Defying the odds and breaking new ground through a new movement called #ECAfrica100 goes live today using digital media platforms as the opportunity to share African business stories

South African Visionary Vanessa Perumal through collaboration in business networks is innovating, breaking new ground and filling a much needed gap to amplify and market African businesses looking to find new markets, connect to clients and use the power of technology to scale business.

Using Digital Disruption JT Comms the company started by Perumal goes live with a Global Platform for African Businesses Through #ECAfrica100 which stands for Entrepreneur Connect Africa.

With unemployment catapulting, #ECAfrica100 is about doing business unusual to propel job creation through economic transformation and accelerate penetration into new markets.

Using technology as a disruptor to consciously drive conversations that entrepreneurial collaboration, innovation and trade; drives this groundbreaking digital TV platform which launches simultaneously in South Africa, Congo, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

Media and communications expert Vanessa Perumal is taking her innovative practice in the field to the next level. Her company, JT Communication Solutions, renowned for delivering creative entrepreneurs to the marketplace, she has now has now successfully launched several media platforms including a podcast series called #ECAfrica100 on Africa Business Radio which goes live on 11 February 2019.

Entrepreneur Connect Africa (#ECAfrica100) facilitates collaboration and exposure for African businesses to global markets. Perumal is an activist whose professional roots are in arts , business journalism and social justice.

“I’m excited that we can pioneer and use the power of digital to tell our own stories. Finding 100 Entrepreneurs many of whom are unsung traders who seldom get media coverage, so desperate for market access and more Public Relations and marketing should not be this hard to fix. To be able to solve problems in collaborative business markets is the game-change and puts us at the cutting edge of using our business networks to create sustainable business models,’ says Perumal.

As an African mom, she recognised that it is possible to do what one loves while looking after her loved ones. She exchanged her journalism career for professional communications consultancy. This was despite being a woman of colour in South Africa where, although opportunities exist in principle, realising one’s aspirations to contribute to real social change is often stymied by bureaucracy and racial and gender politics. This is not unique to the country.

“When I realised entrepreneurship was the opportunity, I dived in. My kids were young and starting JT Comms   15 years ago solved my problem (the ‘competing’ demands of career and family). That I was able to create an income stream was a double whammy! To think I could solve global problems doing what I love makes the move worth it.”

Vanessa Perumal's practice is driven by transformation and change. It is therefore not surprising that JT Communications Solutions is leading in disrupting the way in which content is delivered to consumers, enabling entrepreneurs to gain access to markets in ways that were previously unimaginable.

However, she is a realistic visionary, noting that entrepreneurship "is situational but cash flow related, it is also about solving your own personal financial needs but when you are a social entrepreneur, I reckon it is innate. Social entrepreneurship is about making an impact for the greater good, whether it is for the environment, humanity or a cause. That is why the saying "those that think they can change the world usually do" is right”.

The #ECAfrica100 series facilitates business conversations of international importance by profiling and promoting entrepreneurial stories in order to highlight the importance of dialogue around issues of entrepreneurship in Africa on a global scale. Africa is the source of the hardware that builds technology (inclusively for your many gadgets such as your Smartphone, coffee, tea, food and flowers) and African entrepreneurs can provide the solutions to the continent’s economic challenges.

#ECAfrica100 will go live from 11 February 2019 on diverse digital and traditional media platforms which include Viva Nation TV, Africa Business Radio, WeTalkBiz, and Tropics Magazine from January 2019.

For media interview and access to the 100 Entrepreneurs profiled on the PODCAST series please contact media@jtcomms.co.za (011) 788 7632 and follow the conversation on #ECAfrica100

Note to Editor

About #ECAfrica100

• ECAfrica100 stands for Entrepreneur Connect Africa
• Over 100 days a podcast station anchored on Africa Business Radio will profile business master classes
• Some of the entrepreneurs profiled in the series include Nigerian born internationally acclaimed artist and entrepreneur D’Banj. Nihka Technology Group CEO YashmitaBhana, Social and media personality Penny Lebyane, CEO of Business League of Companies Nomsa Nteleko, Managing Director of JMBusha Investment Group JM Busha amongst other trail blazers and unsung business leaders who are making business impact and problem solving.
• Entrepreneur Connect Dialogues is already scaled its operations and will be profiling #100 Entrepreneurs in 100 Days in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Congo with plans to expand across the continent.
• It’s a pioneering movement using digital as a transforming disruption to profile business stories and connect networks to new markets
• ECAfrica100 is funded by JT Communication Solutions and on a mission to secure partnerships to resource the network

We are a level 1 B-BBEE dynamic, 100% black owned media agency established in 2004, that is rooted in Africa, with global reach.

• JT Comms was established as a publicity, media and communications agency but through innovation has evolved to a through-the-line dynamic media agency. JT Comms is an organic and constantly evolving agency that has successfully scaled its operations to a 360-degree digital agency equipped with the latest Audio-Visual tools that has enabled the organisation to provide quick turnaround strategies for clients.
• This leverage has provide the company the ability to creatively provide content that aims to drive positive African content by Africans to the Nation, Continent and globally.
• The agency has also launched innovative platforms such as hosting “Business master classes” and launching an online TV station which hosts various offerings that include #ECAfrica dialogues; Bunnies in the Burbs; Amplifying African Excellence to mention a few. The idea is to significantly differentiate JT Comms from its competitors.
• In addition the agency has strategically entered the dynamic marketing space of retail marketing on invitation.

Our core business offering includes media relations, publicity, communications, events and marketing solutions our client base includes the public, private, NGO, education, creative and business sectors

ENDS