DCEEIIC Represents UNIVEN at Prestigious International Entrepreneurship Forum

The Directorate of Community Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Inclusive Innovation, and Commercialisation (DCEEIIC) participated in the 21st International Entrepreneurship Forum, hosted by the University of the Western Cape, from 18 to 20 September 2025.

The 21st International Entrepreneurship Forum (IEF) was hosted under the theme “Education and Entrepreneurship: Ecosystem Value Creation for People, Organisations, and the Environ-ment.” The conference theme aligned with the University of Venda’s adopted definition of entre-preneurship as “the self-directed pursuit of opportunities to create value for self and for others.” The IEF investigates, inculcates, informs, and innovates in collaboration with diverse groups of stakeholders in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, economic development, and social development. At this year’s forum, various stakeholders and the ecosystem explored how en-trepreneurial learning enables value creation and wellbeing, especially in the face of global chal-lenges such as technological disruption, inequality, and climate change. The forum examined entrepreneurship not only as a business activity but as a transformational learning process, one that enables individuals and organisations to navigate complex environments, build human and social capital, and drive meaningful change. With the rise of digital technologies and artificial in-telligence, participants reflected on the question: how do we learn, teach, and adapt in this new era? What skills and knowledge do entrepreneurs need to thrive, and how can our institutions, ecosystems, and communities support the learning?

The conference was opened by Prof Jay Matri, the founder of the International Entrepreneurship Forum, who welcomed everyone and thanked all the delegates for travelling near and far to at-tend the conference. He stated that the 21st IEF embodies the concept of creative emergence, with a focus on entrepreneurship education and learning, and emphasised that participants should look beyond the curriculum to focus on the value created by the entrepreneurship eco-system. He urged the participants to ask questions during the conference proceedings, rather than taking what was being said or proposed at face value.

Prof Chux Gervase Iwu, Chair of Entrepreneurship in Higher Education at the University of West-ern Cape, also welcomed the delegates as the host of the 21st International Entrepreneurship Forum. He acknowledged the IEF for choosing UWC as a key partner in advancing entrepreneur-ship education. He also highlighted that his research over the past two decades has focused on addressing critical questions that tend to make entrepreneurship academics uncomfortable: what qualifies someone to teach entrepreneurship, what tools are used in teaching, and what do we aim to produce? A degree in commerce or business management reveals that many strategies applied in business management have emerged from engineering, hence the need to embrace transdisciplinary in entrepreneurship education.

Minister of Small Business Development Hon. Stella Tembisa Ndabeni delivered a keynote ad-dress at the UWC 21st International Entrepreneurship Forum Conference. In her address, the Minister highlighted that, in partnership with higher education institutions, including TVET col-leges and universities, the government has established centres for entrepreneurship and rapid incubators. These centres not only provide education but also serve as platforms for innovation and problem-solving in the digital age. Such incubators are designed to shift the mindset of stu-dents and graduates from job seekers to job creators, equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and business development support needed to build market-ready, sustainable enterprises. Cur-rently, 110 incubation centres are supported, with a target to expand to 270 sector-focused cen-tres by 2030 through collaboration between the public and private sectors. These programmes harness the strengths of academia, research institutions, and industry, empowering entrepre-neurs with technical expertise, regulatory know-how, and the capacity to develop bankable, mar-ket-ready solutions.

The conference featured presentations and panel sessions on policies for entrepreneurship ed-ucation, designed to evaluate and promote policies and instruments for entrepreneurial learning and teaching. The presentations on entrepreneurship education and learning focused on how the best institutions can integrate entrepreneurship courses and curricula into all modules, tai-lored to best fit each degree, to ensure that by the time the students graduate, they will have the knowledge that they can use to start their own businesses with the skills they acquired.

It also explored ecosystems and productivity to inquire how entrepreneurial productivity relies on the ecosystem and institutions. The panel also discussed the entrepreneurial mindset versus the practicality of entrepreneurs with institutions of higher learning, and how these institutions need to be intentional in creating a nurturing environment for student entrepreneurs to balance their academics with running successful businesses. Dr Thobekani Lose, the Director and Senior Researcher at the Mandela University Africa Hub, Nelson Mandela University, spoke in depth about the initiatives being undertaken at the Hub and the structure of student entrepreneurship at the institution. He discussed how students are given opportunities to drive entrepreneurship by running businesses on campus, such as student and staff cafeterias, driving schools, and tuck shops. Dr Lose credited the success of building an entrepreneurial culture at the NWU to the university’s Executive Leadership, due to their regular oversight and provision of resources.

Prof. Michelle Esau, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at UWC, chaired the panel discussion on a book emerging from the faculty, focusing on entrepreneurship through experiential learning for non-professional qualifications. Six academic disciplines target students, academics, policymakers, and small business owners alike. Describing the book as “pragmatic,” Prof. Esau emphasised its focus on the real-world challenges that small- and micro-enterprises face. “I believe this book makes a meaningful contribution to the broader discourse on entre-preneurship education. It addresses the problems, the challenges and the complexities, but also highlights the opportunities within the small- and micro-enterprise landscape,” she said. “This is not just another scholarly text that reiterates known issues. It presents practical solutions rooted in the South African context,” said Prof Esau.

Reflecting on the lessons from the conference, Mr Rudzani Mamphweli, Community Engagement Officer under the Directorate of Community Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Inclusive Innova-tion and Commercialisation (DCEEIIC), highlights that building internal synergies/ecosystems is key to the success of entrepreneurship education in the universities, and he shared how UNIVEN is assisting students in creating an entrepreneurial mindset through student-led programmes such as the Entrepreneurship Student Ambassador Programme (ESAP), Skills for the Future Pro-gramme (SfFP) and the Global Map system competition. He also stated that entrepreneurial learning equips students with the skills and tools necessary to face the challenges of unemploy-ment and the ever-changing world of work, and he is pleased that the University of Venda is taking a bold step in introducing entrepreneurship as a co-curricular module starting from next year. “What stood out most for me was exploring the key themes of ecosystem value creation through education, and learning for different forms of entrepreneurship development, asking questions, proposing solutions in their appropriate context, which is aligned to the work we do at our directorate”, Mr Mamphweli said.

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Department of Marketing, Branding and Communication
University of Venda
Tel: 082 868 2218 / 082 868 1811