Sethu Nzimande

BCom Business Management, currently the CEO of CoLab. Sethu Nzimande is a South African creative entrepreneur and cultural technologist who is redefining how creatives work, collaborate, and thrive across Africa. As the founder of CoLab, a growing digital platform that connects businesses with talented African creatives through verified paid projects, he is building one of the continent’s most dynamic creative economies—one rooted in trust, technology, and community. With a strong foundation in digital content, events, and platform development, Sethu has produced high-impact creative activations including CoLab Sessions, Something for the Dreamers festivals, and collaborative campaigns that have amplified voices in design, film, music, fashion, and comedy. His work sits at the intersection of innovation, youth empowerment, and economic access. Through CoLab, Sethu is developing a new model of creative infrastructure—one that enables job creation, monetises creative collaboration, and supports young artists not just with exposure, but with real work opportunities. His focus on building sustainable pipelines between freelancers and companies reflects a broader vision: a creative economy in Africa where creators are valued, paid, and empowered to scale their careers globally. Sethu’s work aligns with emerging conversations on digitalisation, precarity in the arts, and the role of platforms in the future of work. His participation in the SACO Conference will offer first-hand insight into how a tech-enabled, community-driven solution can shape the future of South African creative labour—one project at a time.