Second-year Bachelor of Business Science student, Mr Jabulani Nyembe will tick off London from his bucket list when he lands there to attend the One Young World (OYW) summit at the end of this month.
As the winner of the UKZN OYW Challenge, Nyembe has a once in a lifetime opportunity to mingle at the summit with the world’s brightest young leaders and be counselled by world political, business and humanitarian leaders such as Sir Richard Branson, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Nyembe is the Founder and Managing Director of Clinalytics (Pty) Ltd, a start-up aimed at increasing the efficiency of the healthcare sector through the digitisation and analysis of patient medical records. He also currently serves as the Executive Finance Officer for Enactus and was previously the Project Manager in 2018.
Through the new partnership between UKZN and OYW- a global platform for young leaders – the UKZN OYW Challenge gives students the chance to make lasting connections with leaders from around the world, empowering them to build networks that will create positive change.
Students went through a gruelling selection process, being asked to prepare both written and video submissions demonstrating their leadership capabilities, innovation and passion to inspire greatness. In the final round, the shortlisted students were challenged to prepare a presentation for a panel of judges and asked to identify problems within the scope of UKZN’s four Research Flagships while considering global issues and aligning their solutions with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
‘The interview process was very hectic, especially because of the brilliant candidates I was up against,’ said Nyembe. ‘I somehow found solace in knowing that whoever would be the UKZN OYW Challenge winner would be a deserving, brilliant leader of benefit to students. The interview was an amazing platform which challenged individuals to think, be logical, innovative and practical on the spot,’ said Nyembe.
As a partnership created to strengthen the University’s international profile by forming long-standing strategic partnerships and advancing global student mobility, the UKZN OYW Challenge headed up by the University’s International Office showed the quality of students at the Institution.
‘We are pleased with the outcome and equally impressed with the calibre of the UKZN students,’ said International Office Project Coordinator and OYW Ambassador, Mr Kwazini Zulu. ‘As the “University of Choice”, we realise that we are a global university which must drive opportunities for global student mobility and actively create a culture of internationalisation across our campuses. Having a global partner like One Young World in our corner has yielded favourable results. We congratulate Mr Nyembe, and we are confident that he will represent us well in London.’
Nyembe said he was overjoyed to have won and grateful to the University and One Young World. ‘I look forward to growing my network through the global leaders and shapers I will meet at the summit, and learning about challenges faced in other parts of the world and how innovators go about solving them. I look forward to sharing my networks and knowledge with the rest of the University community and hope to push more students to strive for change,’ said Nyembe.
Words: Hlengiwe Khwela
Photograph: Sihle Mthethwa
