From $20 to $300 million. Ramachandran Ottapathu arrived in Botswana with $20 to march across Africa to become a retail king. Ottapathu is the head of Choppies, Botswana’s biggest retailer, with a turnover in 2015 of $533 million. Today, Choppies runs 170 stores across Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Classical violinist Avigail Bushakevitz stayed in a caravan park, busked on the streets of New York, and is now a rising star playing classical violin; living in Berlin and performing around the world with the Konzerthausorchester. In July, the 28-year-old returned to African soil to perform at the Grahamstown Arts Festival, as a recipient of the Standard Bank young artist award.
