The event drew attendees from government, business and academic circles. The Centre, active for a year, is a major initiative in addressing student and township unemployment in South Africa with 35 small businesses incubated, creating 85 jobs so far.
Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Tembisa Ndabeni launched the Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI) at Nelson Mandela University on 29 April 2025
Ndabeni said, “We are here to launch this and to say, in us you have a partner: this is a journey that must change the shape of the South African economy … We look forward to walking this journey with you to ensure that we leave no one behind.”
However, she cautioned young entrepreneurs to be aware of the South African Constitution, as well as municipal regulations and local bylaws and that “an economy is driven by innovative entrepreneurs, not by tenderpreneurs”, and the Centre hopes to produce the former, not the latter”.
She advised students that they, “will never be successful if you do not understand your ecosystems and empower yourself with information.”
She said she has seen the law empowering people and disempowering them. “It doesn’t matter how many degrees you have or what is in your bank account, the law is the law, and there is a price to pay for ignorance.”
For Ndabeni, smart businesses make it their business to understand what the problems are. “They ask: how can I provide a service to help solve these problems, so that I can make money.”
She said universities should be producing knowledge and skills that responded to those challenges.
“There is a lot we can learn if we collaborate …“This is why we established this Centre and it is not the only one, we have been deliberate in putting them in other universities and TVET colleges around the country. We may be producing knowledge at the university but there is also a need for artisans, who are key drivers in the economy.”
?width=500&height=382)
Mandela University Deputy Vice-Chancellor: People and Operations Luthando Jack, left, Minister of Small Business Development Stella Tembisa Ndabeni and Centre Director Dr Thobekani Lose
Mandela University Deputy Vice-Chancellor: People and Operations Luthando Jack said universities were pivotal in advancing entrepreneurship and business incubation. “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Entrepreneurship is a necessity and it must be a centrepiece of our national psychology.”
He thanked Minister Ndabeni for her department’s funding of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator. “The Centre operates as a strategic initiative of Nelson Mandela University, in partnership with the Small Enterprise Development & Finance Agency (SEDFA), aligned with national goals to foster innovation, stimulate inclusive economic growth, and reduce the alarming levels of youth unemployment.”
Nelson Mandela University values partnerships with industry, government and community stakeholders, said Jack: “We are open for business, to prepare our students for the future, and we are available to partner with you. This enables us to be a university in service of society. We aim to uplift the communities within which the University is located.
He explained that the Centre is helping address the scourge of poverty and unemployment by training entrepreneurs to become job creators. “Innovation, reinvention and boldness are not luxuries, they are lifelines.”
Centre Director Dr Thobekani Lose said the University allowed students to operate businesses on campus, and to employ other students to run them, with the condition that their primary focus was on their studies.
“Current student businesses on the Gqeberha and George campuses include tutoring and media services, website development, food vendors, clothing stores and a driving school,” said Dr Lose.
Thama Thama Driving School is one of these. Its founder Munei Budeli, a Mandela University graduate, shared the inspirational story of how he started his business as a 19-year-old student, and how the University had helped him grow. Budeli today owns several cars and trucks, operating from two different sites, and now plans to enroll for his MBA.
Since its inception, the Centre has been a gateway of opportunity for student and township entrepreneurs, offering business development programmes, mentorship and access to finance and resources that empower them to establish small businesses and grow them into sustainable enterprises.
With funding from SEDFA, it provides an 18 to 36-month incubation programme and service to students, graduate entrepreneurs, unemployed young people and young township entrepreneurs.
Incubated businesses need capital to grow and the Centre created an Enterprise Development Fund, to which Mandela University disbursed R2.7 million in 2024. This was used to support student and community small business development.
To advance entrepreneurship countrywide, Dr Lose championed a Memorandum of Agreement that brings South African universities together to collaborate with industry, corporates, government and society. The Business Incubation Web Association was established, as a collective vehicle for business incubation.
“This way, we can share resources and networks and learn from each other in advancing business incubation on our campuses and in our communities,” said Dr Lose.