UKZN InQubate Propelling Student Creativity

UKZN InQubate Propelling Student Creativity

UKZN InQubate hosted its third ENSPIRE’D Talks at the Edgewood campus in September. ENSPIRE is an Entrepreneurship Skills Programme which provides students with entrepreneurial skills at a practical level. The ENSPIRE model holistically embraces entrepreneurial development using effective processes to propel student creativity and ideas into functional business entities.

The focus of the event was to engage with and familiarise students about government support for small business owners and “access to market”. The Department of Small Business Development, National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), and Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) provided guidance for those aspiring to be entrepreneurs.

The NYDA’s Regional Outreach Officer, Mr Njabulo Mbatha, explained how NYDA as a government agency assists students from ideation to conceptualisation, tackling youth challenges by offering products and services focusing on entrepreneurship, education and skills development as well as employment. Also, on offer are funding programmes and market linkage to support business development, depending on the life span and type of business. ‘We started up when we became aware that young people have challenges they face on a daily basis and we developed programmes to assist,’ said Mbatha.

Mr Sibonelo Mchunu, Marketing and Stakeholder Relations at SEDA – a non-profit organisation which assists in developing small businesses said the agency encourages students to register at no cost on the SEDA database for assistance with their business ideas. The agency offers professional assistance in developing a business from concept or taking an existing business to the next level. ‘We always advocate that when you run a business, run it professionally, and we hope that you use this information and you access these government services,’ said Mchunu.

Department of Small Business Development Director, Mr Mzwanele Memani, highlighted the importance of business collaboration. ‘For a long time, small businesses in the country did not network or collaborate with each other. As a Black community, we need to start networking, otherwise we will be trapped in poverty for the next 20 years,’ said Memani.

He explained how common it was to find a person running a spaza shop or selling vegetables on their own without any collaboration, while other communities use various platforms to network, discuss business opportunities and negotiate discounts in the market.

First-year student on the Edgewood campus, Ms Silindile Mchunu, said the programme was useful and she had learned there were organisations to assist when an individual wanted to become an entrepreneur. Third-year student on UKZN’s Howard College campus, Mr Nkululeko Khanyeza, said ‘the session was very informative and I got to hear a lot from SEDA, NYDA and the Department of Small Business Development about available opportunities, mentorship programmes and grants they offer from idea stage to “big boys’ stages”.’

Words: Zama Khoza

Photograph: Khutso Ramontja