Veli Ngubane

Veli Ngubane has not only co-founded Avatar South Africa, but also inspired a new agency offering, YGK, and is part of M&N Brands, a holding company with diversified investments in leading advertising, media and communication businesses.

Veli serves as Advisory Board Chairman at the Red & Yellow School, sits on the IAB’s Transformation & Education Council, is a DMA Board Member and has judged the Loeries, Apex, Bookmarks, Pendorings and AdFocus Awards.

Veli Ngubane was also named in this year’s Mail & Guardian Top 200 South Africans. Veli holds a BSocSci (Politics, Economics & Law) from UCT and a postgraduate Marketing & Advertising diploma from the Red & Yellow School.

A born entrepreneur taking advantage of the two very economies he was exposed to, Veli is also a brand man (his experience includes BMW, Apple and Investec), deeply committed to disrupting and challenging the advertising industry, “Just being black is not enough; we need black- owned and managed agencies to be world class.”

Constantly learning, constantly innovating, 35-year-old Veli has also learnt the pitfalls of success, “I have learnt that one must define what success means to oneself, as there is a great danger with conforming to the one society creates.”