What do salon hair extensions have to do with the African Free Trade block?

Growing up, a native of South Africa, Shadrack Kubyane was born in the platinum belt and should have by default ended up working in the mining industry. Instead he ended up in consultancy and when you hear him talk you can understand why – he has a compelling oratory gift, and one which almost made me want to give a standing ovation at the end of our conversation.

His story is also unusual as it focuses on the blockchain – salon – hair extensions industry – not necessarily a combination one might have put together. Yet it makes sense, compelling sense.

In terms of business, Shadrack was responsible for providing the consultancy that scaled an informal sales entity into a company turning over $2 million in revenue in just 36 months.  The company was the hair extension salon company in question and the informal sales consisted of the founder touting hair extensions from her handbag at busy taxi ranks directly to punters.

Today that same business has bricks and mortar shops as well as two concessions inside five star hotels.

Find out more about the passion for blockchain and trade in Africa - and find out how many weeks until Africa's population doubles from 1.2 billion to more than 2 billion....

Jillian Godsil is an award winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Her latest book can be found at https://persons-of-interest.io/