South Africa’s top decision-makers and key stakeholders met on November 19, 2009 to debate insightful data on the current state of entrepreneurship in the country; the things that are going well and the challenges that need to be addressed. The day saw some lively discussions and participants experienced a great sense of connectivity and had a lot of opportunity to network. The discussions will be captured in a multi-authored White Paper that will explore key issues and propose innovative solutions to create dynamic entrepreneurial environments in South Africa. GIBS MBA students will be compiling a report which will be launched in early 2010 that summarises the discussion and steps going forward.
The day’s programme included a Headline Panel discussion on the State of Entrepreneurship in South Africa. Confirmed panelists included successful entrepreneur Adrian Gore, CEO of Discovery and Dr. Mike Herrington, author of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Lebo Gunguluza, CEO of SABEF, Iris Dempsey, CEO of FNB Commercial, Bheka Manana, experienced entrepreneur and the panel was facilitated by Moneyweb’s Alec Hogg.
In attendanc were South African fast growth entrepreneurs, policy makers in the entrepreneurial space, SMME support organizations and academics with a good knowledge of entrepreneurship in South Africa, media/journalists with an interest in entrepreneurship in SA, funders and executives from Big Business.
The headline panel was followed by breakaway sessions that addressed key areas: Access to capital; Incubator/Support; Culture of Entrepreneurship; Access to Skills and BEE/Enterprise Development
At the three-course gala lunch, Deirdre Coyle of the AllWorld Network launched the SA FAST GROWTH 100: South Africa’s Fastest Growing 100 companies competition..© The Entrepreneur Newspaper 2009. All Rights Reserved
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