entrepreneur one-on-one
Driving environmental standards Established in December 2007, Nsovo Environmental Consulting is an environmental consulting firm with clients in corporate, mining, industry, private, government and emerging renewable energy spheres. Nsovo utilises the qualifications, experience and expertise of its team members across multiple disciplines to develop financially and environmentally beneficial relationships with its clients through the identification and provision of sound environmental solutions, ensuring environmental compliance and sustainability, improving process efficiency, and designing elegant, cost-effective solutions. Most importantly, the aim is to reduce its clients’ environmental impact Interview by Mark Pettipher Words by David Steynberg
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Munyadziwa Rikhotso, Executive Director at Nsovo Environmental Consulting
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hen you know who you are and your mission is clear, life becomes more purposeful. This is one of the key lessons Munyadziwa Rikhotso’s father – the former principal and guidance teacher at Tshikevha Christian School – taught her. “He stands out as the key influence in my life,” she said, noting that knowing her academic strength as a scholar and following her passion is what led her to studying a BSc in geography and environmental management at Wits, and following it up with an honours qualification in environmental management. “It was while I was pursuing my studies that a greater focus was being placed on the environment, and the impact development had. The South African legislation became increasingly stringent, which created more work opportunities in that space. It’s ironic, because while the fashion of the day was maths and science, my love and passion for geography and earth sciences landed me in a niche market at a time when the environment and sustainability were top of the agenda in most countries, including South Africa.”
SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW – FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020
How many students can say that, even before they embarked on their honours studies, they were working with and consulting to businesses that required their skills, knowledge and expertise? This is exactly what happened to Rikhotso. “While I was working on my honours degree, I was already working,” she says, noting that it put her on a fast track to employment at established environmental consulting firms. “I worked as a consultant for four years before starting my own business, Nsovo Environmental Consulting, in 2007. The four years allowed me to gather experience and understand the technicalities of the work. However, to take the risk, quit my job and dive headfirst into my own business, I needed my faith to be greater than fear. When I got that point, I took the leap. “I started out by myself, flying solo until 2012, when Nsovo landed Eskom’s Kusile power station project, which required us to deploy two ECOs over a three-year period. I knew then that I needed to hire more people. Today we employ 13 professionals – six in the Midrand office, and the other seven deployed in various provinces to service clients.” The company Rikhotso has built is a multi-disciplined environmental consulting
