Gcina Nomsa Dlamini AT AGE 14 GCINA NOMSA DLAMINI TRAVELLED TO SENEGAL AND WAS EXPOSED TO THE WORST LEVEL OF POVERTY SHE HAD EVER SEEN. IT PROVED TO BE A GAME CHANGER.
and her will to chase goals, she now wants to contribute to skills development by exposing people to places and information that are not easily accessible to them. “What I really want to emphasise for students at UJ and elsewhere, is to not only focus on one thing. You need to think out of the box, you need to continuously think outwardly. Even when you do find that job, make sure it is something that you’re passionate about. The idea is to find a hobby that makes you money, makes you happy and helps you grow. The next step is finding a second income stream. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how short-lived employment can be. There must always be a plan B. “Nobody is going to save you; you can only do that for yourself. Once people start thinking like that, they start working hard. There is too much procrastination, laziness, and dependency on other people. I learned that I had to be disciplined, understanding that I could only depend on myself, knowing the next contract would only be coming from me, the next bills would only be paid by me. It taught me responsibility and independence,” she says.Gcina believes that success is to be able to give back to your community in a way that creates opportunities for other young people. “I don’t need an applause from the village. Success is knowing that you are doing something great in your quiet little corner.” Having being awarded a scholarship for the IE Brown University Executive MBA course for their 2023 calendar year, she is excited to learn new skills and positively impact her industry. As a word of advice for young alumni, Gcina says, “You are not everyone’s cup of tea, go where you are valued.” Gcina Nomsa Dlamini holds a BCom in Economics and Econometrics from UJ (2017)
Youth unemployment in South Africa is too high to only consider formal employment after graduation. Students tend to look for jobs after completing their studies because they don’t feel they have the skills to start their own businesses, which is simply not true, says Gcina Nomsa Dlamini, Senior International Trade Manager: Europe & UK at WESGRO in Cape Town and founding owner of Merchantry Worldwide, a high- end travel business using travel as a catalyst for business and investment. Merchantry Worldwide focuses on skills development, says Gcina. “Graduates are skilled enough and have theoretical preparation but may lack entrepreneurial skills. However, if you are educated enough you should be inquisitive enough to find other platforms to
sustain yourself and create your own opportunities,” she says. The formal sector in South Africa is too small to absorb everybody and that is why we should be geared towards innovation and entrepreneurship, as per Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter’s school of thought. So, how does all this connect to a high-end agency using travel as a catalyst for business and investment and that is run by and partnered with a team of youthful, vibrant, well-travelled and educated individuals with expertise in an amalgam of key industries in Africa, Europe and the United States of America? Gcina, who holds degrees from UJ and Howard University in Washington, DC, says travel is the best school of life as it opens your eyes, changes your narrative of the world, and gives you skills to deal with people on an international level. Gcina started travelling on her own at the age of 14 when she went to visit her mother’s friend in Dakar, Senegal. She was not prepared for the culture shock that awaited her as she was exposed to the worst level of poverty she had ever seen. “I am not saying that South Africa doesn’t have poverty. But what I saw at the age of 14 was a game changer for me. It became the reason why I studied economics; I wanted to make a difference to the income disparities and inequality in the world.” Gcina’s dreams were realised when she was selected to assist the delegation that accompanied President Cyril Ramaphosa and then trade and industry minister Rob Davies in 2018, where she witnessed Ramaphosa tell an audience in New York about South Africa’s promising future. Driven by a desire to learn something new
Gcina Nomsa Dlamini. The formal sector in South Africa is too small to absorb everybody.
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