From a small village in Bushbuckridge to the national entrepreneurship spotlight, Ntsako Mahlaule has built her career around a conviction that business should do more than generate income. It should create opportunities. As Founder and CEO of Charged Up Group of Companies, Mahlaule has grown from a self-taught entrepreneur with a street-vending operation into an award-winning business leader, author, speaker and mentor committed to using entrepreneurship as a vehicle for economic transformation.
Her entrepreneurial journey began with creativity. Over time, Charged Up evolved into a broader creative business spanning branding, printing, photography and related services, creating employment while responding to the needs of businesses and organisations. Mahlaule’s approach has been to keep learning, adapting and expanding rather than allowing the limitations of her starting point to determine the size of her ambitions. A 2025 Mail & Guardian profile described her journey from a small village in Mpumalanga to leading a business that employs seven people and has partnered with universities for practical student training.
But building her own company was never the end goal. Mahlaule has increasingly used her experience to create platforms through which other entrepreneurs can access knowledge, networks and opportunities. That commitment led to the creation of the Charged Up Entrepreneurship Africa Network (CUEAN), an initiative connecting entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors and other stakeholders around entrepreneurship, innovation and economic development.
The network has become an important part of her wider vision for entrepreneurship in Africa. Its focus is not simply on motivating aspiring business owners, but on helping them develop sustainable enterprises, build relationships and access the resources needed to grow. The 2025 edition, launched at the University of Mpumalanga, placed particular emphasis on job creation and sustaining small businesses.
Mahlaule has also demonstrated that the platform can translate into tangible opportunities. In 2025, the CUEAN hosted a pitching competition that brought entrepreneurs together to showcase their businesses and compete for recognition and opportunities. Several participants later progressed to the top 10 of the ABSA Youth Enterprise Investment Awards pitching competition at the University of Mpumalanga, an outcome that reflects the multiplier effect Mahlaule wants her work to have.
The network has also attracted established voices in African business, including Tbo Touch, Theo Baloyi and Vusi Thembekwayo. Its 2026 edition, scheduled for September in Mbombela, is themed around driving Africa forward through sustainable entrepreneurship and economic transformation, with Thembekwayo announced as keynote speaker.
For Mahlaule, this work is closely connected to the challenges she sees around unemployment, poverty and inequality. She has spoken about entrepreneurship as a force capable of addressing these challenges, drawing on her own experience of building a business that has created opportunities not only for herself but for employees and others in her community.
Her influence extends beyond business events. Mahlaule is also an author, speaker and mentor, using storytelling and personal development to encourage people to challenge the limitations they place on themselves. In 2024, she released Beyond Boundaries, a book focused on self-discovery, overcoming self-doubt and imposter syndrome, and developing a more intentional approach to life.
That interest in personal development is mirrored in the leadership work she is now doing on herself. Mahlaule is intentionally moving towards becoming a leader whose impact does not depend entirely on her own efforts. She is strengthening her emotional resilience, learning to delegate more effectively and developing the ability to trust her team with greater responsibility.
For an entrepreneur accustomed to being deeply involved in her businesses, this represents an important transition. Growth requires a founder to move from doing everything to building systems and people capable of carrying the vision forward. Mahlaule is deliberately making that shift while continuing her own education through studies in Business Management, strengthening the strategic and leadership capabilities she will need for the next phase of her career.
Her five-year ambition is to make that leadership development even more intentional. She plans to establish a Leadership School that can help develop the next generation of African entrepreneurs and leaders. She also aims to complete a Doctorate in Business Management, deepening her expertise while expanding her ability to contribute to business development and economic transformation.
At the centre of that vision is job creation. Through the continued growth of Charged Up and CUEAN, Mahlaule wants to create thousands of employment opportunities, strengthen small businesses and contribute to economic development across South Africa and the continent.
She is already laying the groundwork. Her partnership with the University of Mpumalanga has created opportunities to mentor student entrepreneurs, while her work as a mentor with the National Youth Development Agency gives her another platform to support young business owners navigating the realities of entrepreneurship. These initiatives complement the wider ecosystem she is building through CUEAN, connecting entrepreneurs with mentorship, networks and resources.
There is a consistent theme running through Mahlaule’s work: she does not see success as a solo pursuit. Her own journey has taught her that relationships, collaboration and asking for help can be as important as determination. That lesson has influenced the kind of leader she wants to become – one who creates environments where other people can develop alongside the organisation.
Her achievements have earned significant recognition. She has been named among the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans, received an MTN Women in Digital Award and been recognised through the Hollywood Foundation Bambelela Business Awards, among other accolades. In 2026, she was also named among the WOW Africa 50 Women Honour Circle’s leading continental women, recognising her contribution to business, leadership and community development.
Yet recognition is not where Mahlaule believes the story ends. Her focus is increasingly on what can be built through the platforms she has created and how many other people can benefit from them.
Her advice to women considering their own entrepreneurial journeys is straightforward: do not wait until everything is perfect. You do not need complete confidence, abundant resources or a fully developed plan before taking the first step. Growth often happens after action, through the experience of building, learning, adapting and asking for support.
It is a principle that closely reflects her own trajectory. Mahlaule did not begin with a blueprint for building an entrepreneurship network or creating thousands of future jobs. She began with a willingness to start with what she had. The ambition expanded as the experience, knowledge and relationships grew.
Today, she is building something larger than a single company. Through Charged Up, CUEAN, mentorship, education and storytelling, Mahlaule is creating an ecosystem designed to help more Africans move from entrepreneurial aspiration to sustainable enterprise. Her long-term ambition is not simply to become a successful businesswoman, but to become the kind of leader whose success makes it easier for others to succeed too.
Ntsako Mahlaule is an honouree in the 2026 Future 54 Leading Women Cohort, recognising women shaping Africa through leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship and meaningful impact.
