\n

Entrepreneur and innovator Ntuthuko Shezi is the founder and CEO of Livestock Wealth, a fintech company with an investment platform that offers crop and livestock investment opportunities to people who are not farmers, but like the idea of being part of a farming enterprise. Livestock Wealth also has a funding model to help farmers who need working capital for their expansion projects. Shezi talks to Peter Mashala <\/strong>about wealth creation through agricultural investment and bringing farming closer to communities at home and abroad.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2001 Ntuthuko Shezi, known as Shezi, graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT) with a degree in electro-mechanical engineering \u2013 a degree he says gave him career options that would put him on track for financial success. The first person in his family to get a degree, Shezi was driven by a goal to create family wealth and release people from the burden of poverty.<\/p>\n

Born and raised in Ndwedwe, a tiny rural town in KwaZulu-Natal, his interest in agriculture was rooted in a childhood spent in a community with a strong farming culture, mainly in sugarcane. \u201cAgriculture was the economic backbone of my community. As I grew older, I realised that agriculture, with some innovation, is an industry that holds endless opportunities for young people, especially in Africa,\u201d says Shezi.<\/p>\n

The family\u2019s involvement in farming has had a major influence on Shezi\u2019s entrepreneurial spirit. His mother kept a few cattle and some sheep mainly to pay the school fees and provide milk for the family. His uncle contracted on sugar cane farms when the cane was cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe owned a tractor and a loading bin. I was always with him, helping out during school holidays and on weekends,\u201d he says. This is where his practical business learning and training started. \u201cI noticed that farmers do make money, because even in a small dusty town, you\u2019ll have a grocery store, a filling station, a bank and a car dealership.\u201d<\/p>\n

BRIGHT CAREER PATH AHEAD<\/strong><\/p>\n

After matric Shezi was awarded a bursary to study electro-mechanical engineering at UCT. And then, in his second year, his mother passed away. As the oldest son, the death of his mother pushed him to step up as a guardian to his four siblings while he was studying.<\/p>\n

Shezi says he had always loved business and sold sweets, vetkoek <\/em>and recycled bottles even while he was at primary school. But he acknowledges that his mother\u2019s passing strengthened his entrepreneurial drive.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother\u2019s pension money wasn\u2019t much, but I had to stretch it as far as possible. At least until I finished studying and found a job,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

He came up with an idea to boost the family income by starting a video arcade games business and he bought four machines and put them in the cafeteria on campus. \u201cThe business did well, and we banked decent money every week,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Then he started learning about online share investment. His first account was with Charles Schwab, a broker and investment advisory website through which he bought his first shares. \u201cI bought shares locally from companies such as MTN and Old Mutual, and from international companies registered on the New York Stock Exchange,\u201d says Shezi. He read everything he could find on Warren Buffet and took Bufffet\u2019s investment advice to heart. \u201cOne piece of advice he gives is never to invest in something you don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Shezi completed his degree in 2001, there were several job offers lined up for him, including one from Transnet. \u201cBut by the time I finished my degree I knew I didn\u2019t want to fix trains. I was already too interested in business,\u201d he recalls. So, he took a job with Accenture South Africa, a fintech business, where he quickly started climbing the corporate ladder.<\/p>\n

But he says an entrepreneur always has ideas and not being able to do anything with those ideas can be frustrating. \u201cI started planning my exit from the formal job sector in 2010 and gave myself three years to do so. I paid off my debt, downgraded my car and sold my apartment to rent a smaller place.\u201d<\/p>\n

He made a significant amount of money from the sale of his apartment, which gave him a good savings base. \u201cI bought the place for R140 000 and sold it three years later for R450 000,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n