Our alumnus Wandile Zulu: Adult education studies provided tools for working for a more equal world

Wandile Zulu has an interesting life story and he is involved in many initiatives that are helping disadvantaged people and startups in South Africa. However, while talking to Zulu, one notices a striking thing: he does not talk much about himself as he prefers talking about the causes he promotes. His most significant causes are getting proper education and STEM opportunities for girls and helping South-African startups find their footing and succeed. He promotes these causes through the Wandile Zulu Foundation and the MIG Capital investment company.

Fighting for girls

The Wandile Zulu Foundation is a non-profit organisation that brings together young international innovators and offers them a platform for cooperation. Zulu finds efforts in the third sector to be valuable in the current economic situation in South Africa. An important part of his own efforts is to find and work together with volunteers who visit schools and raise awareness of educational opportunities.

“I think it is important to show that you can still do something even if you do not have a huge amount of money. In our Girls in STEM initiative, for example, our STEM Ambassadors, often women working in STEM fields, go to schools and sell the idea of taking STEM subjects which are science, technology, engineering and mathematics. That is why we say that representation matters. In South Africa, pupils choose optional subjects in the tenth grade, so this idea must be given to them before that,” Zulu says.

On the global scale, only around 25% of girls opt for STEM studies, meaning the problem spans wider than an individual country. One of the most influential factors determining whether girls will pursue a career in STEM subjects is having a teacher, parent or guardian who encourages them.

“Also in Finland, some girls who take science subjects and are good at them often drop the studies at university because they think that they are not good enough. This is thus also a psychological question,” Zulu points out.

In South Africa, girls’ opportunities for education are further undermined by practical issues, such as missing a lot of studies due to family or work obligations, or something as simple as menstruation.

“Poor school girls are already disadvantaged, and what adds to the effect is not affording to buy essentials such as sanitary pads. It is sad that South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, and even though we have pleaded to the South African Human Rights Commission, SAHRC, that these girls have a constitutional right to go to school, the problem persists. We still have much work to do,” Zulu says.

Matchmaking for startups and investors

Zulu’s second field of work has to do with the South African startup scene. The idea is to find, support and scale up young South African tech startups by connecting them with their global counterparts.

“We arrange sessions where people get advice, consultation and pitching in casual surroundings, with a free venue and some food and drinks. The attendees can come there with an innovative idea around any subject, and we gather people together to solve the problems at hand. Many of these companies are tech startups, but the business can also be something else completely,” he explains.

Zulu describes his work as facilitating interaction between startups and venture capitalists. Having observed the startup and investment scenes both in South Africa and Finland, he finds similarities and differences.

“In many countries, startups are left alone and they basically need to manage everything themselves. However, in Tampere, the city has created a favourable environment for establishing a hub for startups called Platform6,” Zulu says.

In March 2023, Zulu attended an event at Platform6 and brought up equality issues in a panel discussion. He asked the panel – which included both women and men involved in the investment sector – whether they feel they go out of their way to also fund diversity and inclusion.

“My question started a good discussion. Even the female panelists admitted to allocating more capital to men than women. This is a societal challenge,” Zulu says.

Next generation of alums

Besides the Platform6 event, Zulu’s visit to Tampere last spring also had another pleasant reason: his daughter graduated as a medical doctor from Tampere University. Zulu’s all three children were born and bred in Finland, meaning he has visited Finland and Tampere for several times after moving back to Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1994.

“In my eyes, Tampere is still the same. Except for the tram and Nokia Arena of course,” he says.

Zulu studied adult education at Tampere University and graduated as a Master of Arts in 1993. He originally came to Finland as a political exile because he was active in the free Mandela and anti-apartheid campaign. He started his studies at Tampere University on a scholarship from the Finnish Peace Education Institute which has an official partnership with Unesco.

“At that time, there were very few black people in Tampere, and I was the only black person in our programme. But I remember having a wonderful time and receiving great support from our study group,” Zulu reminisces.

As for the path from his studies to his current work, he finds the common thread to be clear.

“Many people in South Africa are struggling to get an education. Their studies may be interrupted for, for example, 2–3 years and they find it hard to go back to school after having started a family or because of working. However, we still need to educate and train these people while they are also providing for their families,“ Zulu points out.

Even though Zulu comes from challenging conditions and works with complex issues, he does not admit to feeling discouraged. He rather feels disappointed at times, but then gains more strength from that feeling.

“Instead of just pointing fingers, I prefer to roll up my sleeves and try to do something,” Zulu says.

 

INFO BOX

Who: Wandile Zulu

Education: Master of Arts (Adult Education), 1993

Work: Wandile Zulu Foundation, MIG Capital

Quote: “When I first returned to South Africa after graduation, I worked in marketing for IBM. I found it very interesting and actually not that far from education because these aspects are intertwined. When marketing, you are selling and educating people about your product. You're telling the audience how your product is going to help them and, in a way, selling them their future.”

 

Text: Tiina Leivo
Picture: Wandile Zulu

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