Rumbidzai Sithole, Malyombo Mumbi & Team
Edu Stay (Edus Dei Zambia) is a pioneering real estate venture launching Zambia’s very first purpose-built, affordable, and highly sustainable student housing model. Led by a highly accomplished team combining local networks with global corporate, finance, and engineering expertise, the company is directly addressing a severe regional student housing crisis—where fewer than 10% of Zambia’s 200,000 tertiary students have access to proper on-campus housing —by delivering an innovative, off-grid living-learning ecosystem. Edu Stay’s highly de-risked pilot project, situated on secured land adjacent to Palabana University, will deliver 148 modern, smartly designed single, double, and quadruple beds featuring robust, off-grid resilience with solar power, borehole water, and wastewater recycling to solve severe local power and water deficits. This high-yield, high-impact model is structurally optimized for robust financial returns, boasting zero tenant acquisition costs through direct university off-take agreements and highly predictable, upfront semester-based cash flows funded by private families, major scholarship bodies, and a growing hub of regional international students. Currently raising $900,000 to launch this scalable pilot, Edu Stay presents a uniquely replicable, socially transformative investment opportunity positioned to solve a massive infrastructure gap and scale from hundreds to thousands of sustainable beds across Africa’s rapidly growing academic markets.
Rumbidzai Sithole is a strategy and economic development professional focused on business-led growth and structural transformation in Africa. She previously worked at Prudential plc, where she supported regional strategy, commercial partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions across eight African markets. Her experience also includes roles at the World Bank’s Africa manufacturing advisory team, the Dangote Group, and as a strategy consultant and entrepreneur.
Rumbidzai holds a Master of Public Administration in International Development from Harvard Kennedy School and an MBA from INSEAD. As an AsiaGlobal Fellow, her research explored how a greenfield industrial investment vehicle could accelerate Africa’s industrialization by combining private equity with development finance expertise, using Zambia as a case study.
Co-Founder of Edu Stay Zambia Ltd, delivering scalable solutions in student housing and educational infrastructure. With 20+ years of executive leadership across automotive, logistics, agriculture, and sustainability, I specialize in market entry, sales strategy, and brand positioning across emerging markets. I serve on the boards of SETCO, Imperial Parts Zambia Ltd, and Flava Radio, where I help drive climate-aligned growth and commercial innovation. My track record includes launching ventures, negotiating strategic partnerships, and aligning operational execution with investor priorities. I’m open to collaborations that demand strategic clarity, regional insight, and measurable impact.
Diego Nannicini is an expert in strategic planning and project management, Diego has experience in performance transformation across industries and countries. His experiences cover critical sectors including oil and gas, government, airline, retailing and industry goods. He has a proven track record in managing mega projects including a US$6 billion project in the oil and gas industry across 3 continents, from strategy planning in the headquarters to implementation in the field in developing countries.
Diego studied Engineering at the University of Florence, where he pursued a master’s degree in Energy Engineering. He also received his Master of Energy from the University of Bologna where he specialised in oil and gas plants design and project management. He has an MBA from INSEAD (‘14J).
Bryan Mutakasha is a professional and corporate executive known for his roles in sales management and company direction. including working as a Tender Sales Manager at Toyota Zambia Limited and with Imperial Parts CompanyLimited
Sam is currently the General Manager for ZB Capital (Private) Limited. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial services sector in Zimbabwe and his areas of expertise include investment analysis, investment management corporate finance structured finance and renewable energy. Over the years he has participated in a number of capital-raising projects through the issuance of debt instruments/Bonds, ordinary equity, project finance as well as mezzanine finance. Sam sits on a number of Boards which include Cell Insurance, Techold Engineering (Private) Limited, QUPA Micro-finance Limited & SADC Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Board (“SACREE”).
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Edu Stay (Edus Dei Zambia) is a pioneering real estate venture launching Zambia’s very first purpose-built, affordable, and highly sustainable student housing model. Led by a highly accomplished team combining local networks with global corporate, finance, and engineering expertise , the company is directly addressing a severe regional student housing crisis—where fewer than 10% of Zambia’s 200,000 tertiary students have access to proper on-campus housing —by delivering an innovative, off-grid living-learning ecosystem .
Edu Stay (Edus Dei Zambia) is a pioneering real estate venture launching Zambia’s very first purpose-built, affordable, and highly sustainable student housing model . Led by a highly accomplished team combining local networks with global corporate, finance, and engineering expertise , the company is directly addressing a severe regional student housing crisis—where fewer than 10% of Zambia’s 200,000 tertiary students have access to proper on-campus housing —by delivering an innovative, off-grid living-learning ecosystem .