entrepreneurship

Because youth are the future, they need to be part of the solution when it comes to climate change, food sovereignty and sustainable ways of living, believe the founders of Ekasi Project Green.

With pots of up to R5-million each to invest in entrepreneurs, the Awethu Project looks to be a high impact partner through a negotiated equity stake. This way, the venture capital fund has the same incentive as the business owners to grow their businesses. It also shares the rewards.

The trick to success is to keep going, says South African entrepreneur Nicholas Haralambous. If you hit a wall; knock it down and go on the next one. Haralambous is the ideas man behind Nic Harry, a range of bold socks and accessories for men that is making fashion waves globally.

After a successful run in Soweto in June, the next series of Siyabangena Seminars will be held in KwaMashu, KwaZulu-Natal in late September, with established South African business people sharing their skills and experience with young black entrepreneurs from the townships.

Thousands of learners in South Africa are taking part in an initiative set up to boost youth entrepreneurship and economic development. Called Step Up 2 a Start Up II, it offers skills, a toolkit and entry into the Maker-preneur of the Year Competition, with bursaries up for grabs.

South African businesspeople, government officials and celebrities got to together to launch Step Up 2 a Start Up, a programme that teaches schoolchildren and students about entrepreneurship and gets them to design, make and sell their own products.

Bongekile Radebe is a self-driven young woman who has gained leadership skills through involvement in nation-building initiatives such as youth development programmes - including One Day Leader - and social entrepreneurship.

An initiative to identify the good men of Africa who play a role in business and their community was launched in Johannesburg. These men will use this platform to share ideas and brainstorm how they can combat challenges.

A tech guru based in the city of San Francisco says Africa has the potential to create a new wave of global software entrepreneurs. He is excited about the possibilities of the continent, which will have 50% of the world's working population by 2040.

Forbes has named its 30 under 30 - its list of the 30 most promising entrepreneurs in Africa under the age of 30. Six are from South Africa, but all are "entrepreneurs with fresh ideas". They were nominated by readers, and judges looked at business size, location, struggles and determination.