RAPELANG RABANA

Featured on the cover of Forbes Africa before the age of 30, Rapelang Rabana was the founding CEO of Yeigo, an innovative Cape Town based company that developed some of the world’s earliest mobile VoIP applications. In 2008, the Swiss-headquartered Telfree Group of Companies, a pioneering next-generation telecoms operator, acquired a majority stake in Yeigo, enabling the group to provide the full range of telecommunications services as a fully licensed operator in South Africa. Coined by CNN.com as one of Africa’s Marissa Mayers, Rapelang recently founded education technology company Rekindle Learning on the belief that every person should be able to develop their knowledge and learn. Rekindle Learning explores the role of mobile devices in making this possible. Rapelang was invited to present Rekindle Learning at the World Economic Forum meeting on Africa. Rekindle Learning was profiled in the McKinsey report Lions go Digital: The Internet’s transformative potential in Africa as a ‘striking innovation’ in mobile learning. Rapelang also serves as the Chairperson for Ubuntu Africa Child Healthcare, an NGO providing lifesaving health and support services exclusively to children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Rapelang was selected as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum and invited to join the Annual Meeting in Davos in 2012 where she shared a panel with Mohammed Yunus and Klaus Schwab. She has also been listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 – Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs and the Oprah Magazine ‘O Power List’. She is an Ambassador and Juror for the United Nations World Summit Awards, a Harambe HEA ’13 Associate and also an Endeavor ‘high-impact’ entrepreneur. Rapelang graduated in 2005 with a B.Bus.Sci (Comp Sci) degree from the University of Cape Town after which, she and her classmates co-founded Yeigo.