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Voices from the Free State: Episode eight – featuring David Uwah

06 September 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Supplied

David Uwah’s journey in business, and his combination of industry and leadership insight internationally is considered valuable to any entrepreneur. As such, he is affiliated with several initiatives that focus on building young entrepreneurs.

François van Schalkwyk and Keenan Carelse, UFS alumni leading the university’s United Kingdom Alumni Chapter, have put their voices together to produce and direct the podcast series. Intended to reconnect alumni with the university and their university experience, the podcasts will be featured on the first Monday of every month, ending in November 2021. Our featured alumni share and reflect on their experiences at the UFS, how it has shaped their lives, and relate why their ongoing association with the UFS is still relevant and important. The podcasts are authentic conversations – they provide an opportunity for the university to understand and learn about the experiences of its alumni and to celebrate the diversity and touchpoints that unite them.

Listen to the podcast at

Our podcast guest

David Uwah is the founder and director of Zenncon Facility Management. A prominent businessman in South Africa and the greater part of Africa, Uwah is a consummate professional with strong business development skills, particularly in management, strategic planning, and marketing strategy. Uwah has successfully established Zenncon Facility Management to become an industry leader in South Africa.

A former chairman of Black Management Forum in the Free State, Uwah began his career at Firenze Consulting in London, UK. Uwah proceeded to Liberty Life as a financial adviser, followed by Cafenet Computers as director, and later became director of Brand New Afrika. He is also director of Zennfika Sahara Pty Ltd and is currently Chairman of the group of companies ZNND Group Pty Ltd. Uwah is a strong business development professional with a master’s degree focused on Disaster Management from the University of the Free State.

For further information regarding the podcast series, or to propose other alumni guests, please email us at alumnipodcast@ufs.ac.za

For all Voices from the Free State podcasts, click here

News Archive

Plant researcher receives prestigious Grain SA award

2016-10-21

Prof Zakkie Pretorius from the UFS Department
of Plant Sciences with Andries Theron,
vice-chairman of Grain SA. Theron presented
the award to Prof Pretorius at Grain SA’s a
nnual gala event, which was held in Midrand
this year.
Photo (read more): Supplied
Photo (spotlight): Charl Devenish

A researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Zakkie Pretorius, received the prestigious Grain Producer of the Year Inspiration Award during the annual gala event of Grain SA. Grain SA provides strategic commodity support and services to South African grain producers to assist in the sustainability of the sector.

This award is presented to individuals or organisations in appreciation of excellent contributions to the grain industry. These individuals have also achieved extraordinary results in their respective fields.

Research in the interest of food security
Prof Pretorius has been involved in research on plant diseases and food crops for the past 38 years. His research focus, rust diseases in crops, is especially important for food security.

According to Prof Pretorius, who collaborates with an extensive network of specialist colleagues, his research covers a variety of topics including rust race identification, the discovery of new resistance genes, characterisation of resistance expression in plants, and the mapping of genes. His focus is not only on wheat, but he also researches rust diseases in oats, barley, maize, dry beans, lentils, sunflowers, and soybeans.

Breeding of rust-resistant varieties gains scientific basis
Locally, he has been contracted for several years by the Winter Grain Trust to annually evaluate commercial wheat cultivars and elite germplasm. This information is regularly passed on to the relevant seed companies and breeders, and is also included in the production guidelines of the Agricultural Research Council for disease risk assessment. His research places the breeding and selection of rust-resistant varieties on a solid scientific foundation. A living collection of rust fungus cultures and a large germplasm collection are maintained at the UFS under his supervision.

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