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Enter to be this year's wildcard contestant.

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Big dreams need big opportunities.
This is yours.

16 hungry entrepreneurs

3 intimidating judges

Prize worth R1 million

Nedbank Pitch & Polish is more than just a competition

It’s where innovative ideas meet expert business mentorship, game-changing funding and entrepreneurs like YOU have a shot at a prize worth R1 million

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2025 JUDGES

NONKQUBELA MALIZA

Director of Corporate and Government Affairs
at Volkswagen Group Africa

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Allon Raiz

Raizcorp CEO

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Monique Chinnah

Senior Manager: Segment Design & Development, Retail Relationship Banking at Nedbank

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Florence Duval

CEO, IN TOUCH | Sustainability & Social Impact Strategist

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Meet your host:
 Hlubi Mboya-Arnold

Hlubi Mboya-Arnold is an award-winning actress, social entrepreneur and business leader committed to driving meaningful change across Africa. She is the Executive Director and Producer of Future CEOs, a platform dedicated to entrepreneurial education for underserved communities, and Chairperson of Sunshine Cinema, Africa’s first solar-powered mobile cinema network empowering youth changemakers.

A passionate advocate for women in business, Hlubi serves as the Southern Africa Brand Ambassador for Lionesses of Africa, the fastest-growing community of women entrepreneurs on the continent. She is also a founding member of SWIFT (Sisters Working in Film & Television), which promotes gender equity in media.

With a background in business development at Morebo Financial Services and an Executive MBA from Henley Business School, Hlubi combines creative impact with business acumen to champion socio-economic transformation across Africa.

ENTRIES CLOSED

Back to 2009

The very first Pitch & Polish programme took place in 2009! Take a trip back in time to see some of the highlights over the years . . .

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THE SUCCESSFUL Pitch

Forget everything you’ve been taught about pitching your business — you’re doing it wrong.
 
To achieve success as an entrepreneur in business, you need to be able to pitch your business to clients and investors. Without a polished pitch, you’re wasting time and potentially risk losing future funding.
 
Over the next 52 weeks, join Allon Raiz in his new bite-sized podcast series as he walks you through preparing the perfect pitch.
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Nonkqubela Maliza

Nonkqubela Maliza is the director of Corporate and Government Affairs at Volkswagen Group Africa. She has held the position since 2006 and also chairs the VW Community Trust and VWSA BEE Initiatives Trust. 

Prior to this, Nonkqubela was a senior executive at Metallon Corporation, a pan-African mining and financial services company with operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe. She also served as a chief director at the Department of Trade and Industry and has strong experience in the financial services sector. 

Nonkqubela holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town, a BA Honours in Economics from Rhodes University and a BA in Psychology and Economics from Rhodes University.

Allon Raiz

Allon Raiz is regarded both locally and globally as a pioneer and maverick in the business-incubation industry. He is the founder and CEO of Raizcorp which, according to The Economist, is the only genuine incubator in Africa and which currently supports over 500 businesses.

A two-times PhD dropout, Allon is the best-selling author of three entrepreneurial books. He hosted the first national radio show on entrepreneurship in South Africa in 2004; wrote and hosted the first South African prime-time entrepreneurship reality television show; and created and published an entrepreneurial cartoon strip. Allon is currently hosting his 15th season of the popular The Big Small Business Show on Business Day TV.

Allon is a co-founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation South Africa and Rural Roots, and is on the advisory and judging boards of numerous local and international NGOs and entrepreneurial awards. His passion for and focus on the development of entrepreneurs attracted the attention of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which, in 2008, recognised Allon as a Young Global Leader.

As an accomplished international speaker, Allon was invited to speak at the 2011 WEF Annual Meeting held in Davos, Switzerland. In 2011, he became a member of the WEF’s Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship, making him one of 15 recognised global experts in the field. More recently, he became a member of the WEF’s Global Future Council.

In 2013, Allon received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Oliver Transformation and Empowerment Awards. The following year, he became the country winner, regional winner and continental winner of the Titan Award for Building Nations.

Between 2014 and 2016, Allon guest lectured at Oxford University where he was recognised as the Oxford University Saïd Business School’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

In 2015, Allon received an invitation from the White House, on behalf of President Barack Obama, to speak at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Kenya.

Monique Chinnah

Monique is a curious, serial questioner who wants to take the mystique out of business and finance to make it practical and relevant to entrepreneurs. ‘Why?’, ‘Why not?’ and ‘How can we help, for real?’ are her favourite questions.

She is the Senior Manager of Segment Design and Development in Retail Relationship Banking at Nedbank, and she is responsible for ensuring that small businesses are fully supported through Banking and Beyond® solutions and most particularly as the product owner of the SimplyBiz® platform. Monique believes that keeping business strategy simple, real and practically implementable is fundamental to success. She also believes in the power of fun. If you don’t like what you’re doing, don’t do it!

Monique draws on her own entrepreneurial journeys and extensive management roles in various industries to ensure that solutions are conceptualised and delivered with small-business owners’ needs in mind.

She believes in life-long learning and being a sponge through immersions in over 300 000 businesses, various tertiary and educational programmes, and she is a YouTube and social-media hustler. In 2012 she was awarded a scholarship through Goldman Sachs UK to attend the 10 000 Women entrepreneurial programme through the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and she has been recognised with several Top Achiever Awards in Nedbank.

Florence Duval

Florence Duval is a seasoned strategist with over 25 years of experience leading sustainability, stakeholder engagement and social impact initiatives across public and private sectors. 

As CEO and founder of IN TOUCH, she guides cross-sectoral teams to deliver high-impact advisory solutions that strengthen institutions, enable public-private partnerships and secure both the legal and social licence to operate. Her expertise spans compliance, community development, issue management and sponsorship development – always anchored in sustainable development principles. 

A former mining executive and committed social activist, Florence is known for her ability to build meaningful partnerships, navigate complex regulatory environments and drive transformative impact through purpose-driven leadership