From R40 a month to African tech ambition: How Solly Tau Makofane built Gaavor

Johannesburg – When Solly Tau Makofane secured his first software customer, the deal was worth just R40 a month.

It was a small amount of money, but for Makofane, it was proof that technology developed locally could solve real business problems — and that customers were willing to pay for it.

That first customer became the foundation of Gaavor, a technology company founded by Makofane, who is now its Managing Director, and which has grown into a broader technology ecosystem serving businesses in areas ranging from safety and compliance to workforce management, invoicing and business process automation.

“My first software customer paid only R40 per month,” Makofane said.

He said the significance of the deal went beyond its financial value.

“Financially, it was a small transaction. But it proved that someone was willing to pay for technology I had created, and that locally developed software could solve real business problems.”

Today, Gaavor is focused on a challenge faced by many organisations across Africa: businesses still rely heavily on fragmented systems to manage critical operations.

Spreadsheets, paper forms, email chains and WhatsApp groups remain common tools for managing information, communicating with employees and tracking business processes.

Makofane’s approach has been to turn these fragmented processes into structured digital systems that allow businesses to automate workflows, monitor operations and access information in real time.

Gaavor develops cloud-based platforms incorporating automated workflows, live dashboards, alerts and structured reporting.

The company’s technology covers areas including safety and compliance reporting, workforce management, invoicing, document control, operational reporting, e-marketing and business process automation.

Building for African businesses

For Makofane, the opportunity extends beyond digitising individual businesses. He believes Africa needs to become a stronger producer of technology rather than remaining primarily a consumer of products developed elsewhere.

“I believe African companies should not only consume technology created elsewhere. We should also build enterprise systems that reflect our own industries, challenges and opportunities.”

That philosophy is central to Gaavor’s development.

Rather than building technology around assumptions about how businesses operate, Makofane says the company focuses on identifying practical problems and developing systems around the realities faced by its customers.

The model has allowed Gaavor to grow without relying on major investment or a large development team.

Its journey reflects a broader shift in Africa’s technology sector, where entrepreneurs are increasingly developing digital solutions aimed at local industries and markets.

Makofane’s belief is that meaningful technology businesses can start small if they are built around genuine problems and have customers willing to test and support the solution.

“Technology does not need to begin with enormous funding to create meaningful industry impact. It needs to begin with a real problem, a committed builder and one customer willing to believe in the solution.”

From R40 to a technology ecosystem

What started as a single software customer paying R40 a month has since expanded into a suite of technology solutions designed to support different aspects of business operations.

Gaavor’s platforms cover safety and compliance, workforce management, invoicing, document control, operational reporting, e-marketing and business process automation.

Makofane said the company’s objective is to develop practical enterprise technology that reflects the operating environments of African businesses.

“I founded Gaavor with the goal of building practical technology around real operational problems faced by African businesses, one among few tech developed within the continent.”

The company is continuing to expand its technology ecosystem as it seeks to help businesses replace manual and disconnected processes with integrated digital systems.

For Makofane, the journey has also combined entrepreneurship with continued education.

He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology while building and expanding Gaavor.

In 2025, he was recognised among the Top 10 participants in the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and Standard Bank Youth Business Pitch Competition.

The recognition added to a journey that began with a modest software transaction and has evolved into an ambition to build enterprise technology from Africa for African businesses.

The bigger technology opportunity

The story of Gaavor highlights a broader opportunity in Africa’s digital economy: developing technology that is not simply imported and adapted, but designed around the continent’s own business environments and challenges.

For Makofane, the R40 first customer remains a reminder of how that journey began.

It was not a major investment or a large corporate contract. It was a single customer willing to pay for a solution to a real problem.

That early validation has since become the basis for a growing technology business with ambitions to expand its footprint and demonstrate the potential of locally developed enterprise software.

As African businesses continue their digital transformation, Makofane believes the continent’s entrepreneurs have an opportunity not only to use technology, but to build it.

Gaavor’s journey — from a R40 monthly software customer to a growing technology ecosystem — is an example of how that ambition can begin with something as simple as solving one customer’s problem.