“Just be patient and know it’s a long journey. Don’t expect to become an overnight success.”
These are words of advice from Dila Tumba, who has become “part of the furniture” at East Rand Traders Square since opening a shop here nearly two decades ago.
He is the owner of Jambo Art, which sells African items such as djembe drums.
Dila, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, opened his shop in 2006 after identifying a gap in the market.
“There was no such store in Boksburg at the time, and I thought of creating something to promote and preserve African culture,” he said.
The entrepreneur now travels all over Africa, including Ghana, Kenya and the DRC to source stock.
While it took him about five years to find his feet, Dila’s business is now thriving.
“I have many customers and they all love the African items I stock. They often buy these items to use as decor for special functions.
“Sales were very good on Heritage Day.”
There have been challenges along the road to success for Dila, particularly the Covid-19 lockdown.
“Fortunately, things are returning to normal and picking up again because the lockdown had a big impact on feet through the door.”
In the future, Dila would like to supply stock to stores across the world.
“I’ve already started to search online for people wanting to buy African items. At the moment, I have a good market to Americans and Australians.”
Dila said his key to success was sticking to what he knows – African culture, adding that what he loves most about East Rand Traders Square is the people.
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