Increasingly, as the world becomes more integrated, home-grown businesses find themselves competing for recognition with global conglomerates. When pitted against the likes of Facebook and Microsoft, they stand little or no chance at all. For this reason, initiatives like inaugural Citadel Inspiration Indaba are laudable.
A press release sent to Transform SA says Citadel Inspiration Indaba, scheduled to take place first week of September 2014, will offer a platform for home-grown success stories to be celebrated and shared. The brainchild of Citadel international, it is aimed at showcasing the stories of ordinary South Africans who get up every day to do extraordinary things.
On the background of the event, Citadel’s marketing director Andrew Finlayson explained: “The idea for the Inspiration Indaba came from our belief that everyone has a story and that everyone has a passion they wish to pursue.”
“By offering a platform for rich narrative, engagement and debate, fellow South Africans can inspire each other to tap into and fulfil their unique potential,” he added.
The illustrious list of the event’s speakers draws country’s noteworthy entrepreneurs, trail blazers, thought leaders, innovators and business leaders. They include Herman Mashaba, an proponent of free market and founder of the Black Like Me range, Siya Xuza, a young SA rocket scientist, Harvard graduate and energy technology entrepreneur, and Lee Swan, a business strategist and the first African woman to reach the Magnetic North Pole in 2011, Paddy Upton (South African leadership coach and former cricketer), Rob Stokes (modern-day tech entrepreneur and founder of the multi-national Quirk Marketing) and Adrian Saville (well-known economist and investment specialist).