Pretoria-based technology company Noborox is creating a new social platform to bring relevant internet-based business information to South African youth.
Wayami was founded by Noborox co-founders Sibusiso Khoza and Kelly Kuyunsa, both of whom attended the same computer engineering class in university.
Wayami offers a guide, which assists aspiring young South African entrepreneurs to draw up a business plan, provides information on how to go about sourcing funding and how to be more appealing to the market upon completing tertiary education.
Speaking to HumanIPO about beginning the process of establishing Wayami, Khoza said: “[In] 2011 we registered as a business and we had the idea of Wayami. We were trying to raise funds to get it off the ground. Last year we went to Vodacom Ventures and they helped us with shaping it the right way and they opened some doors for us.”
Khoza said Vodacom Ventures, through Afrigis, did not necessarily assist the two entrepreneurs financially but provided the infrastructure, office space and mentorship to begin.
He said Wayami has not yet been officially launched, but has been “online since January… For now… we are still working on it.”
Khoza said the name “Wayami” came about through one of his partners, who is French-speaking. “It means true friend. We had struggled for about two years to find somebody who actually believed in us… We wanted to empower the youth and also keep it (Wayami.com) interesting and someone who always gives you good opinions and good advice is regarded as a best friend, that’s how we came up with Wayami”.
Regarding other social media sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, Khoza said Wayami is not attempting to compete with them. “We are trying to offer a unique perspective to South African issues, because we are focused on South Africa, we’re not trying to serve other markets right now.”
“We understand South African issues, we understand the youth really needs – they want to [be] empowered. Yes, we want to be social, but we want to offer something relevant to them,” said Khoza.
However, the future plans for Wayami will not be exclusive to South Africa as Khoza intends to expand the service to other African countries, such as Nigeria and Kenya.
“We are not just going to move it as it is, we will tailor it according to the issues [in other African countries], because South Africa may be experiencing certain things [whereas] Nigeria may not necessarily be the same.”
