Stellenbosch University
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Entrepreneurship training for SU staff
Author: Corporate Communications / Korporatiewe Kommunikasie [Rozanne Engel]
Published: 18/04/2018


Enactus South Africa, in collaboration with Matie Community Service (MCS) in the Division for Social Impact, recently held an entrepreneurship workshop at Stellenbosch University (SU). Enactus is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to inspiring students to improve the world through innovative entrepreneurial action.

The workshop, held at the Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management on the Stellenbosch campus, was aimed at training staff members from the various universities in the Western Cape. Staff from SU, the University of Cape Town, the University of the Western Cape and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology will now work with students, helping them to come up with innovative business ideas that will drive a social-impact agenda in their local communities.

According to Renée Hector-Kannemeyer, Head of MCS and Deputy Director of Social Impact at SU, the purpose of the workshop was to find solutions to some of the problems that communities are facing in South Africa. “Enactus provides an amazing training platform for students to come up with a product or business idea that addresses sustainable development goals and that has a strong social impact. With the training staff received this week, we hope to help students think out of the box and develop entrepreneurial skills."

MCS will be the custodian of the Enactus programme, which will provide students at SU with the necessary business knowledge and skills to implement their own initiatives.

Regional Programme Coordinator at Enactus, Bheki Mdzikwa, said that Enactus is a student organisation advocating entrepreneurship. “We challenge students to come up with needs in their communities and find entrepreneurial solutions to these problems. Today, we are training faculty advisors from different universities on business simulation."

Mdzikwa added that they hope to equip faculty advisors so that, once they return to their institutions, they are able to train students in preparation for the world of entrepreneurship.

The two-day workshop was one of many being held across the country, with a focus on matters such as entrepreneurship, leadership, project management, identifying projects and upscaling projects.

Mdzikwa said that the decision to have a footprint in all South African universities allows students to put into practice what they learn during lectures. It also provides universities with an opportunity to impact positively on their communities – not least because Enactus prepares students to think of themselves as job creators rather than future employees.

For more information on Enactus South Africa, visit http://enactus.org/.

Photo: Staff from the various universities in the Western Cape.