Adapt IT nurtures Uyandiswa to successfully stand alone
In 2014, Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed software provider, Adapt IT, acquired 49% of Uyandiswa, a start-up project management consultancy based in Johannesburg, as part of its enterprise development commitment.
Sbu Shabalala, CEO of Adapt IT, announced during the company's recent annual results presentation that the programme has proven successful and has borne the fruits it had set out to achieve; to support and help small black-owned businesses to grow and thrive.
Thus, effective 1 July 2017, Uyandiswa will be independent of Adapt IT, with Amanda Dambuza, its dynamic founder and CEO, buying back the 49% at a deep discount, concluding a successful three-year enterprise development programme during which Adapt IT took the project management fledging, then a two-person business, helping Dambuza to build it into an 80 person-strong firm with a turnover nearing R100 million.
Additionally, Adapt IT has confirmed that, effective 1 July 2017, its Business Intelligence (BI) resourcing division now falls within the Uyandiswa stable, in a transaction fully funded by Adapt IT.
"This gives the company a particular edge in the niche areas within which it operates in. Our offering has been bolstered and we can continue to be a trusted partner to our clients through agile solutions that deliver tangible results and meaningful data enabling better and faster decision-making," says Dambuza.
"Uyandiswa's stellar growth over the past few years and its equally bright future are testament to the extensive support we received from Adapt IT's executive team and its recognition of our potential," explains Dambuza. "Not only has the company shared support services over the past three years, but senior management has provided a great deal of knowledge and expertise, even down to assistance with the initial deal negotiation, allowing Uyandiswa to focus on growing the business from strength to strength".
"This represents one of the few cases of enterprise development done right in South Africa, with absolute commitment from both parties, and the proof of this is in our ongoing success," she adds.
With a wealth of experience within the financial services sector, holding the capacity of Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the core services of Barclays Africa prior to the establishment of Uyandiswa, Dambuza was named as the 2016 runner-up of the coveted Businesswomen's Association of South Africa's Regional Business Achiever Award within the Entrepreneur Category. She also serves as a non-executive director of Donate-A-Piece, an NPO focusing on chess as an educational tool, allowing learners to develop critical analytical skills, particularly within disadvantaged schools and public spaces.
Uyandiswa's footprint presently spans South Africa and Botswana, with a focus on the financial services, fast moving consumer goods and healthcare sectors. As a 100% black-women owned business, the company's Level 1 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) status gives it a significant competitive advantage going forward under the new BEE Codes from a customer procurement perspective.
Focusing on the future, Dambuza plans to pay the support received from Adapt IT forward, by continuing to nurture other black-women owned businesses and closing the skills development gap within South Africa. Not only has Uyandiswa set up its own enterprise and supplier development programmes as an important part of its ecosystem, it has also established the Uyandiswa Graduate Programme. "As an independent company, Uyandiswa is moving into a new era, bolstered with all of the tools and structures we could ever need to succeed. It is a very exciting time for our business," she says.
"We are extremely proud of the success of Uyandiswa, helped in its early phase of development through Adapt IT's enterprise development programme, and look forward to seeing the new, expanded Uyandiswa thrive in the years ahead," states