Young Entrepreneur Sets Sights On Creating Employment

Lita holds a BCom in Accounting from the University of Pretoria, a BCom Honours in Finance from the University of South Africa, and an MBA from the University of Manchester. He has worked for companies such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa, where he held various jobs such as Financial Analyst, Investment Officer, Senior Investment Officer, and Executive Coordinator. Prior to that, he worked for the National Empowerment Fund, where he was an Investment Associate. 

“We were driven by our passion to change our peoples’ lives for the better coupled with an ambition to build a successful black-owned firm. The high levels of unemployed youth, women, and people living with disabilities in Africa persuaded us to think and package solutions to such challenges. We thought that the skills and experience we gained during our time of employment, having structured deals that worked in the most difficult countries such Zimbabwe and DRC, had prepared us to be of use to African youth, women, and people with disabilities,” said Lita in an exclusive interview with Youth Time.

Tsori Capital are primarily in the financial sector raising funds for big organisations, but their recent venture into public-private partnerships whereby they raise financing for job creation projects has shed some light on the general public-private proposition.

“We have had funding approved by SEFA for a waste sorting and bailing plant in Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District municipality, and we are currently raising funds from Industrial Development Corporation, Small Enterprise Finance Agency, and other Development Finance Institutions. This initiative has been a success,” said Lita. 

The project has been a resounding success as it has managed to create a number of jobs and is still breaking new ground.

“We have raised funding for a waste recycling project that has created 520 jobs and also incorporated 600 reclaimers in the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District in North West, South Africa. We are also implementing a project in Ladysmith Municipality that is creating more than 200 jobs. We are also in the process of implementing a cereal production plant, juice production, ready-mix, and bricks manufacturing plants that will also create more than 1000 jobs. Business plans and financial models are completed, and we are in the process of raising funds for these plants,” he testified.

Lita hopes to see this approach copied throughout the whole of Africa. Africa is currently riddled with adverse poverty emanating from high unemployment rates. Analysts have predicted that a further surge in these already inflated figures would spell disaster for the continent.

“We would like this program to extend into the rest of other African countries. The response has been both negative and positive. Some entities have seen the light and joined into this program and others are playing a wait and see game. Hopefully all will come on board as we do not require money from them, we would like them to offtake the products from the co-operatives that they are currently using and sourcing from other suppliers,” attested Lita. 

Tsori Capital was set up in 2010 and is 100% black-owned with a 70% female majority shareholding. Tsori Capital employs a highly diversified, experienced team with backgrounds from various disciplines and a wealth of experience in Mechanical Engineering, Water and Sanitation, Accounting, Project Management, General Consulting, and Investment banking.

The company started off with just two employees but it now has a staff complement of fifteen.

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