Born and raised in Zambia, Kaluba Chikonde moved to South Africa in 2012. But her dream of becoming a neuroscientist was shattered when she wasn’t accepted to medical school because she was an international student. “My world was over – it was the first time I had experienced true rejection,” she recalls. “I was always a top achiever and now I had to think of second options. I had always loved maths so my teachers suggested I pursue a degree in actuarial science instead.”

Chikonde began with a statistics-focused course at the University of Cape Town in quantitative management. In the second year, the degree changed to analytics introducing computer science – something Chikonde knew little about. “I started to fall in love with programming, creating programmes and using my creativity to solve problems.”