Durban entrepreneur Khangelani Gama quit the corporate world to start his own business making and selling educational board games, which he plans to export. Supplied Durban entrepreneur Khangelani Gama quit the corporate world to start his own business making and selling educational board games, which he plans to export. Supplied
Durban - A Durban entrepreneur is tapping into a niche market for educational board games and has plans to export his product in the next few years.
Khangelani Gama, of Northdene, cleared out his double garage at home just over two years ago to make way for his small business, Zikhe, which involves the manufacturing, packaging and supplying of his educational board games to local markets and tourists.
Gama obtained a social science degree from the University of Westville and initially worked as a social worker for Streetwise in Mariannhill, before joining a place of safety for street children in Verulam.
He eventually quit and joined the corporate world, working for Unilever as a mass market supervisor rolling out the sale of Ola ice cream in the townships. He attended a raft of sales courses and landed a job as sales executive in charge of the then Lever Brother’s home and personal care range of products.
Gama left the multinational to join technology firm Tudor Tech in 2006, where he worked as a sales executive in charge of KwaZulu-Natal and later the Eastern Cape, but he quit in August 2017 to pursue his passion to set up his own business.
“I felt I had enough skills to take on the world. I did educational games because I’m passionate about education. For any country or person to be better, education has to be at the forefront, and because I qualified as a social scientist and worked with children, they’re close to my heart, so I thought any business I start had to involve children and education.”
Gama poured his pension into the business and sourced a manufacturer to produce two board games he’d conceptualised: Know My Africa, a puzzle and dice game that educates players on African countries; and Game 4 All, a numeracy board game. They are educational and help children’s fine motor skills neglected in online gaming.
Gama outsources the manufacturing of his games, but handles the packing and packaging from his garage. He opened a permanent shop at the popular Eyadini Lounge in uMlazi.
“When people come to visit Durban they don’t leave not having gone to Eyadini Lounge, and eight out of 10 people who visit buy my games, because they’ve never seen anything like them,” Gama said.
He said board games were making a comeback worldwide.
Zikhe is one of five KwaZulu-Natal firms that have been selected by Transnet Port Terminals and the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry as part of a joint Emerging Exporters Development Programme, which aims to develop local manufacturing businesses into exporters.
Gama hopes to begin exporting his games in the next few years and has already received interest from a potential client on Réunion Island.