Munozovepi Gwata holds a BA(Law) degree and is currently an LLB (Hons)
student who continuously uses innovative methods to change the game for
development in Africa. Her keen interest lies in the financial markets and she
started trading at the age of 17.
In pursuit of gaining more knowledge about the financial
industry, she has initiated the journey towards getting her Charted Financial
Analyst (CFA) qualification. Her interest in the financial markets is what led her
to start Kukura Capital.
Kukura Capital is a platform that Munozovepi started with the
aim of making financial education easy and accessible. Through different
materials such as blogs and videos, the aim is to make people more financially
literate so that they can make well informed financial decisions.
Munozovepi is also the founder of RichLearn, which is the
first South African financial literacy education App on the market. ReachLearn
is available on the Google Play Store.
FWIL:
What inspired you to study law?
MG:
I was inspired to study law because I was
deeply influenced by Brooksley Born, who was the first female president of the
Standford Law Review, and also graduated top of class in spite of being only
one of two females in her entire class. Other than her resilience and
perseverance Brooksely Born was a real role model for me because she forecasted
the financial collapse of 2008, and in spite of hostility against her, she
spoke her truth. This really left an impact on me because I started to see the
real influence and impact that attorneys had. This was really significant to me.
that a lawyer had the most insight on the financial markets, because I was
looking for a career path that really develops your understanding about
multiple fields and industries. For example, Nick Szabo one of the architects
of blockchain was legal scholar by trade and Peter Thiel, one of the initial
founders of PayPal and now infamous venture capitalist, was also a lawyer. On
top of that, many of today’s great activists and politicians are lawyers. All
this has made me to believe that law is a good foundation to have if you are
inspired to direct change.
FWIL:
Why a specific interest in FinTech?
MG:
My interest in financial technology stems
from my passion to create financial inclusion. I believe that there are a lot
of communities that are excluded from the financial markets, and I believe that
by gaining a better understanding in financial technology, I can contribute
towards facilitating financial inclusion.
FWIL:
How did your company and NGO, Kukura Capital
and Kukuru Foundation, come about?
MG:
I was looking for a means to solve a problem
that I had identified in South Africa. This problem was that many people in
South Africa have no control over their financial future and more than 70% are
over indebted. The main reason for this is because people are not financial
educated. This problem is not only significant to South Africa, but it is very
pronounced in our country. Being a huge fan of Rich Dad Poor Dad, I thought I
could extend those philosophies through the platform of Kukura Capital and create
financial empowerment through financial education.
FWIL:
You are a financial blogger for Fin24 and Investing.com,
how are you using these platforms to advocate for and empower other women in
finance and law?
MG:
What I mostly wish to achieve by writing
for these platforms is to show people that young females can provide
intellectual insight on matters of law and finances. My intention is to disrupt
these spaces that usually have male writers and show that women can also be
analytical and critical on these topics.
FWIL:
The journey of a legal professional is not
always an easy one. How have you managed to balance being a law student,
blogger and an entrepreneur? What are some of the lessons you have learned
along the way and how have they shaped your outlook on life?
MG:
I think that you can always find time to
do the things that you love, I am well known for saying that 24 hours is more
than enough time. I think it is important to plan out your day and the projects
you want to achieve as well as defining your goals for the day, the week, the
month and the year ahead. I am a fanatic about planning.
What I have learnt from
this journey is that anything is possible. You have the ability to take even
the simplest ideas and grow it into something that can impact other people. I
think the beautiful thing about this journey is that it taught me not to limit myself
and to take every opportunity that comes my way.
FWIL:
What is the best advice you would give to
women wanting to study law?
MG:
MG:
I would say that they should definitely go
for it and be very confident in the field of law and not be swayed by the fact
that it is a male dominate industry. The other thing I would advise a woman who
wishes to study law is to do it with excellence and strive to excel in the
field and go beyond the scope that is provided for in the lecture hall.
FWIL:
It is quite important to effectively use your
network as your network could define your net worth. How do you meet other
legal professionals and what are some of your effective networking skills?
MG:
I agree that your network is your net
worth. My best advise in this regard would be to leverage from the legal
communities that exist in your university which is what I do in my case in
order to meet legal professionals. I would also advise being an active
participant in activities such as Moot and other events that are hosted on
campus on collaboration will established law firms.
FWIL:
What does the term “role model” mean to you? Which
phenomenal woman would you call your role model?
MG:
I think a role model is someone who you
look up to. You also look to role models to gain lessons and learn from them,
so you can apply their secrets of success to your life. I have many female role
models and it is really hard to select one, but if I was to choose one I would
say that Serena Willams is by far one my biggest female role models.
FWIL:
How
can people reach out to you? (social media handles)
MG:
I
must be honest I am bad with social media, and if people want to reach me the
best way is through my website KukuraCapital (www.kukuracapital.com) , and
LinkedIn (Munozovepi Gwata). I am very active on LinkedIn, but not sure that it
counts as social media.
FWIL:
What
does being an alpha female mean to you?
MG:
For me an alpha woman is somebody who is not
intimidated by the odds and is a woman who lifts up other women.
#August #womensmonth #womenandinfluence
#connecting #power #women #influence #impart #inspire
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