Opportunity Issue 104

High standards, transformation
and upliftment are the
bedrocks of Inayo Mining
Strategic partnerships are the key to success, says co-founder and director
Thando Maseko, as this growing mining company eyes expansion into Africa.
INTERVIEW
When was the company founded?
Inayo Mining was founded in October 2017.
What was the motivation behind starting the company? What
inspired you?
As a professional mining engineer, I identified a gap in professional
black individuals participating in the industry. BBBEE was seen as
a policy benefitting a few black elite individuals and those who
are politically connected. This resulted in transformation in the
industry being seen as failure, as BBBEE was not producing black
professionals who could participate meaningfully in the industry
and most importantly, uplift black communities who had been
marginalised from business opportunities in the industry.
This motivated me, a young, black, female mining engineer, to
take the opportunities presented by the policies of this country
and create a truly transformed company which can operate to
high business standards while uplifting those who had been
marginalised before democracy.
How important have partnerships been in your business
journey?
Inayo Mining has been built through partnerships. Leveraging on
the strengths of different partners has been the foundation of the
business. Through strategic partnerships with Sandton Plant Hire
and Inala Mining among others, Inayo Mining has managed to
secure contracts and successfully execute these contracts.
This has grown the company to a position where it can buy
assets and build in-house capacity in areas where the company
lacked skills during its inception phase.
Are there any women mentors who have assisted you along
the way?
Due to the nature of the industry most of my mentors have been
male but a female mentor who has been instrumental in my
entrepreneurship journey is Mrs Sindi Mabaso Koyana.
What are some of the particular obstacles that women face
in the mining industry?
Obstacles faced by women in the mining industry are not unique
to problems faced by women in other industries. From a senior
leadership perspective, the patriarchal nature of our society is
mirrored in the industry. This often means women are seen but
not heard.
At the industry’s entry level,
harsh physical conditions in the
workplace mean that women are
subject to physical work which
is often extreme for the female
physique, making it difficult to
perform at high levels.
What are the major services
you provide?
We provide a turnkey mining
solution from topsoil stripping
through to rehabilitation. Our
other services include material
handling and plant hire.
Which of these divisions is
showing the best growth?
We have achieved high growth in contract mining, which is our core
business. This in turn has led to other services growing, such as material
handling and plant hire.
Thando Maseko, co-founder and director, Inayo Mining
Who are some of your biggest clients?
Our biggest clients include Thungela Resources, Universal Coal, Glencore
and the Puckree Group.
Do you have ambitions to grow your geographical footprint?
Inayo has ambitions to grow its footprint, firstly with regard to working
with a different commodity other than coal. We aim to expand from
Mpumalanga in the course of 2023 and move into the African continent
as mining still remains the backbone of most African economies.
The Inayo Mining website refers to a “unique model in the mining
industry” – please tell us more about that.
Inayo considers itself unique as it has built up a company by adopting a
principle which is similar to the likes of Airbnb and Uber. We have grown
a successful company through leveraging of assets and resources from
our strategic partners. This has minimised the risk we face as company
during economic turmoil such as the world experienced during the
Covid-19 pandemic.
We continually evolve our business model to ensure the business
remains sustainable while ensuring our social partners benefit from our
existence, making mining a beneficial venture for all stakeholders.