Big thinker who is not afraid of taking risks

Rolf Mendelsohn is the chief technical officer of Paratus and the CEO of the Paratus business in Angola, ITA.
Monque Adams
Contrasting with his considered, analytical, and steady approach to life, Rolf Mendelsohn is an undisputed adventurer.

Together with the other founders of Paratus, Rolf has not only laid down the foundations for its success, but he has also charted new and utterly challenging territories and seen the process through to establish and sustain the business with his ‘big thinking’ attitude.

Rolf sees no limits to what can be achieved.

His ethic is that if you work harder and smarter, you will be more successful, and he firmly believes that if you aim for the stars, you will reach the clouds.

His credentials and qualifications, his work ethic and his optimistic attitude combine perfectly to make Rolf a natural-born leader.

He is a very busy man … but because he’s a man who doesn’t get much sleep and one who struggles to forget things, he is extremely well-equipped to cope.

Rolf Mendelsohn was born in Durban and moved with his family to Namibia when he was just five years old. He returned to South Africa to finish his secondary education in Pretoria and whilst still at school, at the age of 16, he formed his own company repairing computers.

Rolf then spent more than 17 years working in Angola and, in 2003, founded ITA (Internet Technologies Angola) with his partner, Miles October.

Having gone to the same school as Elon Musk – Pretoria Boys High, it is no wonder he is a fan. He admires how this global pioneer has built and engineered something new, rather than merely scaling a new piece of software and he relates this to how Paratus is growing their future: by developing and investing in infrastructure and offering unlimited, integrated services within the telecoms space in countries where connectivity quality is poor and expensive.

He believes in unlimited potential and pushing the boundaries and, with this in mind, his goal is to grow the Paratus group’s operations from six countries to ten countries across Africa by 2022 and to firmly realise the group’s aim of developing Africa’s quality network.

Characteristics

1. He is fearless in his ambition, knowing that hard work will pay off.

2. He is focused, confident and determined to succeed.

3. He is sensible, practical, and dependable.

4. He admires leaders and mould-breakers; he loves intrigue and challenges.

5. He is ambitious, loves computers and thrives on getting things going and moving in the right direction.

6. His motto in life is to work hard, play hard, sleep when you’re dead and believes if there is no pressure there is no flow.

7. He believes in renewables and would love to help people get out of poverty.

8. He loves travelling.

9. He is an avid fisherman.

10. He is married and has two children.