Precious Nyarambi is an award-winning social entrepreneur, with humanitarianism at heart.
With vast experience in growth and sustainability of start-ups, entrepreneurship, and social entrepreneurship, she facilitates Training and Development for corporates and entrepreneurs through Vessels of Virtue which she founded and is the CEO. The organisation holistically empowers and transforms women entrepreneurs, especially from previously marginalized backgrounds.
Precious has been running the social enterprise for over nine years, and has severally collaborated with international organizations in South Africa. The organisation has a marketplace mandate of seeing individuals, families, communities, and nations having a voice over the mountains of influence; and also has an App that features African entrepreneurs and markets them.
“Vessels of Virtue has been life changing for me, I found myself in a foreign country without a job. I had to start running a company without any experience at all to survive. The journey has been very challenging, I’ve had to grow and evolve. It dawned on me at a point that if l felt all that pressure on my own, why not create an ecosystem that supports, edifies and empowers people like me?”, Precious speaks about how she started her entrepreneurial journey.
With a background in Strategic Planning, Initiation, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation of Projects, and Customer Service, Precious has steered Vessels of Virtue to evolve over the years to now include an academy for entrepreneurs, a magazine, beauty range, yearly planners, global awards, TV show and a foundation that trains previously marginalized women and sends disadvantaged children to school.
“We offer a range of services from mentorship, coaching, consultancy, masterclasses and accelerators on leadership, entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. Our business magazine in turn feeds into our annual awards that honors and celebrates outstanding leaders and entrepreneurs globally. We have our own range of products as well – bottled water, beauty products and peanut butter, under the Vessels of Virtue brand. We are actively looking for markets, and also to scale across Africa. By the end of August, we will officially launch our Stokvel to help particularly female entrepreneurs with funding whenever they need support to scale. As an organisation active in education of women and children, we recently partnered with a university in India that is taking struggling students on scholarships”, she added.
Precious was bestowed with a humanitarian engagement as’ SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT TO SOUTHERN AFRICA’ with special focus on implementation of the UN SDGs, and WHC Development Priorities and Global Goals. She has received several awards in Africa and Dubai; with more still lined up from European projects she has been engaged in.
For these she says “I am grateful to God.”
In spite of all the successes Precious has chalked, her journey has not been without challenges. This is how she summarises it all:
“My challenges and frustrations have been many over the years; some include and not limited to lack of knowledge, wisdom and understanding of business initially; limited exposure, mentorship and coaching, failure to identify the right opportunities and capitalize on them, as well as managing time effectively. It took time for me to personally develop on running and managing my business; and I also faced situations where I lacked of resources, accountability and right business systems in place in order to run smoothly. Fortunately, I have learnt through all of these, and pass on the lessons and knowledge to my mentees at each given opportunity.”
“In the next few years Africa must lead and occupy areas of influence considering the resources we have. Unity is going to be critical in harnessing these efforts.”
– PRECIOUS NYARAMBI
Precious was a speaker at the ‘State of AfCFTA Trading Summit 2022’, where her book “Thriving Entrepreneurs”, a memoir on excelling in entrepreneurship within the African context was showcased.
In her speech, she urged the youth to be the change they are looking for as they are the solution Africa and the world needs. “Make sure you are ready for the opportunities when they present themselves by upgrading, perfecting your skills, knowledge and expertise; so that you will not become victims of circumstance”, she added.
She expects to see practical and implementable calls to action, as well as accountability of all stakeholders and visible change.
“The AfCFTA promises a needed broader and deeper economic integration and would attract investment, boost trade, provide better jobs, reduce poverty, and increase shared prosperity in Africa. There is room for experienced and expert labor collaborating for greater good. There has been a lot of political, economic and systematic limitations to date across the continent, that l feel has caused delays in implementing strategies for growth. The AfCFTA promises to ensure agreements that covers policy, intellectual property rights and e commerce. African governments should seek to build broad public support and help businesses benefit from its provisions”, she adds about making the AfCFTA implementation a success.
The future is exciting for Precious in different aspects.
“As Vessels of Virtue keeps expanding, we are setting up a Vessels Entrepreneurship Channel, and also embarking on Trade Missions that focuses on entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs. In addition, we have a tech company we are trying to grow”, she comments.
It’s not always business for Precious. She is a great cook and also loves to travel and engage in activities that empower communities, stemming from her humanitarian nature.
“I love to cook, and my retirement plan is to own restaurants and franchise them. Importantly, I worship and pray to God to anchor and center my faith”, Precious beautifully ends the interview.
Interview by: Theresa R. Fianko
Additional Information: Precious Nyarambi
Image Attribution: Precious Nyarambi
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