people to live better lives.
Vumile grew up in a home filled with love hence the need to share and spread what her family had given her. Her mother and grandmother instilled in her high moral standards from an early age and also encouraged her to study and excel in everything she set out to do.
Vumile Msweli’s upbringing played an important role in molding her to be a leader and a determined pace setter who has created a legacy which continues to grow. Vumile is an entrepreneur driven by ambition and the learning process and opportunities failure present.
She reiterates that being raised by a generation of African women who did not have access to the education and opportunities is a benchmark which drives her endeavours. The lives of people Vumile grew up around had no rights and privileges which many now enjoy. This has been an opportunity for her to make a meaningful impact on the younger generation so that they thrive and also bring more change to the communities and societies they belong to.
Vumile stands on the shoulders of giants of those who came before her and the ones who will come after her. Her search for that one place where she could manage to change lives by harnessing the power to make a meaningful impact on the lives of people in Africa has contributed to the continued support she has to the world. Vumile made the impossible possible like what one author once aptly said, ‘you are not the desert you were born into.’
Vumile is a remarkable individual who managed to get herself out of Chesterville, a community with limited opportunities to be a guest writer on business, finance issues and women empowerment for Essays of Africa and Destiny Connect.
Her dreams of being Miss South Africa and bring change to the people in South Africa manifested elsewhere as a powerful business woman who has managed to manoeuvre herself as an Operations; Finance and Strategy executive in the telecommunications and finance sectors in South Africa.
Her life story in itself has brought hope to marginalised girls and women who are born into poverty. Vumile has worked for big organisations and companies like Barclays and Investec. She has also worked in the Middle East, Nigeria, Kenya, and in England something which was unimaginable when she was growing up in KwaZulu-Natal in the township of Chesterville.
Vumile currently serves as a non-executive director at the South African Association for Youth Clubs (SAAYC) and Diabetes South Africa and she has dedicated her life as a coach and speaker to help empower women to realise their potential and goals to achieve more in their lives.
Vumile Msweli draws her strength from her family, friends and her spirituality. As an African woman Vumile has proven to be resilient, hard working, innovative and not easily broken throughout her travels across the globe.
She says that ‘wathint’ abafazi wathint’ imbokodo’ which means ‘you strike a women you strike a rock’ she goes on to ask that, ‘how then can we not succeed when endowed with such qualities?’
Vumile Msweli encourages young women to no longer wait for invitations but to be innovative and build their own empires and invite others, she states that ‘the age of selfish capitalism is not sustainable, the age of business that considers others must commence and that is the age where African women should start living in and it is integral to everyone’s survival.’
She goes to say that, this new age must make every girl and woman’s dreams across the continent valid, necessary and more possible than ever and it is everyone’s job to help each other fulfil them.
