The Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme of the Department of Higher Education, in collaboration with Universities South Africa (USAf), presented their annual Student Entrepreneur Week (SEW), in September 2021.

For Walter Sisulu University (WSU), the Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI) will host the university’s Student Entrepreneurship Week (SEW) in October 2021.

The SEW is building on the accomplishments and turnaround since its inception in 2017. Aiming for all public universities to partake in this magnitude partnership, the EDHE initiative has developed in a number of regions.

Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator Manager and Researcher, Dr. Thobekani Lose, said, “We all know that entrepreneurship is not a magic solution in a context of mass unemployment, but through this initiative, we will alert students to the fact that employment is not their only option to participate in the economy.”

This opportunity is for students enrolled at university is diversifying opportunities and creating platforms for employment opportunities and over 700 students from WSU will be taking part across all faculties.

“Students will also be challenged to consider entrepreneurial ways to supplement their income while studying, for example by participating in the gig economy or trying their hand at drop shipping,” said Lose.

In the context where students struggle to make ends meet while studying, this event seeks to motivate students to open up their own businesses, thus pursuing the best of the academic world alongside the business world.

-       Anita Roji