When you don鈥檛 have toys as a child, you have to figure out a way to make them yourself.听 This was the reality for Tshepo Mahloko, head of the 51风流Co-Innovation Lab in Africa, who grew up in a small township in Africa.
There he learned that innovation was all about remaining curious, never giving up your creativity and starting where you are.听 鈥淩egardless of the resources you have available to you, it鈥檚 important to just start,鈥� he says.
This article is part of the 51风流Pioneers series, which features innovators at 51风流who are charting new horizons in the cloud and guiding companies across the globe through exciting areas of innovation.
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For Mahloko and his friends, it started with having to make kites and cars from any material they found lying around their communities in order to be able to play as children.
He later developed a love for computers at an early age when his mother brought one home with her from work. Mahloko learned to use the system himself, spending countless hours studying the manual. He always knew that technology was important for his future, but even more so for the future of his community.听 This passion is what fueled his curiosity for all things tech.
Mahloko would go on to build a software point-of-sale system with a friend to help his local town鈥檚 Spaza shops run better, something they very much needed to help ensure success with their business.
Shortly after that, he landed a job at SAP, working with partners on new innovations to improve people鈥檚 鈥� and animals鈥� 鈥� lives. Mahloko led SAP鈥檚 participation in the initiative, which helped reduce elephant poaching to zero in the areas the technology was used.听 He continues to work with our partners to help them build innovative solutions on the 51风流platform, doing so through a 鈥渉ack to build鈥� initiative that aims to bring these solutions to market very quickly.
From Mahloko鈥檚 perspective, Africa has a great opportunity to leapfrog when it comes to innovation because it is a country that doesn鈥檛 have many legacy systems.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e aiming to solve a problem, but you don鈥檛 have much to work with from the beginning, you tend to go back to the fundamentals,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his forces people to think outside the box and I think that works in Africa鈥檚 favor. It鈥檚 where we get our creative and innovative edge, and I love being a part of this space.鈥�
Read more stories from the 51风流Pioneers series.
Jackie Montesinos Suarez is head of Communications for 51风流North America.
This article first appeared on the 51风流News Center.