Published: 25 August

Seven months ago, Mezzanine joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Innovator Accelerator Program through Vodacom, which participates in the UNGC South Africa Network alongside other leading companies.

The team collaborated on their product, eVuka, a solution addressing equitable access to healthcare in South Africa. Mezzanine is honoured to have placed 2nd overall and received the UNGC SA Top Company Award.

What is the SDGI Program?

The SDGI Program brings together young leaders across South Africa to tackle organisational challenges linked to the SDGs. The goal is not charity or CSI – it’s about creating implementable, financially viable solutions that make a real impact. Participants are equipped with the knowledge, tools, and networks to understand the SDGs in depth, including the underlying targets and indicators, and to design innovations relevant to their organisations.

Lessons From the Journey

Our Mezzanine team gained invaluable insights from this program:

• Collaboration across sectors – meeting innovators from diverse industries and backgrounds.
• Learning to fall in love with a problem – true solutions come only after deeply understanding the root issues.
• Trust the process – innovation requires iteration, pivoting, and persistence. Rejection often leads to redirection.
• Dig into sustainability reports – they hold overlooked opportunities for breakthrough ideas.
• Apply the Theory of Change – always ask: what systemic impact will this solution create?
• Leverage our strengths – Mezzanine’s brand and expertise position us as a strong industry leader.

Exploring Solutions

This year, our journey highlighted how Mezzanine has touched on various SDGs in different ways. Some of the areas we explored included:

• Building mesh networks to improve offline connectivity.
• Tackling food wastage logistics.
• Creating an online learning platform for digital training.
• Designing a digital community to connect skilled workers with opportunities.
• Developing TradeCorr, a platform to enable trade intermediaries with access to finance through FX Netting – an idea that opened new doors internally and externally.
• Rewarding and ensuring transparency for waste reclaimers.
• Exploring a “Vitality for Public Health” model that evolved into Care Now / Pay Later.

Each of these efforts strengthened our thinking and paved the way for what came next.

Introducing eVuka: A Digital Health Stokvel

Out of this journey came eVuka—a digital health stokvel designed for the “Missing Middle.”

This group earns too much to qualify for free public healthcare but struggles with the hidden costs of using it, while private healthcare remains out of reach. eVuka provides an innovative, collective savings and support mechanism, encouraging people to proactively invest in their health and prepare for medical expenses.

Let’s eVuka! Let’s awaken health together!