2020-04-01 Forbes Africa

THOBOKHATHOLA, 28,

BOTSWANA

FOUNDER,MANAGINGDIRECTOR AND

CEO,LIONTUTORING

INDUSTRY:EDUCATIONTECHNOLOGY

Itallbeganin2015.Afterhisexperience

asa universitystudenttutor,Thobo

Khatholawaskeenonimprovingthepass

ratesofstudentsinBotswana.

Sohestartedoperatingfromtheboot

ofhiscarinhisparents’hometooffer

tutoringservicestoyouthinBotswana.

Shortlyafter,hetookloansfrom

friendsandfamilyandit paidoff.

“Onehappyclientfrommychurch

turnedintotwo.Twohappyclients

turnedinto10.Tenbecame 100 andnow

weenrolmorethan1,000clientseach

year,”hesays.

KhatholafoundedLionTutoring

whichhesaysworkslikethe‘Uberfor

tutors’.HenowownsofficesinBotswana

andSouthAfrica.

“Ihavealwaysbeenpassionateabout

educationandbotheredbythedeclining

passrateofacademicsinmycountryand

inAfricaasa whole.I managedtogain

experienceandidentifieda niche,”he

tellsFORBESAFRICA.

LionTutoringtakesadvantageofthe

FourthIndustrialRevolutionbyengaging

clientsthroughtheire-commerce

platformandmobileapplication.

Sinceinception,LionTutoringhas

employedover 300 staff.

Thebusinesshaswonthreeawards

forthreeconsecutiveyearsfrom2017,

namedtheBestYouthOwnedBusiness

inBotswanaatTheBotswanaYouth

AwardsandThePalapyeBusiness

Awards.

KhatholawaslistedintheBotswana

StockExchange’spublicationasoneof

theTopYouthEntrepreneurstolookout

for.HewasalsonamedoneoftheTop 30

MostInfluentialYouthinBotswanaby

BotswanaYouthMagazine.

Khatholahasalsofoundedthe

LionTutoringCommunityBased

Projectwhichprovidesassistanceto

communitiessuchastheSOSChildren’s

home,ChildlineandMogonyePrimary

school.

Khatholaplanstobranch into more

African countries.

Onehappyclientfrommy

churchturnedintotwo.Two

happyclientsturnedinto

10.Tenbecame 100 and

nowweenrolmorethan

1,000 clients each year.