Alan Knott-Craig, South African entrepreneur

Alan Knott-Craig (born 14 August 1977, Pretoria, South Africa) is a South African entrepreneur and author. He is the founder of Project Isizwe

Early life

Alan Knott-Craig (jnr) was born on 14 August 1977 in Pretoria, where he lived until he left school in 1995.

His early school career was at home where his mother, a qualified teacher, ran a kindergarten. At age 6, he went to Glenstantia Primary School, graduating to the Glen High School, Pretoria in 1991.

His father, Alan Knott-Craig (Senior), was Senior General Manager of Mobile Communications at Telkom SA, and later CEO of South African mobile networks, Vodacom (1996-2008) and Cell C (2012-2014).

In 1996, Knott-Craig (jnr) was accepted for a BCom Accounting at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (formerly University of Port Elizabeth). [1] He graduated in 1998, and completed his postgraduate degree, B Com Honours in Accounting, in 1999. He did his articles at Deloitte Cape Town between 2000 and 2002.

Career

Knott-Craig qualified as a Chartered Accountant (SA) at the end of 2002. He worked in the New York City office of Deloitte USA for a short period.

He returned to South Africa and in October 2003 he founded Cellfind, one of South Africa's first mobile-location-based service providers and served as CEO until 2005.[2] In 2006 he was appointed as CEO of iBurst and built one of South African's largest wireless broadband networks.[3] After the birth of his first daughter, he left iBurst in 2009 to relocate to Stellenbosch. In 2010 he founded and became CEO of World of Avatar, an investment house for apps for Africa and later acquired and became CEO of Mxit, Africa's biggest social network.[4]

He left Mxit and World of Avatar in October 2012 after a disagreement with his partners.

In 2013 he founded 'Project Isizwe, a non-profit company managing the deployment of the largest public free Wi-Fi network in South Africa.[5] In 2014 he founded Herotel, a wireless broadband provider in South Africa,[6]

Between 2003 and 2013 he co-founded and/or funded 17 companies in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications sector in Africa, including Cellfind, Lucky Mobile, iFind34600, COLV, World of Avatar, Toodu, FSMS, Triloq, 6th Line, Daily Maverick, ARC Telecoms, Pondering Panda, MorMor Media, and Boom.fm.[4]

Personal life

Knott-Craig married Sibella Bosman in 2002. They have three daughters and live in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Publications

In April 2008, he published Don't Panic,[7] based on an e-mail[8] he sent to his staff aimed at persuading South Africans to stay in the country and contribute positively. The book became the best selling book in South Africa for 2008.[9][10] In 2019 he wrote a follow-up article.[11]

This was followed in 2012 by Mobinomics: Mxit and South Africa's Mobile Revolution which he co-authored with Gus Silber.[12] Really, Don't Panic and Moenie Stres nie a follow-up of Don't Panic was published in 2014.[13] In 2015 he co-authored So, You Want To Be A Hero, a collection of essays, tips and cartoons targeted at young people looking to fast track their careers.

He writes a daily blog for entrepreneurs at www.bigalmanack.com

Awards and recognition

Knott-Craig was named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2009.[14] Forbes listed him as one of the top 10 young African millionaires to watch in 2013.[15] He was also included in “100 Choiseul Africa", a list of top 100 young African business leaders in 2014.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "NMMU - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University". www.nmmu.ac.za. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Alan Knott-Craig (Jnr) | Who's Who SA". Whoswho.co.za. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Pitman, Juliet (10 November 2009). "iBurst: Alan Knott-Craig Jnr | Entrepreneur". Entrepreneurmag.co.za. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  4. 1 2 Knott, Alan (13 June 2012). "Alan Knott-Craig Jr on birthing World of Avatar, sealing the Mxit deal". Memeburn. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "How Elon Musk's Hometown Is Pioneering Free Wifi In Africa". Forbes.com. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  6. ↑ "HeroTel reveals SA Wi-Fi network strategy | Fin24". M.news24.com. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "Book Launch: Don't Panic! by Alan Knott-Craig". Penguin.bookslive.co.za. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  8. ↑ "IBurst Mobile Broadband Internet Access : News : MD's message - What a start to 2008". www.iburst.co.za. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  9. ↑ "Alan Knott-Craig JNR". Bookstorm. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  10. ↑ "Book Launch: Don't Panic! by Alan Knott-Craig". Penguin SA @ Books LIVE. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "Alan Knott-Craig: Getting your mind around why it's possible to be optimistic about SA". 23 August 2019.
  12. ↑ Thamm, Marianne (3 July 2012). "Mobinomics: A story about the social network". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Really, Don't Panic » Bookstorm | Bookstorm a boutique publishing company in South Africa". Bookstorm. 1 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "Alan Knott-Craig | World Economic Forum - Alan Knott-Craig". Weforum.org. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Ten Young African Millionaires To Watch In 2013". Forbes.com. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Economic diplomacy - Event "Choiseul 100 Africa", 16 June - Consulat de France au Cap". Consulfrance-lecap.org. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
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