Meet Kweza

Kweza is a last-mile distribution service for inventory and digital services to informal retailers (spaza shops). The Kweza platform gives spaza shops visibility to the best prices on the market, access to higher savings, the cheapest available pricing for their inventory, and provides the convenience of facilitating cost effective delivery to the stores within 24 hours.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Kweza name stems from the founding team which was formed when they were part of the Mest programme. The Mest programme is what brought them together and continues to hold them together, as they share a passion for supporting the growth of small businesses. The retail space was the right fit for the team with prior experiences and active participation in different parts of the value chain. Kweza’s mission is to be partners in the growth stories of small businesses and help them optimize, formalize, and grow their businesses through innovation and technology.

THE TEAM

Ropafadzo Musvaire, CEO and Co-founder of Kweza Technologies. She is a writer, speaker, and self-proclaimed calligraphy artist. Ropah is also a Finance Graduate from the University of Cape Town and has worked for Yoco, a fintech payments company, which was a stepping stone to her entrepreneurial journey. 

Bekithemba Ngulube, Co-founder and Operations & Commercial Lead. He has extensive experience in retail, supply chain and logistics sectors having worked for Africa’s second-largest retailer Pick n Pay in its supply chain division.

Kelvin Ngunyi and Gloria Kaguo. Kelvin is the Co- founder and Technology Lead while Gloria Kaguo is the Co-founder and Marketing & Product Lead of Kweza. Both Kelvin and Gloria come from families that own small informal retail shops and have had first-hand experience in running and managing these shops. They understand the problems and challenges faced by informal traders.

LEARNINGS

People don’t always realise that your network is a critical contributor to a business’ success. Your networks allow you to build genuine relationships and opportunities for doors to open on your behalf. This includes opportunities to help others too! Building Kweza has been a process of continuous learning and iteration for the team and a lot of the lessons were learnt as they were being executed. While execution is important it is equally important to take a step back, review the progress and restrategize. The team has had to learn patience amongst themselves while enjoying their journey, the process, timeline shifts and the changes in their priorities.

Entrepreneurship can at times feel like an extreme sport where you have to deal with several uncertainties in an ever-changing environment. Even with uncertainties the team faces they see everyday as a chance that gives them the drive to continue building and that is an accomplishment in itself. The biggest accomplishment for the team has been on a personal level of growth as a result of resilience and continuous need to build and grow. Kweza understands the factors affecting the success of small businesses from first hand experience and from their interactions with their clients, which is why they are building a platform that combines different digital and physical solutions to ensure the growth and success of their customers.

KEY THOUGHTS 

At the center of what we do, are the customers we serve. Although they are considered small retailers, collectively they are a force that significantly contributes to the GDP of the economy. Their growth not only means the growth of a lower LSM household, but the growth of the economy.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR KWEZA?

We have spent the first six months of our business building our product and operations, and the last three months have been focused on refining the existing operations to ensure our product is built for scale. Our next step is the actual scaling of the business. To achieve this we are looking to integrate our services with a major South African retailer to allow us to expand geographically.

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