UBUNTU, by Nqo Ndlovu
Impact investing to me reflects the spirit of Ubuntu. “ Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu “ is a Zulu/ Ndebele proverb which when loosely translated means, “ a person is a person because of other people”. We are, therefore I am. Our individual destinies and identities are thus intertwined.
I was raised in Zimbabwe and in my community, families relied heavily on each other for financial support. Very often, members of the community who had established themselves in the big cities and had stable jobs, would fund and support relatives with less financial means. In this way, one contributed to the betterment of his/ her community.
My friend Philani, recently supported the launch of his uncle’s spaza shop (kiosk), and most of my peers, are paying for the school fees of relatives who will one day become successful professionals and pay it forward by supporting other community members. It’s how we’ve always done it, we invest in each other. We do not make these investments to get financial gain but instead we invest in people, to generate positive impact in the lives of our loved ones and broader community.
In my travels i’ve met fellow Africans across the continent and in the diaspora and always marvel at how this mechanism is alive, across borders and generations. However, in most cases this investment behaviour is only limited to one’s relatives and immediate community.
As we launch the JAMY project, we begin with the question: “ What would it take, to expand this existing mechanism of impact investment to a wider community ?”
