You can’t eat the Internet: Why SA needs purpose-driven leaders before the tech hype

Andrew Maringa, founder and CEO of Tendai ICT, Henley Business School Africa MBA alum and author of Purpose, Passion, Progress, believes Africa's future will not be shaped by technology alone, but by purposeful leadership.

From growing up in Giyani, Limpopo, with no access to computers, to building a leading ICT business that helps organisations embrace digital transformation, cybersecurity and emerging technologies, Maringa's journey reflects the transformative power of education, resilience and values-driven leadership. While Artificial Intelligence and digital innovation continue to reshape business, he argues that technology is only an enabler. Sustainable progress depends on leaders who create opportunity, serve their communities and build businesses with purpose.

Read his story in his own words below:

Growing up in Giyani, Limpopo, I had seen computers but had never had the opportunity to use one. My first real encounter with a computer came after matric when I enrolled to study Information Technology. That moment changed the course of my life.

Like many young South Africans, I came from humble beginnings. We didn't have computer games or the latest technology. Life was simple. We walked to school, played soccer and dreamed about a better future.

When I finally sat in front of a computer, I was fascinated. At the time, computers and the Internet were what Artificial Intelligence is today: exciting, disruptive and surrounded by uncertainty. People were talking about the Millennium Bug, Y2K and how technology would transform the world.

It certainly transformed mine.

That first encounter sparked a lifelong passion for technology and, years later, led to the founding of Tendai ICT. Today, our company helps organisations embrace digital transformation, strengthen cybersecurity and harness emerging technologies. Yet after more than a decade in the technology industry, I have realised something that may sound surprising coming from a technology entrepreneur.

Technology is not the answer. Leadership is.

My success was never determined by the first computer I touched. It was shaped by the people who believed in me, invested in me and challenged me to become a better leader. That is why I believe Africa's greatest investment is not in technology alone, but in people.

Technology is an enabler, not the solution. Across Africa, conversations around Artificial Intelligence, automation, quantum computing and digital transformation are accelerating.

These conversations matter.

Technology improves productivity, unlocks innovation and expands opportunity.

But technology alone will never solve Africa's greatest challenges.

As I often say: "People are hungry. They can't eat the Internet. They need jobs, dignity and hope. Technology is an enabler, but it only becomes meaningful when guided by ethical, purpose-driven leadership."

Artificial Intelligence can improve productivity and digital transformation can modernise organisations. But neither can replace integrity. Neither can create trust. They can substitute leaders who genuinely serve their communities.

We cannot automate our way out of unemployment or innovate our way out of corruption.

We cannot use Artificial Intelligence to replace ethical leadership. Technology should never become the destination.

It should remain the tool that enables us to solve real problems, create opportunities and improve lives. Purpose must always come before technology.

Henley changed how I define success

Throughout my career, I completed several qualifications, but my Postgraduate Diploma and MBA at Henley Business School Africa fundamentally changed how I think about leadership.

Henley's purpose statement captures it perfectly: "We build the people, who build the businesses, that build Africa."

That philosophy became personal. Henley did more than teach finance, strategy and organisational behaviour. It challenged me to ask better questions, about why business exists and who benefits from our success. I asked what legacy we are creating and these questions transformed my thinking. I stopped focusing on building a successful company and started focusing on building a meaningful legacy.

Business must create value beyond profit, but profit does matter. Growth matters, as does innovation. But they are outcomes. Purpose comes first. Every business should ask one simple question: What problem are we solving?

These questions led Andrew to write the book Purpose, Passion, Progress, which is launching at Henley this July. It tells how he built his enterprise into a major ICT business employing 52 people and planning on expanding into Africa. It underlines the importance of leadership not driven by self-enrichment and profit, but by creating value for others and serving their communities.

This is also why he founded Lead with Purpose www.leadwithpurpose.africa, where he hopes leaders will connect and unite to strengthen core values around leadership, learn from each other and help to develop more purposeful leaders. It is not a political movement but about empowering others.

Andrew believes South Africans need leaders in the country who deliver on their promises. For him Nelson Mandela remains an icon. “He didn’t become a leader to enrich himself. His will did not contain millions left to his children. Instead, his legacy is nation building and sacrifice, the transition of South Africa to a peaceful democracy.”

Andrew’s dream is of political parties where race will not dominate and a country that does not only unite when the Springboks or Bafana Bafana are playing. “We need to be united every day, together, to fix the problems our country is facing.”

He believes that when leaders act with purpose and passion, genuine progress will follow.