Investors are paying more attention to drivers like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while entrepreneurs are starting to better understand and communicate the effect of their company, service or product on development. Vuyolwethu Dubese is blazing a trail in this industry, helping global organisations and entrepreneurs combine innovation and impact. Vuyolwethu Dubese didn’t imagine when she started her impact design studio last year that she’d now be signing the company’s first six-figure deal. Innovtel, which opened its doors during the Covid-19 lockdown, now boasts a global clientele including the Mastercard Foundation and the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. Vuyolwethu helps organisations and entrepreneurs understand the length and breadth of their impact by identifying the touchpoints of value that are created throughout the entire value chain of the business. Parallel to building her business, she’s heading the monitoring and evaluation division at ShEquity, an impact fund based in Mauritius, which works to help African female entrepreneurs access funding and support. Funds such as these are significant, she says, because although African women have the highest entrepreneurial activity in the world, they are the last to be considered for investment opportunities.
SOURCE: TRUE AFRICA