Buspreneur interview with Jabulani Mpofu

Jabulani Mpofu, being sponsored by Muzinda Umuzi Tech Hub, is the co-founder of neolab. He thinks out the box; a result of minimal resources, he says. His out-the-box thinking is evident in his co-creation of neolab in a car during school holidays.

1. Who are you? Describe yourself in 3 sentences.
   I am an extrovert with a very loud and nearly obnoxious personality; you will either like me or wish me dead. Lol! I love learning, acquiring knowledge and applying it to creating and designing systems. As an entrepreneur I am obsessed with creating value for the person on the ground and monetising from corporates.
2. What do you expect from your participation on the bus?
   I am expecting to build awesome and cool things in a charged-up, high energy and creative environment. I expect to learn a vast amount and to meet and network with powerful and inspiring people on and off the bus. Also, I expect to contribute Ideas and skills in building a product of commercial and social value. I expect to be a part of a powerful team for the bus and beyond.
3. Why Africa? Why now?
   Africa as a continent lacks greatly in terms of financial resources and infrastructure, while others may think that our scourge; I think that is the driving force for the new generation, cost effective, efficient technology sprouting up all across Africa. With minimal resources you are able to think without a box, it’s too expensive to have one. At my start-up, neolab, our development process has been shaped greatly by this. Once Takunda (co-founder) and I stayed over at school during holidays for the sake of cutting living expenses and bills and for the longest time our primary working location was our car, no office. Africa right now has a proactive, creative, budding generation of technology entrepreneurs and developers; inspired by the successes of and the doors and possibilities that have been created by the current generation of titans like Strive Masiiwa, Aliko Dangote and Patrice Motsepe. The energy and possibilities for social and commercial technological innovation have never been higher.
4. What is your area of expertise — mobile development, healthcare, or the energy sector? Please talk a little bit about how you gained this expertise…
   Mobile and web development. I started programming when I was in high school; most of what I have learnt is through internet forums, tutorials and building things. After high school I started studying Electronic Engineering, and this has greatly formalised and standardised my technique. I co-founded neolab with my friend Takunda and since then I have learnt a great deal about what industry and corporates expect form software products.
5. Please share an idea for a technology (mobile, health, energy) that can solve a problem/s local to the South African region.
   3 words: community, collaboration and decentralisation. We have few medical specialists in Africa and most people stay in rural, marginalised areas. I have the idea to create professional medical communities that can enable doctors and healthcare workers to collaborate on diagnostics and decentralise their knowledge. A nurse or doctor in a marginalised area can collect patient data and medical imagery with a smartphone/cellphone app and post it to a strict standards and curated online community of professionals that can make recommendations and assist in making a diagnosis. With strict standards, feedback, checks and balances; this could greatly increase the reach of professional healthcare services.
6. Everyone has a special story. What is yours?
   I have always loved creative problem solving and maths. In fact, early in high school I conquered the national Zimaths mathematics talent search. Growing up we didn’t have a computer at home, so when I discovered computer programming, fiddling on my aunt’s computer during one school holiday, everything fell into place. Finally I could use my creative mathematical problem solving skills to solve problems in the real world. This first discovery of computers and programming has been such an integral part of many things I do. Since starting college, I have co-founded two organisations for introducing computers and teaching basic computer skills, development and design to disadvantaged kids.
7. Are you sponsoring yourself or do you have sponsors? Please tell us about your sponsors…
   am being sponsored by Muzinda Umuzi Tech Hub, Zimbabwe’s first tech hub. This new organisation is doing great things for technology in Zimbabwe, connecting and supporting budding new developers, tech entrepreneurs and tech companies in Zimbabwe.