Dr Edwell Gumbo, the director of Entrepreneurship, Universities South Africa (USAF), Mandela University’s Karen Snyman national chairperson of the EDHE (Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education) and chairperson for the Student Entrepreneurship Coordinators Community of Practice (SEC CoP), Winston Letwaba, national finalist for the 2024 EDHE and Ncedo Ntsabo (National Winner for the 2023 EDHE).
With these words, Dr Edwell Gumbo, the director of Entrepreneurship, Universities South Africa (USAf), introduced Entrepreneurship4Sustainability as the 2025 national EDHE entrepreneurship intervarsity challenge theme.
He encouraged students to participate because it can elevate them to provincial, national and even global platforms to showcase their business ventures.
Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) recently launched the intervarsity at Nelson Mandela University’s Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI) on North Campus Currently in its seventh year, the competition attracts students from all 26 South African public universities.
Students can tell their stories to the world, while addressing solutions to current global challenges, Dr Gumbo said. Businesses should not only be financially sustainable, but also have meaningful social impact, and tackling issues, such as climate change, health challenges, resource depletion, food security, social inequality, and other critical economic and social problems.
“This competition is more than an opportunity to pitch your business; it’s a platform to refine your solution and connect with like-minded innovators.”
“Entrepreneurship must be embedded in the teaching of any qualification at a university. He also mentioned the Fulbright Specialist Scholar programme to capacitate academics that will be conducted in May.
Mandela University’s Karen Snyman, the national chairperson of the programme, highlighted the critical role of soft skills development, such as networking within one’s space, effective communication, and the ability to brand and market a product. “You don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great,” she said.
Dr Thobekani Lose, Director of the University’s Africa Hub and Head of CfERI at Mandela University said: “Entrepreneurship is not a theoretical concept; it's a practical one. An entrepreneur must have tenacity—the will to not give up, to see a vision beyond what is immediately visible. You must be the game changer, the driver, the practitioner.”
“We know that you came to university to get a qualification and a job. But what happens if you don’t get a job? There are over 5 million unemployed graduates. Can you use your skills to start your own business?”
Addressing the importance of profitability, he stated, “People shy away from saying it, but businesses exist to make money, employ others, contribute to the economy, and drive innovation.”
Reflecting on the impact of entrepreneurship at Nelson Mandela University, he shared, “Since last year, we have incubated 39 businesses, created 85 jobs, and fundraised close to R9 million.”
The programme features four key business categories, namely Social Impact, Technology, Agriculture, and Media. Of these, the agriculture category stood out in 2023, led by Ncedo Ntsabo from Walter Sisulu University, who was named Studentpreneur of the Year, and won R100 000.
The lack of funds motivated Ncedo to enter the competition, and he wanted to fence the land he was expanding the previous year.
As the founder of Qombe Maize and Projects, Ncedo shared that his business already had a variety of entities, including Qombe Veg, which focuses on various vegetables, including cabbages, green peppers, tomatoes, yellow peppers, mint, and more, whereas Qombe Honey, comes from the bees feasting on his crops and producing organic honey.
“Winning opened a lot of doors for my business, especially in funding, because most farmers are hoping to get to the level at where I am and especially when you have different entities within one company,” Ncedo said.
He stated that his victory helped him to build his community and immense inspiration within the Sigidi traditional authority.
Mandela University’s Winston Letwaba, a national finalist for the 2024 EDHE, said he has always had a bright entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to form part of EDHE programme. He wanted to put his ideas into practice, and this was perfect as the largest student entrepreneurship competition in the country.
Winston mentioned that after participating as a finalist, investors wanted to buy into his business. Many people called him with opportunities to share his story and travel to other universities as well.