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Xolile Xaba explores
problems in his community and then devises ways to solve
them using technology. He is heading for the One Young
World Summit in Colombia, taking place in October, to
show off his work. A young South African who
developed an app for his grandmother to help her find
her car, has been invited to the One Young World Summit,
to be held in Bogotá, Colombia, from 4 to 7 October, to
display his innovations.
Xolile Xaba, 22, grew up in Newcastle in northern
KwaZulu-Natal. Along with Car-Park, he has also designed
BizzPort, an app that connects African entrepreneurs
with each other and with events near to them. The
business news app also has an online boardroom.
Xaba represented South Africa at the same summit in
Ottawa, Canada, in 2016. He was one of 2 500 young
leaders and innovators from around the world, invited to
attend. This year, he will be attending the summit to
showcase his apps on the world stage.
The summit, according to online entrepreneur news
platform SME South Africa, is geared towards empowering
promising and creative young leaders from around the
world, aged between 18 and 30, who have a passion for
global issues and who possess a track record of having a
significant impact in their communities.
Young leaders are also introduced to mentors at the
summit. Previous mentors include Bob Geldof, Kofi Annan,
Sir Richard Branson, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Emma
Watson and Arianna Huffington, as well as Archbishop
Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
In 2015, Xaba founded Prefect Communications and
Developments Inc, after he had created BizzPort. "The
company is currently focused on developing BizzPort as a
product that will be distributed throughout the
continent," he said.
Following BizzPort, Xaba created the car park app as a
gift for his grandmother. "It wasn't created for
commercial purposes. I was just trying to solve a
problem that we have been facing for ages; we even
forget it's a problem and that it needs to be solved.
"I realised that a lot of people who owned cars
struggled with locating their cars in huge parking lots,
whether it was in a shopping mall or at a festival. My
granny is part of the statistic," he explained.
"I was just looking at creating a quick solution for the
problem, specifically for her. I showed my friends the
app and they were so excited about it.
"Basically with everything I build, I aim to solve a
particular problem. Even though it was just a hobby it
has taught me a lot about how people of different ages
react to different technologies. ¡V Sources:
SME South Africa and
Channel Africa: Change your game. |
