{"id":2193,"date":"2017-02-27T12:38:35","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T12:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/?p=2193"},"modified":"2017-02-27T12:38:35","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T12:38:35","slug":"up-close-with-jean-chawapiwa-ja-africas-board-chair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/up-close-with-jean-chawapiwa-ja-africas-board-chair\/","title":{"rendered":"Up Close with Jean Chawapiwa, JA Africa’s Board Chair"},"content":{"rendered":"

JA:\u00a0Why did you join the board of JA Africa\u00a0and why do you think JA is important?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

JC:\u00a0I was working for Rio Tinto as Vice President, Communications and External Affairs Africa based in Johannesburg when JA Worldwide<\/a> (JAWW) contacted\u00a0Rio Tinto HQ in London and\u00a0asked if they could\u00a0have a\u00a0representative on the Africa Board.\u00a0I was asked if I would be interested in taking up the opportunity. I didn\u2019t know about JA at the time, but I attended the first meeting at Citi Offices in Sandton and I was thrilled at the work JA was doing as well as the composition of the board. \u00a0That is how I joined the board now 7 years ago.<\/p>\n

JA is very important globally but more so in Africa. \u00a0I strongly believe entrepreneurship is part of the solution to a large number of Africa\u2019s challenges. JA\u2019s work is particularly important because we are educating youth on entrepreneurship rather than waiting until people are looking for jobs. I think\u00a0entrepreneurial education should be part of school curriculum in all countries on this continent. Not everyone can be an entrepreneur, but let’s get them thinking about it early in their lives and allow them a safe environment to experiment. That is why the work JA is doing is so crucial, we need to start with younger youth so it becomes a viable option for many of them in the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JA is a global program, operating in 122\u00a0countries<\/a> so we learn from each other. It’s amazing to hear the challenges and learnings from so many of our global colleagues, the JAWW Board meetings are fascinating in teaching us what we have in common as well as sharing sustainability strategies and ideas. The Africa team also shares a lot and contributes significantly to the growth and strengthening of the organization.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JA:\u00a0What has been your most memorable JA experience?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It would have to be the\u00a0Company of the\u00a0Year\u00a0competitions<\/a>. It is difficult to say which year was\u00a0the\u00a0best. I have attended one in Nairobi, one in Swaziland<\/a>, one in Gabon<\/a> and last year\u2019s one in Zimbabwe<\/a>. I really enjoy\u00a0the\u00a0Company of the\u00a0Year\u00a0Competitions, I am amazed\u00a0at the talent and confidence of our youth;\u00a0the innovative projects presented, and the fact that for a large number of the attendees it\u2019s their first time out of their own country, first time staying at a hotel and the competition allows them the opportunity of meeting youth of their own age from over 10 to 14 African countries.<\/a>\u00a0The businesses presented are often new ideas to solving the problems they experience in their lives or an innovative application and coupling of indigenous knowledge and local resources.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JA: You come from a long career in the mining industry.\u00a0How did you as a female enter and succeed in the mining industry?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

JC:\u00a0 I had been working for the\u00a0CSIR\u00a0(Council of Scientific and Industrial Research)\u00a0for over 6 years in various management roles and I was ready for a new challenge.\u00a0 A\u00a0friend\u00a0pointed out an advert for a Director of Communications role in the mining industry. I followed up, had several interviews and got the job.\u00a0I had worked in the CSIR\u2019s division of Mining technology (Miningtek). Being in the leadership team I had great insight into the key stakeholders, challenges and opportunities of the industry.\u00a0 I had also been involved in several CSIR projects with the Minister and Deputy Ministers of Mining in South Africa. \u00a0I joined Placer Dome, an amazing Canadian company which was family-oriented but also supportive and development oriented; I learned a lot there and got to spend a lot of time in Tanzania. The success really came\u00a0from a lot of team work, strategic focus and a strong vision,\u00a0the whole team did very well. From there the company was taken over by Barrick Gold, that was an interesting time and I learnt a lot about hostile takeovers.\u00a0 A year later I moved to Rio Tinto and spent 6 years with an amazing Africa portfolio that included Guinea, Mozambique, Namibia, Madagascar,\u00a0Zimbabwe, Cameroon, South Africa and exploration in many more. Women should not feel intimidated by the industry, instead they should know they can make a huge difference by adding diversity and their skills. \u00a0I learnt a lot, met many amazing people, got to do a lot of travelling within the African continent and the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JA:\u00a0So why did you return to Africa to start your own business?<\/strong>\u00a0What was the driving force for\u00a0starting\u00a0your own business?\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

