December 3, 2018/EY
Davison Norupiri of Davipel Trading (Pvt) Limited receives the Exceptional category award; The Emerging category award goes to Deborah Merdjan, CEO of Camelot Group; For her outstanding contribution towards creating social and economic change as a founding member and CEO of WIPHOLD – and for the empowerment and development of women – Gloria Serobe is awarded the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award.
EY’s (www.EY.com) commitment to entrepreneurs, in both emerging and developed economies around the world, helps ensure that we are working with more of tomorrow’s global leaders, today. This year, Ridhwan Khan of Mobicel Communications was named winner of the Master Category in the EY World Entrepreneur Award. The winner of this category goes on to represent Southern Africa at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Awards in Monte Carlo in June 2019, where he will compete with over 50 leading entrepreneurs from across the globe.
“Always look at failure as the beginning, and never as the end,” says Ridhwan.
Ridhwan Khan, 38-year-old founder and CEO of Mobicel, knew he was never going to be a suit-and-tie corporate worker, climbing his way up corporate ladder. He had his eye on something bigger, something inspiring, something fresh and disruptive. More than a decade ago, he set his sights on one simple but powerful core ideal: that in the information age, mobile devices are necessities, not luxuries. Having grown up in Polokwane, he knew well how inaccessible these necessities could be to many South Africans.
With his focus on lower income groups, Ridhwan had seen the gap in the market for an affordable cellular brand and was determined to bring accessible mobile connectivity to that market – at a fraction of the cost of established global manufacturers. In 2007, the new brand, Mobicel, was launched.
10 years later, Ridhwan’s efforts are paying off. Mobicel devices are now sold in more than 5 200 stores nationwide. The company is listed with all major South African cellular operators and has grabbed 18% of the South African cellular volume market share (and growing). It is South Africa’s leading and fastest growing cellular OEM and is expanding its reach internationally.