Nedbank Bursary Propels UKZN Statistics Star to Success

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Mr Olwethu Ngubo’s future as a young graduate employee at Nedbank looks bright!

Supported by a bursary from the bank, Ngubo graduated cum laude from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) with a BSc Honours in Statistics.

This followed his success in earning an undergraduate BSc degree cum laude with majors in Statistics and Computer Science, also from UKZN.

Said Ms Diroshni Govender of Nedbank’s Young Talent Programme: “Olwethu’s success stands tall as a powerful example of how talent, opportunity and institutional support can converge to shape a future in quantitative finance. With the support of a Nedbank bursary, Olwethu has not only excelled academically but also transitioned seamlessly into the professional world.”

For Ngubo, pursuing an honours degree in Statistics at UKZN was both a continuation of his undergraduate journey and a deliberate career move. “Choosing UKZN was not simply about convenience,” he said. “It was a deliberate, strategic decision to ensure I emerged from my studies truly industry-ready.”

Having built strong relationships with lecturers and experienced a supportive academic environment, he recognised that the honours programme would provide the technical depth required for competitive roles in banking.

His academic interests were shaped by modules that bridged theory and application. Ngubo credits a module he completed on statistical inference, STAT240, for giving him a rigorous mathematical foundation, while honours-level modules such as risk management, generalised linear models and time series proved directly relevant to his career.

“There is something deeply satisfying about recognising a framework from a lecture theatre appearing in a live production model,” Ngubo reflected, noting how easily his studies translated into his current work.

Ngubo’s research project further demonstrated this practical focus: The study, co-authored with a classmate, examined low book penetration at a Johannesburg-based investment company. Using binary logistic regression, ordinal logistic regression and survival analysis, the research analysed payment likelihood, magnitude and timing. The findings highlighted key determinants such as promise-to-pay agreements, debtor characteristics and debt size, while identifying the first 30 days after account handover as critical for collections.

Ngubo said, “We were not working with a textbook dataset. We were solving a live business problem for an actual company.” This experience reinforced his belief in the real-world power of statistics.

Ngubo did not initially plan to pursue statistics. First drawn to computer science, he discovered his passion for statistics through exposure to the subject at the University. “Everything changed in my first statistics course,” he said. “I went from being someone who was simply curious about numbers to someone who was genuinely captivated by what those numbers could reveal.”

Central to his success was the Nedbank bursary, which funded his honours studies and opened the door to his current role as a quantitative analyst trainee in the bank's Balance Sheet Management unit. “The Nedbank bursary was genuinely transformative,” he said. “The financial support it provided removed a significant source of pressure, allowing me to direct my full energy towards my academic work.” He added that the bursary also created a direct pathway to employment, demonstrating the bank's early investment in his potential.

Ngubo's story highlights Nedbank's ongoing commitment to recruiting from UKZN and investing in its students. The partnership between the Institution and the bank not only supports academic excellence but also ensures graduates are equipped for meaningful careers in the financial sector.

Now based in Sandton after moving from Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal, Ngubo is focused on developing his expertise in liquidity risk management, asset-liability management modelling, as well as other areas of the bank that he will rotate in, so that he can get a full scope of how the bank functions. Looking ahead, he plans to pursue a master’s degree in data science to strengthen his academic and professional foundation further.

He acknowledged the many people who supported his journey - from a high school teacher who first encouraged his quantitative ambitions to UKZN lecturers who nurtured his passion for statistics. He also credited his family, partner and peers for their unwavering support, emphasising: “success at this level does not happen in isolation”.

Beyond academics and work, Ngubo enjoys football and has a creative interest in fragrance layering, but it is his relationships that remain most important. Reflecting on his time at UKZN, he said: “Statistics did more for me than I ever anticipated. It gave me a career path, passion, love and friends.”

His message to current students is simple: “Stay intentional, stay curious and trust the process. The opportunities are there. Richmond to Sandton is not just a geographical journey; it is proof of what is possible when preparation meets opportunity.”

Words: Sally Frost

Photograph: Sethu Dlamini