The Mandela University Africa Hub was established in 2024 to drive youth entrepreneurship and social innovation, starting with our Entrepreneurship and Incubation in Action students and young township entrepreneurs in Gqeberha and expanding this to the Eastern Cape, South Africa and ultimately to other countries in Africa. In the past year, the Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI) at Nelson Mandela University has incubated 42 small businesses over the past year, creating 96 jobs.
Responding to its drive to be an entrepreneurial university, the University launched the Student Employability and Entrepreneurship Development (SEED) programme in 2021 and offers it to all students.
Funded by the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP), it is now in its fifth year and has attracted hundreds of students, several of whom have become entrepreneurs.
Coaching and Mentorship
The six-month SEED programme includes 10 hybrid employability coaching workshops and an entrepreneurship peer mentorship programme.
These are focused on developing skills that set students and graduates apart, including business and decision-making skills, self-management, leadership, communication, strategic thinking, problem-solving, adaptability, networking and the ability to work in a team. These skills enhance employability in any field and are essential attributes for effective entrepreneurs.
SEED annually hosts Student Entrepreneurship Symposia with hugely relevant themes such as ‘Leveraging Gig Work for Entrepreneurial Growth’ and ‘Innovation in an African Context’.
Networking and Connecting
SEED’s networking activities offer students an exciting opportunity to connect with people who are already navigating the national and international job market and to connect with their peers.
The programme annually awards travel grants to student entrepreneurs to attend the national EDHE Intervarsity Finals and Awards, where they network with industry professionals and fellow student entrepreneurs from throughout South Africa.
Students who complete the SEED programme and are motivated to start their own businesses progress to the CfERI business incubation programme. They develop profitable businesses which they can further develop as their main focus when they graduate or in addition to employment.
Winston Letwaba – Tutoring for the Future
“I am where I am today because of the incredible mentoring I received through the SEED programme,” says Winston Letwaba, a third year BCom accountancy student who is the Managing Director of the Advanced Academy of Excellence – an online tutoring academy he started in 2022.
He joined SEED that same year and received one-on-one mentoring for six months which, the man known informally as Sir Winston says, gave him the best possible foundation for what was then his startup business.
“In 2022 I was named SEED mentee of the year and the following year I became a mentor for SEED and was named mentor of the year for 2023,” he explains. “I am so appreciative of the mentoring I have received from Karen Snyman, or ‘Mam K’ as we call her, who has been instrumental in my journey, as has Prof Thobekani Lose, whose hands-on leadership is extraordinary.
Geared for growth
“I am now a CfERI incubatee which is for more established businesses, and I employ 24 tutors – they are second, third and final year students and postgraduates pursuing mainly engineering, accountancy, IT and medical degrees,” says Letwaba. “We mainly teach maths, science and accounting to school learners, but we offer over 10 subjects, including languages and business economics. We are tutoring for the future as our learners can achieve the marks to access university.”
The tutors have taught dozens of learners online, locally and nationally, and also do face-to-face tutoring on campus and at schools in Gqeberha. The tutors work part-time and earn approximately R1 200–R1 500 per month. Learners currently pay R49–R69 per hour, depending on the grade they are in. The Academy also does free tutoring in partnership with an NGO at under-resourced schools in the local Motherwell region.
Purchase of a pop-up hub
In 2024 Letwaba received the R100 000 development grant from Nelson Mandela University’s finance division and used it to develop a website for the Academy and for the purchase of a pop-up hub, including a gazebo, table, chairs and banners for local exhibitions and open days.
“Our first school exhibitions were with Victoria Park and Alexander Road High Schools, followed by the University’s Open Day and the visit of the Minister of Small Business Development for the official opening of CfERI in April this year,” he explains. “We do the school exhibitions on days when parents are present in big numbers so that we can speak to them about onboarding their children.”
93% pass rate in 2024
The team tracks the progress of all their learners and achieved a 93% pass rate in 2024, an 88% retention rate and a 71% average across all grades.
In 2024 Letwaba was a national finalist in the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education EDHE (Entrepreneurship Intervarsity, competing against all 26 universities. “I have been fortunate to win several entrepreneurship competitions, including a R50 000 investment from Nedbank for being placed first in the Township Entrepreneurs Alliance Kasi Business Pitch,” he explains.
His goal is to advance the Academy to a virtual campus platform where learners can log on and use different tools for learning, including gaming and AI to enhance their learning capacity. “The platform will be designed to accommodate over 7 000 learners across the country,” says Letwaba, “and we will work with NGOs to make the service free for learners in need as we are all about equal opportunity.”
Your network is your net worth
He also has a second business called Advanced Productions that produces content for social media, which he started in 2023. “Being an incubatee I have access to the higher education market and for the past two years I have produced short interviews, reels and other content for the EDHE Indaba, attended by 26 universities across South Africa, as well as for the EDHE launch at the Hub this year,” he says.
“I live by the Hub’s entrepreneurship motto that your network is your net worth,” he adds. “The networks I have built as an incubatee have played a huge role in the success of my business, and I am so fortunate to have this investment in me.”
Read more in the latest BizYouth magazine, showcasing the pioneering work being done in advancing Nelson Mandela University as an entrepreneurial institution.