Most times when we hear the words crypto millionaire and prison in the same sentence, they are associated with scams, tears, lost money and tragedy but this is not the Xolane Ndhlovu story- his is a compelling story of rags to riches, determination and the power of crypto to improve lives.
Xolane Ndhlovu is a South African entrepreneur, philanthropist, investor and the founder of DafriGroup PLC. DafriGroup is a public multinational company involved in industries including, technology, finance, hospitality, blockchain, real estate, media and aviation.
DafriGroup has operations in South Africa, Nigeria, Botswana, Comoros Island, England and Wales with a fast growing list of subsidiaries including UMEH, DafriTechnologies, DafriBank, DafriExchange, DafriAir, OMAHA Hotels, DafriEstate, Royal IVY, and UMEH Motors among others serving millions of customers in Africa and across the globe.
It wasn’t always rosy and positive praise for Ndhlovu. Born in Burgersfort, a small town in South Africa, to a Nigerian father and a South African mother, Xolane Ndhlovu started from humble beginnings. To make ends meet, his early work life involved work as a dishwasher and a music DJ under the alias Master Ziggy.
He eventually found himself on the wrong side of the law in a gang-related violent incident and was sent to prison. While this looked like rockbottom, Ndhlovu soon discovered that there was no where else for him to go but upwards.
In prison, he came in contact with the autobiography of Richard Branson titled “Losing My Virginity”. Inspired by how the British mogul established his business empire, Ndhlovu embarked on his own coming of age journey and decided to not only change his ways but also to become a business mogul.
In an interview with Insider Monkey, the 37-year-old said, “When I was younger, I became inspired to go into business after reading Richard Branson’s book, “Losing My Virginity.” It’s the story of how Branson went from zero business knowledge to becoming one of the most successful businessmen of our time,”
The climb out of poverty did not happen overnight and Ndhlovu had to mobilize his savings to invest in the cryptocurrency platform Binance(BNB) and other tech companies.
He made his first million dollars while still behind bars and used the opportunity to launch an entrepreneurship center for fellow inmates aimed at equipping ex-offenders with entrepreneurship skills needed to do away from a life of crime and become productive citizens.
He built this organization into the UMEH Group which later grew into DafriGroup PLC. An aggressive entrepreneurial drive allowed the company to diversify into media, hospitality and real estate, among other interests with rapid expansion of the conglomerate into four African countries and the UK.
“My first break came a few years ago when I founded UMEH, which invests in small tech startup companies with the potential to grow. I made my first million dollars that way. And that’s exactly what we’re doing with DafriGroup.” Ndhlovu said in the Insider Monkey interview.
“DafriGroup is an investment company that prides itself on investing in the future. We look for unique investment opportunities that have the ability to move Africa’s economy forward,” he added.
In 2021, Ndhlovu scaled up with the launch of his digital-only bank, DafriBank LTD. As a part of his digital vision, Ndhlovu shared how many of the ideas for DafriBank to implement already exist in some form but an absence of a universal integration system has seen the projects gain limited acceptance.
He likened the situation to the classic chicken and egg problem: For so long, many people have been excluded from traditional banking because of a lack of resources. This makes personal financing difficult, but Ndhlovu stressed that it can also crush the dreams of young entrepreneurs and startup businesses. This highlights DafriBank’s commitment to remove entry barriers while encouraging growth.
DafriBank quickly became the bank of choice for digital entrepreneurs because of its wide-ranging banking services covering the personal, corporate, lending, small and medium enterprises market segments.
The bank pulled off the rare feat of the market capitalization of $80 million, and this propelled Ndhlovu into South Africa’s Billionaires club. Ndhlovu has an estimated crypto wealth of $300 million (R6 billion), according to the 2021 Top 50 Crypto Rich list.