From the depths of Mafia Soul

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Thursday January 10, 2008 00:00

 

Mafia Soul is the brainchild of one enterprising young man, Molefi Nkwete. The 26-year-old Gaborone-born Nkwete says that back in 2001 while studying at the University of Botswana (UB) he realised that genuine American clothing brands were lacking on the market so he contacted a Zimbabwean acquaintance based in New York and asked him to send him some from the US.

Operating from a backpack, he sold top 'hip hop' brands like Sean John, Rockawear, Phat Farm and Akademiks during his spare time.

'The stuff that I sell is top quality and my clients were always impressed with what they got, so within a short time I needed to restock,' he reminiscences.

When the demand for the clothes increased, Nkwete decided to go into joint partnership with his uncle Otlogetswe Balotlhanyi and they started to sell clothes from the back of Uncle Balotlhanyi's bakkie. But a few months later, the business was dealt a serious blow when Balotlhanyi was forced to relocate to pursue other interests.

'This was a bad time for me because I had also flunked one subject and my mother made it clear she wanted me to focus on schoolwork,' says Nkwete.

However, the year 2002 was kind to the young man because he was able to resume operations.

The entrepreneur says that what enabled him to resuscitate the business was the fact that he had plenty of time because he was then doing only one subject.

According to Nkwete, it was in 2003 that he was able to take the business 'off the ground with a full swing'.

Lady Luck smiled on Balotlhanyi the following year when he resettled in Gaborone and helped grow the business. However, because of limited funds, the two entrepreneurs started marketing their clothes by word of mouth and business cards. They also got a mileage when they started dressing television personality Vincent Tiro aka Steez, who was a presenter of the now defunct Botswana Television (Btv) programme Meribo, which was popular with viewers. In the same year, Nkwete was able to travel to New York for the first time where he realised that there was a lot of merchandise that he was not able to access through middlemen.  While in the US, he was able to enjoy the hospitality of the Batswana based there who hosted him free of charge.

'I was very impressed because my hosts were total strangers that I only got to know through the Internet,' Nkwete says, adding that he would forever be grateful for that. To give the business a further lift boost, Nkwete bought an American car, which he later sold at a profit.

Nkwete and Balotlhanyi's efforts paid off when in 2005 they opened their first store in the Nigerian High Commission building on Queen's Road in the Gaborone Main Mall.

According to Nkwete, the opening of the Main Mall store was a great blessing because since acquiring space they got much support from all fronts. Mafia Soul got more exposure in publications like the Botswana Guardian, The Voice, Sunday Tribune, Tswana Times and Lapologa.

Nkwete says that Shike Olsen of Lapologa in particular gave them immense support.

Mafia Soul continued to grow by promoting their merchandise by dressing leading hip-hop artists such as Apollo Diablo, Dice and Zeus and sponsoring fashion shows organised by Maruapula and Gaborone secondary schools.

The hippy entrepreneur says in South Africa they dress big hip-hop outfits like Young Nation and Drastic.

'We are exclusive wardrobe suppliers for the high profile Young Nation and they appeared on CNN adverts wearing our clothes,' Nkwete says proudly.

Their clothes have also been used for the South African hip-hop magazine, Hype. Nkwete says that one of his highlights in business is meeting the CEO of Phat Farm Russell Simmons who recently came to Botswana on a business trip. He met Simmons on a flight home and was introduced to the multi-millionaire by a friend. Since then the two have also met in New York but Nkwete is quick to point out that although he would love to do business with the African-American, his focus at the moment is on trying to build the Mafia Soul brand.

'In the near future, we hope to start a clothing line and open chain stores nationwide,' says Nkwete.

Nkwete says he and his partners have been operating the business from their pockets and that it 'won't be an easy undertaking because CEDA (Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency) has turned us down'.

Interestingly, CEDA advised the young entrepreneurs to close shop because they believed the retail and clothing market was saturated.

'Although we have proved them wrong, we may approach them again and ask for financial assistance,' explains Nkwete.

Nkwete wants to allay fears that his merchandise is expensive given that he imports the goods from the US. He says that compared to other fashionable brands from Europe 'hip-hop' clothing lines are affordable. He also claims to sell quality clothes because he buys directly from manufacturers and that is why his customers always come back for more. According to Nkwete, a good entrepreneur measures his/her success by the number of people who come to him/her complaining about his/her wares and so far Mafia Soul has had none.

Mafia Soul, which employs four young Batswana, recently opened another store at the African Mall.