Business

Local entrepreneur seeks to impact African tourism

THE PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE — A young entrepreneur is seeking to make inroads in Africa’s burgeoning travel industry. Tapiwa Kingsley Ndlovu is the co-founder and CEO of Kumba Africa, an online travel agency that offers travelers authentic experiences — tours and hikes with local guides, safaris, home stays — across the continent.

Published

7 years ago

April 15, 2019

ALONZO KITTRELS

By Ayana Jones

A young entrepreneur is seeking to make inroads in Africa’s burgeoning travel industry.

Tapiwa Kingsley Ndlovu is the co-founder and CEO of Kumba Africa, an online travel agency that offers travelers authentic experiences — tours and hikes with local guides, safaris, home stays — across the continent.

Ndlovu decided to start the platform after he spent six months in Stellenbosch University’s LaunchLab incubator program in South Africa. He visited the country in 2017 while working on his first business venture, Kasoma Africa, a now defunct website where people read, wrote and shared their African stories.

“I wanted to be locally immersed in the culture,” Ndlovu said, reflecting on his time in Cape Town, South Africa.

Ndlovu encountered issues when he sought to experience Cape Town in a local, authentic way and reflected on what it must be like for people traveling to Africa from the United States or other countries.

“So I then decided to build a platform where we aim to connect travelers to authentic travel experiences across Africa … with the twist that whenever someone books something on our platform, whatever they book has some sort of authentic feel to it — whether it’s interacting with a local, having a homemade dinner — something besides just going to a famous landmark,” said Ndlovu, who is 25 and now lives in Philadelphia.

Ndlovu incorporated his company in May and graduated from Drexel University with a dual degree in chemical engineering around the same time.

The company’s name is a nod to Ndlovu’s native land of Zimbabwe. Kumba means “home” in the country’s Shona language.

“We want to make sure that people feel like Africa is home for them and that’s why we named it Kumba Africa,” Ndlovu explained.

Ndlovu is tapping into the travel sector at a time when Africa’s tourism industry is poised for significant growth. Tourism is expected to contribute $269 billion to the continent and create 29 million new jobs by 2026, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Ndlovu often travels throughout Africa to build partnerships with hotels, tour guides, tour operators and other key suppliers. So far, he has partnered with more than 180 local tour guides and tour operating companies in 14 African countries — Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Kumba Africa site features numerous listings, including culinary tours, desert rides, trail hikes, traditional dance classes, tours of historical sites and wine tastings.

The site has been in a beta testing phase for the past year. The marketplace (www.kumbafrica.co) officially launches next week with the rollout of a new Android application.

“We wanted to make sure that we had both the web and the Android mobile app working before we said to the world here we are, but people know about us and have been using our product,” Ndlovu said.

“We want to be the number one travel company in Africa.”

This article originally appeared in The Philadelphia Tribune.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

1 week ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.