Their research forms part of an international collaborative project entitled "Improving Student Entrepreneurship Support at South African Universities in order to Mitigate Youth Unemployment".
The project between Nelson Mandela University, the University of Pretoria and Ghent University in Belgium was initiated in 2019.
It is funded by Vlir-Uos, an academic cooperation between the Flemish universities of Belgium, which provides funding for projects initiated and undertaken in partnerships between universities in Flanders (Belgium) and in the South (e.g. South Africa).
In May 2021, Riyaad visited Durban University of Technology (DUT) and the University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN) to meet up with the individuals supporting student entrepreneurs at their respective universities.
Both DUT and UKZN actively support their student entrepreneurs. They offer a wide variety of support programmes and infrastructure to assist their student entrepreneurs through their entrepreneurial journeys.
The observations during this visit provided great insight into other universities’ support for student entrepreneurs and will assist to identify best practices to be initiated at Mandela University.
From left Solomon Nyamurima (DUT – Centre Manager), Spho Hlophe
(DUT – Centre Admin Assistant), Thobani Banda (DUT – Centre Finance Officer),
Riyaad Ismail (Mandela University, Project Lead Researcher) and Dr Poppet Pillay
(DUT – Centre Director).