Africa has enticed people as a land of contraries for long. It is host to some of the densest forests in the world and is also a land from where sands fly out to cause storms in other parts of the world. The ground here is pregnant with mines of stones and metals. It invites people from all over the world who spare no tools to invest more and take their profit margins to orbit. Yet, the locals often find themselves in debilitating conditions.
A comprehensive growth here demands a wedding of ideas that focuses on both the land and its people. Sadly, investors in the region show no intent to do anything good for the natives. And it is because of this, and the place is getting riddled with discords of all kind. Some are taking up arms in the name of progress, some are ready to sacrifice others to lessen hunger.
Such a socio-political variance requires a sustainable solution. It is only possible when people, with a desire to give back to the community, step forward. Few in the continent are actually working to introduce a long-lasting change and they are doing it by developing infrastructures, educating people, and sharing a considerable tranche of their profits with the local people.
VeersGroup is one such company that is working hard round-the-clock to ensure the region gets a fair share of its dues and flourishes. The company has a young, enthusiastic brain at the helm, Hashveer Singh, who is always eager to extend his hand to people from the region.
The Mind Behind the Momentum
In Africa, growth opportunities are plenty. The land has been blessed with resources by nature. If entrepreneurs use that as a tailwind, chances are high, they will register colossal profit. In fact, they can develop scopes to increase their profit margin further if they invest in developing infrastructure. The continent has several poor economies where governments are either busy to fend off malefactors or solving puzzles posed by scams and frauds. It is hard to imagine progress and development in infrastructure when a country has such issues as a backdrop.
Hashveer Singh, at an early age, found this as a perfect way to make an impact. He founded VeersGroup that slowly branched out to different sectors with its main focus on renewable energy. However, as an eco-friendly person, Hashveer tried to make sure that his projects leave almost no carbon footprint. That is why his endeavors are always backed by superlative technologies and resources that follow all the international protocols.
His vision is quite simple: “Develop and employ innovative, sustainable and responsive development models that consistently deliver tangible results.” However, its impact as the guiding force is profound. It weaves all his initiatives together and helps him develop a work culture across his organization that is both productive and all-encompassing.
This vision is in proper alignment with his mission. Forming “an inclusive, empowered and prosperous society and economy” is his goal and it talks in great detail about his work process. This mirrors the idea of bringing together the land and its people to ensure holistic growth.
As a person behind the steering wheel, Hashveer is in charge of appointing people who are eager to learn and grow. The furthering of the company depends a lot on this workforce and hence, they have to be selected carefully and then nurtured with the right ingredients. With vision and work strength properly aligned, Hashveer Singh believes his company can impact more.
Drawing Inspiration
Hashveer is very vocal about his support for Ajay Banga, the CEO of Mastercard. He looks up to him as an inspiring figure and tries to infuse Ajay’s work ethics into his methods. In his approach, Hashveer is quite practical. He believes in “bite more than you can chew and chew as hard as you can.” So far, he has been following this method in every possible way. As he says, “I immersed myself in business and from that, I was able to determine what I can focus on and what do I actually enjoy.”
His journey, so far, is quite inspiring but if he is allowed to contemplate, he finds several aspects that he wants to change. He would have started early to learn more about methods and impact society in much greater ways. This realization taught him well “We all have realities that we face and most of the time its financial realities and commitments. Find a way to balance those realities with the opportunities and never have regret.”
However, the initial days were not so easy. He remembers, “My biggest challenge was getting started and by that, I mean thinking that we needed immediate funding. It was our first registered business and like many business owners, we applied too many different organizations for funding and all it did was delay our start more and more. I regret the money we spent on consultants to assist us in finding funding avenues as all that happened was applications were submitted and no feedback was given.”
But in the end, it was his perseverance that helped him out of the situation. Some moments of epiphany helped him out as well. “Accepting that Failure is part of the process and realizing that your future lies in your own hands is key. For most people, failure marks the end of their entrepreneurial ambition, however realizing your lessons learnt is invaluable, which, I believe, no amount of literature readings can teach you.”
He also realized the impact people could have on dreams and how negative that can be. These people emerge as a deterrent factor- “…there will be people that you come across that doubt you, they create this toxic environment that prevents you from growing; it is here that you start realizing that your future lies in your own hands.” Surprisingly, he finds this as a natural thing to happen.
The Branches
Since day one, Hashveer Singh wanted to explore different dimensions and directions. That is why he has developed so many branches in such a short span, and they are all performing well in their own ways.
The structure he has developed has four segments. The first one is REA or Revolutionizing Enterprises in Africa. This organization is blessed with all the advanced technologies and ideas that can help SMMEs maximize their output. This also has a socio-economic arm that helps take care of the financial aspect. Hashveer Singh started this SMME evolution by incorporating his understanding of various procedures. Through trials and tribulations, since the beginning, they have been moving forward and have now developed an ecosystem that influences development.
REA has healthcare and cleaning as two different sectors. The first one deals with an emergency healthcare division that focuses on Medical Supplies in Africa. In fact, the company serves both “private and public organizations with needed medical supplies.” Their contributions during the COVID-19 crisis is commendable. The company takes the onus on itself to contribute and meet the requirements set by various crises. In Africa, building health-related awareness is a difficult job as people know nothing about problems that encircle them. Besides, resources are scarce to fight a health issue, like the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a countermeasure, the company has recently launched practices where they are developing gloves, sanitizers, and 3-ply masks to provide the region with some means to fight and survive.
In 2017, Hashveer formed REA Cleaning with the sole intent to develop the health standard of the region. In a poor economy, sanitization is a problematic area as people often consider that to be a luxury. That is why Hashveer formed alliances with both private and public organizations to meet the regional sanitization and disinfecting needs. His willingness to give back to society assists him in finding areas that are often neglected and can be developed.
Under the Anle Africa Sustainable Development, Hashveer brought in experts who can help him in executing various socio-economic projects to make a lasting impact.
The other wing Veers Foundation solely focuses on working and giving back to the society as a non-profit organization. It was launched in 2018 and has been doing much in its own way to ward off the pressing crisis of the COVID-19. In Hashveer’s own words, “We would really like to impact our Communities that we work with (in other areas of our group) with some sort of relief package. Our focus initiatives have been on ECD centers that had kids; however, this had to expand with the COVID- 19 and now we are aiming at school children as well.”
What Is The Future?
Hashveer wants to establish VeersGroup as a “diversified group of companies that can serve the Africa Renewable Energy market from end to end.” The regional and international partnerships had so far acted well in favor of the company and helped the company grow in South Africa and meet “initial engagements on expanding to the UAE.” The company is targeting 2025 as the year of getting listed and on a personal front, he wishes to create a sustainable work opportunity for around 250 people.
But whatever the plan is, the intent will always be to give back to the local community. Hashveer Singh’s plans reflect a perfect fusion of profits for both his ventures and the community, which ensures holistic growth. Always.
