Fibre-optics network company FibreCo chairperson Andile Ngcaba encouraged students and graduates of the TechTrain programme last month to learn continuously and explore opportunities outside their own communities to achieve their dreams.

Speaking at the celebration of the two- hundredth fibre-optics technician graduate of the programme – a collaborative training initiative between FibreCo, high-technology firm Saab Grintek and telecommunications equipment firm Plessey South Africa – Ngcaba interacted with the hall full of students and graduates on the challenges they face.

The students were eager to learn about the journeys of Ngcaba, FibreCo CEO Arif Hussain and Plessey South Africa director Laurent Leclercq to their current leadership positions.

Ngcaba detailed his journey, from his initial training as a disadvantaged student during the apartheid years in 1978 at electronics company Phillips’ training centre, in Triomf, currently Sophiatown, to his current role as chairperson and director on the boards of several companies, including Plessey South Africa.

“I had to take the 05:55 train from Mdeni each morning before taking three taxis to get to the training centre. I did the same in reverse in the evenings,” he detailed.

“There is nothing stopping you from getting to the highest level in industry. Conviction and belief in yourself are crucial, but you must develop yourselves continuously. If you do not study and learn, if you do not keep on improving your skills, then you will remain where you are.”

The first step, he added, was to realise that one has never learned or done enough. He cited that, for example, when working as a fibre technician, one could learn about design or network planning to further one’s professional development and become a network designer or engineer.

“Alternatively, you can take an entrepreneurial angle and learn about business strategy, then provide your services in underserviced areas and, thus, grow your own business that employs many other people who, like you, are looking for opportunities.”

Ngcaba emphasised that, if students and graduates developed themselves and continued to learn and acquire experience, they would be the speakers explaining to young people how to achieve success.

Asked how to start a business that would be successful, he responded that providing services in areas where it was difficult to get services or where there were few companies, yet where the need was great, was an effective way to do so.

He exhorted students to carry their thirst for knowledge and skills to all parts of the country and the continent: “There are plenty of fibre technicians in Johannesburg and the rest of Gauteng, but the fibre-optic network extends throughout the country and into Africa. All of it will need to be serviced, maintained and expanded. Get out of your comfort zone to achieve your dreams.”