Busi Bango – Daughter of “naughty” pioneer black taxi operator, now a renowned business executive

Busi Bango

By Tapfuma Machakaire  2/1/2023

The daughter of a taxi operator who operated his business from Makokoba, one of the oldest townships in the city Bulawayo, has become a leading female business executive. She boasts of working as a strategist for international agencies, public and private sector companies and non-governmental organisations.

Sibusisiwe Precious Bango who became executive director of Empretec in 1999 says she is passionate about entrepreneurship, economic empowerment and enterprise development.

She is an entrepreneurship ecosystem builder with over 25 years in the field. Bango wrote in her LinkedIn profile that she convenes partners and stakeholders working in the entrepreneurship space.

“I help people develop to their full potential so that they can be in charge of their lives. My work cuts across enterprise development, livelihoods, business management, research and entrepreneurship.”

She says she has undertaken several projects in policy formulation, enterprise development, evaluations, strategy development, and research. Bango has been lead consultant in various assignments in entrepreneurship, small enterprise development, access to markets, livelihoods and policy issues on investment.

Her experience at national, regional and international levels spans working in consultancy assignments in several countries in West, East and Southern Africa. “To date I have overseen the setting up of the Empretec programme and business service providers centres in a number of countries. Over the years I have worked as the strategist for several initiatives on enterprise development and consultant for organisations such as the World Bank and several UN Agencies including the ILO, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNWomen and many private and public sector companies in different economic sectors as well as NGOs and Foundations.”

But how did Bango develop these extraordinary entrepreneurial skills in a male dominated field?

In an interview with Trevor Ncube in September 2022 Bango shared the intriguing story of how she developed business skills from street wisdom in the dusty streets of Makokoba.

“It is a rough environment, but it has also got its own positives because as we say, you do not only learn about life from the positive things, you also learn about life from the negative things that happen around you, to avoid the dangers that are in your vicinity through coming across those dangers naturally.So that is where most of my street wisdom came from, the fights with other kids in the streets.”

Bango who is the fifth born in a family of eight, four boys and four girls.Says she learnt how to handle money and investments from her parents at an early age, “I learnt a lot growing up in Makokoba where I did my primary education at Lotshe Primary School. We had to wake up in the morning, do whatever you needed to do, go to school, and it was not what we do with our children now, where you drive the kids to school.”

Her father Kay Nicholson with his twin brother Benson were pioneers in the taxi business who operated Bango Family Taxis in Bulawayo during the colonial era.“I believe some of the wisdom comes from those experiences of seeing my parents doing what they had to do at a time the rules were not favourable for black business people.”

She recalls how her parents would defy the laws to excel in their taxi business.

“My dad and his twin brother were quite naughty if I can put it that way.They would park their taxis next to Selbourne Hotel an area black operators were not allowed to park and that way, they would compete with the well-established white owned taxi companies.”

She says her parents taught her to work hard and how to handle cash.“Daily I would observe the taxi drivers cashing in their daily takings at the small company office in Makokoba. In the evenings we would go into the taxis to search for coins that would have been dropped accidentally on the floor and that is how we used to get some of our pocket money for use at school.“

Bango says at that stage her parents had already taught her and her siblings about investment.

She says she also learnt to appreciate children who faced challenges and unlike her colleagues at school she would assist them.

“I remember the case of a girl who had come from another part of the country who could not speak Ndebele. Most of the kids would mock her but I befriended her and started teaching her the local language and until today we remain friends.”

Entrepreneurship is a vital tool for economic development. It works to reduce poverty, generate wealth and tackle social issues. However, to effectively achieve such benefits, it is imperative that entrepreneurship is inclusive. Attention must be focused on simplifying access to entrepreneurial activity for youths and women. To target these broader social groups would have the widest reach and, correspondingly, the biggest impact.

Bango’s business acumen has cropped up as a point of reference at various international business fora.

On April 15, 2019 the Global Entrepreneurial Congress kicked off with some thought-provoking questions. Jocelyne Girgis then an International Law student at the University of Sheffield examined the question on which groups were facing barriers to entrepreneurial activity and what could be done to address those barriers in the context of promoting inclusivity in entrepreneurship.

She noted that organisations such as Empretec were already addressing those barriers. “Empretec is focusing on promoting micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to facilitate sustainable development and inclusive growth. One key initiative is their Entrepreneurship Training Workshop which provides a blueprint suggestion for how we can empower young people and women to enter the entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

Girgis noted that by providing targeted programmes, such as technical skills workshops focused on attracting these groups, the survival and growth rates of SMEs can be increased. “This would generate economic growth and employment while stimulating the move towards an entrepreneurial ecosystem where more individuals truly do receive the opportunity to learn from others on the field.” said Girgis.

Bango holds a BBS (Hons.), MBA (Marketing & Finance) and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Enterprise Development