JC:\u00a0I was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in the UK, Greenwich in London to be precise, I studied Marketing and Communication, my first professional job was with BT in the UK where I spent many years in varied marketing & communications portfolios. \u00a0I married a South African and had my first son in the UK, then we decided to return to live in Africa and raise our family here, that was the main\u00a0reason.\u00a0After being raised in the UK\u00a0we just wanted a life in the sunshine and the chance to grow into the opportunities around\u00a0Africa, we could see that Southern Africa had a lot of potential especially for us as young, black professionals. So I didn\u2019t come to start my own business, the business came later when I realized I wanted more and wanted to make more of an impact.<\/p>\n

I could see some gaps in the market and wanted to have the opportunity to actually see what solutions we could come up with, be innovative and have the opportunity to work with the people I want to work with. JA was one of those opportunities that came up and I have over the years as a Board member grown and I am now the Chair of the Africa Board, this has placed me on the JA World-wide Board and introduced me to a wide array of people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JA:\u00a0Why are you passionate about\u00a0entrepreneurship?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I really believe entrepreneurship<\/strong> is a big part of the solution\u00a0for Africa\u2019s challenges. Job\u00a0creation\u00a0is one of our biggest challenges, we have a lot of\u00a0youth and\u00a0adults unemployed. We need to be an\u00a0innovative continent to be able to keep up with the\u00a0rest of the world, but also lead on some things on our own terms. We have huge\u00a0opportunities\u00a0and huge resources\u00a0that\u00a0we can use\u00a0differently\u00a0to really\u00a0improve\u00a0our own futures.\u00a0I believe that\u00a0the\u00a0biggest part of the growth on the continent will come from the effort of its\u00a0people\u00a0themselves saying\u00a0\u2018this\u00a0is\u00a0what we want to do\u00a0and this is\u00a0where\u00a0we can go.\u2019\u00a0I really believe we are an entrepreneurial, innovative and hardworking continent. There is a lot of visible entrepreneurism in every African country, too many start small and stay at survival stage, we need solutions that help with up scaling the small, medium and large businesses. \u00a0We can and must create a lot\u00a0of\u00a0multinationals\u00a0from the continent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JA:\u00a0JA conducts leadership camps\u00a0for girls\u00a0across Africa, so what advice do you have for\u00a0young\u00a0girls as they think of\u00a0their\u00a0future\u00a0careers?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I think we must all learn to understand and embrace our\u00a0strengths, recognize our weaknesses\u00a0but not allow them to be barriers. \u00a0The world is changing, there are new careers and opportunities everywhere, my advice is get to know yourself, be adventurous, have fun, don\u2019t be afraid of new challenges, work extremely hard and always strive to excel. \u00a0Open yourself up to see the opportunities around you, learn to collaborate and don\u2019t be afraid of what the human race calls failure, see it as part of a path to learning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JA:\u00a0What was the process for you in understanding your strengths?\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

JC: There are several stories I can tell you about how I came to realize my own strengths. My father was very strict,\u00a0we were living in Greenwich, my younger sister and I weren\u2019t the only black kids at our junior school but we were the\u00a0only Africans, so we were teased a lot. As such we spent a lot of time in the local library, we read like crazy, I am one of those who would read books under the cover when my mum thinks I am asleep. In my first temping job after\u00a0graduating, I ended up working in British Telecom\u00a0(BT)\u00a0doing secretarial work.\u00a0 I was part of a group of young secretaries doing work for several managers all on the same floor. They would put work in the trays, we would\u00a0type the work, they would collect and bring back their edits. After a few weeks, I realized several of the managers kept putting their work in my tray. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t understand why; I was the only black person\/ women. I thought this must be some kind of racism. The other girls are full time and I was part time. One day I asked\u00a0one of the managers,\u00a0and he told me it was because my grammar was\u00a0good, that I was correcting their work therefore needing fewer changes. That\u00a0for me was one of the first realizations that I was good with the written word. \u00a0The skill and love of working with the written word has carried my career in so many ways, through different industries and responsibilities.\u00a0 I also like to be challenged so big projects or complex projects bring out the hard worker and problem solver in me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JA:\u00a0What\u00a0do you think are the most important levers to reverse\u00a0the trend of youth unemployment in Africa?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

JC:<\/strong>\u00a0I think one of them is entrepreneurship\u00a0education,\u00a0opening the minds\u00a0of youth to being more creative and more entrepreneurial.<\/p>\n

Part of that is changing\u00a0the mind-set of parents to allow\u00a0that change to\u00a0happen.\u00a0That lever can only happen if\u00a0government, financial institutions, education institutions, the private sector and any other sectors work together. Entrepreneurship education and support is crucial; a lot is already happening and hopefully all the different players in this will connect and partner more.<\/p>\n

