RAPELANG RABANA

Passionate ed-tech entrepreneur

Founder of ReKindle Learning

Country: South Africa

Sector: Education Technology

Rapelang Rabana is a South African technology entrepreneur who is making waves both on the African continent and around the world. She established her reputation in the tech sector as the co-founder of Yeigo Communications, a company that gained international recognition for its pioneering innovations in mobile VoIP and IP communications. Today, Rapelang is the innovative founder behind Rekindle Learning, a company looking to improve education in Africa by turning people’s compulsion to check their phones into an opportunity to learn.

Rapelang is a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum, was chosen by Forbes as one of Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs, and listed on the ‘O Power List’ by The Oprah Magazine.

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Rapelang's Startup Story 

Rapelang Rabana’s entrepreneurial journey started at the young age of 22, after she graduated with honours from the University of Cape Town, South Africa in business and computer science. Coming from a family with a strong belief in the power of education to create opportunities (her parents were the first in their families to earn degrees in architecture and electrical engineering respectively), their advice was for Rapelang to focus on getting a good education.  She attended the prestigious Roedean School in Johannesburg before moving to Cape Town to further her education. Whilst at the University of Cape Town, she began the critical process of learning to code, which although difficult at first, was a process which she quickly grew to enjoy. She realised the power of computer science, and the ability to code, as the building block of being able to create something practical and of real societal value, emanating from the germ of an idea or concept.

Read more about Rapelang's startup story →

At LoA, we love what Rapelang Rabana is doing to empower people of all ages and backgrounds to take charge of their own learning and development through the use of mobile technology and learning applications, thereby opening up a whole new world of opportunities and possibilities in the future. She is also an inspirational role model for other women to follow in the world of techpreneurship in Africa, hopefully encouraging new generations of young women who will change the continent for the better through their own innovations and tech solutions to the many challenges that exist. --- Melanie Hawken, founder and editor-in-chief of Lionesses of Africa

What inspired you to start?

"I believe that in 10 years one of the greatest drivers of data usage on the continent will not just be entertainment and social media, but educational, training and learning content, and I want Rekindle Learning to be at the crux of that."

"The biggest challenge as a female entrepreneur has, for me, always been the internal battle of appreciating my own value and trusting the validity of my own journey in the absence of external points of reference I could relate to."

"The challenge as female entrepreneurs is to continue to pursue our dreams and success, with very limited historical reference of people we can personally relate to, in the absence of an established framework that reflects our ideas, interests, values, and views of success."

Featured

Follow Rapelang making news
Rapelang Rabana: “ReKindling” SA education
Rapelang Rabana: “ReKindling” SA education

Source: BizNews.com | 25 March 2015

It goes without saying that media content is saturated with negativity. Stories and images of the world’s sad state of affairs are in abundance. That’s why balance is crucial – for every bad story, there needs to be a good one. And there is goodness in this world. Take the following interview below. Cape Town-based Rapelang Rabana is using her education, skills and knowledge for the greater good of society.

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Tech Hero: Rapelang Rabana
Tech Hero: Rapelang Rabana

Source: InfoRocked | by by Anesh Sukhnandan | 22 January 2015

The temptation to idolize an international role model seems as natural as the globalization of business celebrities, who becomes more mainstream with young entrepreneurs, regularly glorified as they sell their start up for millions, rather billions of dollars. Why stray so far away when these stars can be found on our shores.

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Entrepreneur Advice

Learn from Rapelang's entrepreneur playbook

Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses is essential....

"Because of how entrepreneurship and the world of business is portrayed in our society, we are misled to believe that success in business rests in things like being good at numbers, or being an aggressive sales person and deal maker, or bossy enough to manage a lot of people. These are not the deciding factors. What makes business hard is not the business itself, but the personal journey you must undertake in order to be able to lead yourself and then others. And the capacity to do that has nothing to do with business. It stems from self-understanding of strengths and weakness, continuous self-reflection and assessment and self-regulation."

- Rapelang Rabana is a South African technology entrepreneur and founder of Rekindle Learning, a company looking to improve education in Africa by turning people’s compulsion to check their phones into an opportunity to learn. Rapelang is a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum, was chosen by Forbes as one of Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs, and listed on the ‘O Power List’ by The Oprah Magazine.

Learn to trust your intuition....

"... learn to trust your intuition and pursue the areas that interest you most. Software and technology is all about creating something from your imagination. Don’t try to be like others. Use your own unique perspective of the world to generate ideas and don’t be afraid to pursue those. You must be able to come up with an idea and trust yourself enough to pursue it."

