Born in South Africa to a Nigerian father and a South African mother, Xolan Ndhlove’s journey to stardom is an epic tale.
From being the feared man who was placed behind bars to becoming a successful entrepreneur and most loved in the community for series of philanthropic gesture, his transformative journey is an inspiring story for all generations, the founder and Executive chairman of Umeh Group Limited is a proof of the saying we have the power to change tracks in our lives and determine our own success and failures.
Ndhlove is telling his life story to inspire Nigeria’s youth. Events took a wrong turn for Ndhlovu when he became a part of a gang and violence became a regular segment of his life.
He was eventually arrested and convicted for attempted murder and possession of a semi-automatic weapon. It was behind the bars that he decided to upgrade his outlook towards life and make a determined effort to pursue new goals.
He journeyed through multiple countries like Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Tanzania through his childhood and settled in South Africa in 2001. His first job was washing dishes for a roadside vendor for a meager amount and at the age of 22 he found his love for DJing.
He was nicknamed as Master Ziggy for his skill with the discs and he crafted his own albums and performed for various radio and TV stations like 5FM (South Africa), Energy100FM (Namibia) channel O (Africa) amongst others.
And how did his journey to stardom started? He read Richard Branson’s autobiography and the story of Branson’s Virgin group inspired him to form UMEH Group in the next stage of his life.
He started investing systematically in start-up tech companies and historically become the first person to legally make a million dollar behind bars thanks to technological advancement that legally enables well behaved prisoners access to accessories such as laptop.
Ndhlovu set up UMEH conglomerate which have subsequently developed multiple subsidiaries in the fields of finance, media, real estate, blockchain, consulting, and investment.
Today the UMEH Group umbrella shelters 18 different companies like the UMEH Capital Limited, Royal IVY®, UMEH Properties, UMEH Logistics and many others with total cumulative capital commitments of the Group amounting to R490 million at the present date.
The group has also established a significant presence in the media space with 11 magazine and newspaper titles including Affluent, Star Magazine Africa and Daily Afrika News (DailyAfrika.com) which have become one of most visited portal for African news, with over 20 journalists across Africa that deliver unparalleled coverage of African news, breaking news, sports, tech news, in-depth analysis of the latest trends.
UMEH Lifestyle a subsidiary of UMEH which owns 55% of Royal IVY® South Africa luxury brands recently entered into R100 million meagre to develop 20 signature stores across Africa with the first segment of the development having kicked off in Polokwane, South Africa.
Ndhlovu holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce and an MBA. While managing the company’s investment strategies, Ndhlovu is not affected by the success of his own business ventures. His colleagues describe him as an extremely humble person along with the trait of generosity. In his philanthropic endeavours, he has established the Ziggy’s Foundation which aims to promote education and eradicate poverty throughout Africa.
With the establishment of $10 million UMEH Group Educational Fund needy students in countries such as South Africa, Nigeria and Namibia has benefited greatly.