Nhlanhla Dlamini

ByWBSComms

Nhlanhla Dlamini

Current title
Founder and Managing Director, Maneli Foods

Course at Wits Business School
Postgraduate Diploma in Management, 2005

A defining moment in my career
In February 2015, one month after getting married and two months after my best performance review at McKinsey & Company, I decided to end my career as a management consultant to pursue my lifelong passion of being a social entrepreneur. 

This was not an easy decision for several reasons: I was less than a year from becoming the first home-grown black associate partner in South Africa; I was building strong relationships with senior executives in crucial sectors of the economy; and – most worryingly – I had very little experience as an entrepreneur.

Despite the warning signs, I took the plunge and started Maneli Foods with the vision of building Africa’s largest export-focused agribusiness as a conduit for economic growth and job creation. While still a young company, Maneli Foods has grown in leaps and bounds. 

The company employs 150 people (mostly black youths) and sells a variety of food products locally and internationally. Entrepreneurship is a challenging career path, but I am constantly energised by my social impact and the economic potential of Africa’s industrial sector. I am glad that I took the risk of living out my passion and purpose through my work.

Similar Posts

  • Wendy Luhabe

    ByWBSComms

    After spending about ten years in corporate South Africa from 1981 to 1991, I was overlooked for a marketing position that became available. The marketing manager would not even allow me to be interviewed.

  • Diane Radley

    ByWBSComms

    When I was growing up I feared failure and the devastation I thought would ensue. I wanted to be perfect and felt any form of failure was letting me and other people down, particularly my mother who had made tremendous sacrifices in bringing up three children alone on a music teacher’s salary.

  • Madelein Roos

    ByWBSComms

    Having always had a deep interest in science, I first qualified as a chemist, and thereafter at a later stage as an engineer. In order to broaden my capabilities, I started to lecture evening classes at the Vaal Triangle Technikon, now the Vaal Institute of Technology.