- Rapelang Rabana is a South African technology entrepreneur and founder of Rekindle Learning, a company looking to improve education in Africa by turning people’s compulsion to check their phones into an opportunity to learn. Rapelang is a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum, was chosen by Forbes as one of Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs, and listed on the ‘O Power List’ by The Oprah Magazine.

Videos

Essential videos featuring Rapelang
Rapelang Rabana: Her Journey and Good Advice
Rapelang Rabana: Her Journey and Good Advice

Published on Mar 11, 2014

Founder of Yeigo Communications and ReKindle, Rapelang Rabana, talks about the start of her journey in forming her business and she also gives some great advice to young South African entrepreneurs out there.

CNN interview with Rapelang Rabana at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2013
CNN interview with Rapelang Rabana at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2013

Published on January 16, 2014

CNN interviews Rapelang Rabana, the Founder of Rekindle Learning and Yeigo, about Rekindle's learning and mobile and internet technology.

Using mobiles to rekindle learning: Rapelang Rabana at TEDxCapeTown
Using mobiles to rekindle learning: Rapelang Rabana at TEDxCapeTown

Rapelang talks about using mobile technology to re-imagine learning by creating interactive, personalized and adaptive learning platforms that produce data and transparently show levels of knowledge retention.

Quotes

Be inspired by Rapelang's words
Quote of the Day by Rapelang Rabana

"You have got to build expertise in your field, you have got to be world-class in your knowledge, do the hard work, deliver it, manifest in it. If you don’t have the money or funding, build expertise, it is not enough to be okay... be world-class in what you do."

- Rapelang Rabana is a South African technology entrepreneur who is making waves both on the African continent and around the world. She established her reputation in the tech sector as the co-founder of Yeigo Communications, a company that gained international recognition for its pioneering innovations in mobile VoIP and IP communications. Today, Rapelang is the innovative founder behind Rekindle Learning, a company looking to improve education in Africa by turning people’s compulsion to check their phones into an opportunity to learn. Featured on the cover of Forbes Africa magazine before the age of 30, selected as a Fast Company Maverick and named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and Entrepreneur for the World by the World Entrepreneurship Forum - Rapelang is an internationally lauded entrepreneur.

Quote of the Day by Rapelang Rabana

"...to improve and support innovation in Africa, the single most powerful thing to do is to deliver quality broadband internet to the majority of Africans. That, I think, will do a lot more than any 'Ministry of Innovation,' than any innovation fund, or any kind of innovation vehicle that we can think of....Access to information and communication is the most empowering thing we can do to support innovation. It opens doors for greater innovation in farming, education, health, and financial services."

- Rapelang Rabana is an internationally recognized technology entrepreneur, a thought leader and business speaker. She is the founder of Rekindle Learning, a learning technology company, and previously co-founded Yeigo Communications, South Africa's first free VoIP mobile services provider. In 2012 Rapelang was named on Oprah Magazine's O Power List; in 2013 she was listed on Forbes's 30 under 30 list for best entrepreneurs of Africa, and in 2014 she was named one of the Entrepreneurs of the World by the World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Quote of the Day by Rapelang Rabana

"Time pushes everything forward. No stunning success and no sorrowful failure lasts forever. Absolutely everything comes to pass."

- Rapelang Rabana is a South African technology entrepreneur and founder of Rekindle Learning, a company looking to improve education in Africa by turning people’s compulsion to check their phones into an opportunity to learn. Rapelang is a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum, was chosen by Forbes as one of Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs, and listed on the ‘O Power List’ by The Oprah Magazine.

Quote of the Day from Rapelang Rabana

"There will never be enough jobs for all the young people today – more and more of us must become entrepreneurs."

- Rapelang Rabana is a South African technology entrepreneur and founder of Rekindle Learning, a company looking to improve education in Africa by turning people’s compulsion to check their phones into an opportunity to learn. She previously co-founded Yeigo Communications a company that provided services that took advantage of the internet, mobile and cloud computing technologies to tackle the cost of communication in South Africa. In 2008, a European company acquired a majority stake in Yeigo, enabling the group to provide the full range of telecommunications services.

Awards & Accolades

Rapelang's recent awards and honours include:

  • Rapelang is a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum and was the Curator of the Cape Town Hub of Global Shapers for 2013/2014
  • Rapelang serves an Ambassador for the UN World Summit Awards promoting the use of ICT
  • 2013 - Rapelang is listed  by Forbes Africa as a '30 under 30 Best Young African Entrepreneur' and '20 Young Power Women In Africa' for 2013 and graced the cover of Forbes Africa before the age of 30
  • Rapelang Chairs the Board of Generation Ubuntu, a not-for-profit organization providing life-saving care children living with HIV in Khayelitsha