We also need new institutions that\u00a0can\u00a0step into the space of funding support and\u00a0short term\u00a0loans, this is often a huge barrier to success, and growth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JA:\u00a0What is your advice on entrepreneurship\u00a0for Africa\u2019s youth?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

JC:<\/strong>\u00a0Don\u2019t\u00a0be\u00a0afraid.\u00a0The word entrepreneur\u00a0sometimes conjures\u00a0up images that make people afraid, it\u2019s a big unknown.\u00a0We\u00a0need\u00a0to find\u00a0different\u00a0ways to frame the word and the idea. A lot of us come from\u00a0entrepreneurial\u00a0families\u00a0but we just never called them entrepreneurs.\u00a0The advice is don\u2019t be afraid of starting or failing, we know from the material we read that many of the best entrepreneurs failed over and over but learnt from their mistakes and continued.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There\u00a0are\u00a0a lot\u00a0opportunities that the\u00a0youth can take advantage of and they should do exactly that. The\u00a0opportunities of leaving\u00a0school or\u00a0leaving\u00a0university and\u00a0getting\u00a0a job is\u00a0fast fading away for many reasons including mechanization, cost cutting, older people working for longer, technology etc. \u00a0What we need\u00a0is\u00a0a lot more young people\u00a0who\u00a0say\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI am\u00a0going\u00a0to leave\u00a0university and I will create that company that will recruit from my university\u201d, those opportunities are there.<\/p>\n

Careers are changing rapidly,\u00a0people shouldn\u2019t be so hung up on the word career instead focus on\u00a0their strengths and opportunities. There are new jobs and money making opportunities coming up all the time, that will continue to happen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JA:\u00a0If you could advice your younger self about\u00a0her\u00a0career choices what would it be?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

JC:\u00a0It goes back\u00a0first\u00a0to understanding your strength.\u00a0It took\u00a0me a while\u00a0to really\u00a0see what my strengths were even though they were\u00a0kind of out there in front of me and I was doing well, very well, very quickly. So, I\u2019d say it\u2019s really\u00a0about\u00a0understanding\u00a0your strengths,\u00a0follow what\u00a0you love and don\u2019t be afraid. That is what I would say to my younger self too and have more fun in work too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About Jean Chawapiwa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ms. Jean Chawapiwa is one of the few women who have reached the top in the South African mining industry. After serving at senior levels in the external affairs, government relations and communication portfolios of three global mining companies, Rio Tinto, Barrick Gold and Placer Dome, Jean recently set up her own consultancy\u00a0practice utilizing\u00a0her extensive knowledge gained from 9 years in the mining sector. During this time her portfolio supported businesses in South Africa, Namibia, Guinea, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Cameroon, and Tanzania.<\/p>\n

She has extensive experience in external affairs, communication, change management and media across Africa, which included work on several divestments and acquisition. She also represented the Mining companies on the Executive Council of the Chamber of Mines (South Africa); BLSA (Business Leadership South Africa); WEF Africa (World Economic Forum); NBF (NEPAD Business forum); African Union; Mining Indaba & various other conferences; she also arranged and took part in wide ranging national and international government meetings and engagements.<\/p>\n

Jean continues to sit on the Board of Junior Achievement\u00a0Africa, she was the first woman to sit on the South African Chamber of Mines Executive Council where she sat for over 6 years ending December 2012. She chaired the Chamber of Mines Communications Committee; sat on the Board of Rio Tinto Management Services; and American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa (AmCham).<\/p>\n

Jean is the Founder and MD or Win Win Solutions 4 Africa Consultancy, she is also the Country Director for WEConnect International in South Africa and the Board Chair for JA-Africa with a seat on JA World-wide Board.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JA:\u00a0Why did you join the board of JA Africa\u00a0and why do you think JA is important? JC:\u00a0I was working for Rio Tinto as Vice President, Communications and External Affairs Africa based in Johannesburg when JA Worldwide (JAWW) contacted\u00a0Rio Tinto HQ in London and\u00a0asked if they could\u00a0have a\u00a0representative on the Africa Board.\u00a0I was asked if I …<\/p>\n

Up Close with Jean Chawapiwa, JA Africa’s Board Chair<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15,22,24,30,39,40,55,99,100,103],"class_list":["post-2193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-africa","tag-board-of-directors","tag-career","tag-company-of-the-year","tag-empowerment","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-ja-africa","tag-work","tag-youth","tag-zimbabwe"],"acf":{"featured_alumni_video":"","year":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}