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02 January 2020
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Story Valentino Ndaba
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Photo Anja Aucamp
Refilwe Xaba, Senior Assistant Officer in Entrepreneurship Development at the UFS Centre for Development Support, is the founder and CEO of Glolooks. This Bloemfontein-based company manufactures and supplies an organic, natural hair product range.
When she first developed the products, they were for personal use. Xaba evolved from an intrapreneur to an entrepreneur. She innovated a personal solution into a booming business idea. It was only in May 2016 that she decided to go into business, following growing interest in the way she maintained her hair. “I officially started in-depth research in October 2015, after years of making concoctions for myself.”
Business and books
Xaba reckons that a research background is beneficial for growing a business such as Glolooks that has a huge technical aspect. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Entrepreneurship with a focus on marketing and is planning to use her business as a case study.
Her undergraduate, honours, and master’s studies, which she completed at Kovsies, contributed to equipping Xaba with skills to grow her business. She believes in balancing education and business. “I have always been commerce-orientated. If there is a problem to be fixed, I fix it. However, people are at the centre of my heart.”
Growing Glolooks
In 2019, Glolooks opened a salon in Westdene, where customers can receive a holistic experience above and beyond merely purchasing the product. Xaba says this is one of the ways her business is being innovative when it comes to creating relationships with customers.
Heidi Hudson of UFS takes up research fellowship in Canada
2010-04-29
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Prof. Heidi Hudson |
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Prof. Heidi Hudson, Programme Director of the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS) at the University of the Free State (UFS), has been invited by the African Studies Group (GEA) at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain to participate in an international seminar on peace-building with a special focus on Africa. The purpose of the seminar is to inform an evaluation report by the GEA on the Spanish peace-building strategy and Spain’s emerging role as a peace-building actor.
She has also been appointed by the Consortium for Peace Studies as the University of Calgary Research Fellow in Peace Studies in Canada for 2010-2011. Apart from conducting research, she will present a public lecture and interact with local peace activists and community leaders. Prof. Hudson’s research will examine the “violence” of liberal peace-building in Africa through a gender lens. |