Young Entrepreneur seeks Universal Access to Information Services

By The NewsDay | May. 15, 2014 | 2 Min read

Young entrepreneur, Addi Tinashe Mavengere, says class-based disparities in access to information are a hindrance to development.

Young entrepreneur, Addi Tinashe Mavengere, says class-based disparities in access to information are a hindrance to development and has set his sights on changing this through his participation in the Washington Fellowship.

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“Upon my return I will expand my consulting business and launch a service that will enable thousands of people, regardless of their income, to access consulting services from highly qualified and experienced practitioners,” says Addi, managing consultant of Groupé Süisse Consulting, a business he established in 2011. “By bringing down the cost of information through this service, I hope to contribute towards the start-up and growth of sustainable business and development-oriented enterprises, and help millions of people around the country and possibly around the world make decisions more efficiently owing to easier access to information at nominal rates.”

Addi is one of 30 young Zimbabwean leaders invited to participate in the first ever Washington Fellowship, the new flagship program of President Obama’s Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI). He will complete six weeks of study in the fields of business and entrepreneurship at Clark – Atlanta University and says he hopes to “get an appreciation of how other young people on the continent have gone about making their dreams realities and changing the world for the better.”

Along with other outstanding young Zimbabwean leaders, Addi will travel to the U.S. this June to join 470 other young African leaders for a rigorous academic program at one of 20 prestigious U.S. universities. He will also participate in a summit with President Obama and other world-renowned leaders in Washington, DC.

Addi’s company, Groupé Süisse Consulting, facilitates personal and professional development training and offers strategic management and industrial engineering services. He sees the Washington Fellowship as a route “to acquire new knowledge, promote continuous professional development” and a platform to “ share common interests, to meet and form synergies where possible, and encourage participants to keep working on their ventures regardless of challenges they may encounter.”

A dynamic individual with a background that includes the arts, photography, publishing, youth development and accounting, Addi holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) degree in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo, a Graduate Diploma in Purchasing and Supply from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, and a Master of Commerce degree in Strategic Management and Corporate Governance from Midlands State University (MSU) in Gweru.

“I was really excited to be selected,” he says. ”It was quite an endorsement for me of the work I have been doing. It has got me working even harder than before on all my projects.”