Opinion by the Director of the Mandela University Africa Hub and Head of Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI) at Nelson Mandela University, Dr Thobekani Lose.
Note: Dr Lose is a senior researcher and specialist in student entrepreneurship development and business incubation development, He has a PhD in the effective creation of business incubators, he has published over 50 internationally peer-reviewed research papers, and has over 13 years of work experience in entrepreneurial and incubation development.
It is well established that Universities are pivotal in advancing entrepreneurship and business incubation as a core function. This is not just more talk; this is entrepreneurship and incubation in action.
To offer one example, the Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI) at Nelson Mandela University has incubated 35 small businesses over the past year that have created 85 jobs.
To advance entrepreneurship countrywide, in 2023 I championed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that brings South African universities together to collaborate with industry, corporates, government and society. This way, we can share resources and networks and learn from each other in advancing business incubation on our campuses and in our communities.
The first universities to sign the MOA in 2023 were Mandela University, Walter Sisulu University and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. We then collectively established the Business Incubation Web Association (BIWA) as a vehicle for business incubation, of which I am the current Chair.
Vaal University of Technology has since signed the MOA and the Central University of Technology, Free State and University of Mpumalanga are set to come on board. Ultimately, we would like all 26 public universities in South Africa to be part of it and then expand to other universities in Africa.
BIWA’s inaugural international conference on business innovation and incubation was held on 2 – 4 October 2024. It was hosted by Mandela University and attended in person by about 130 delegates, including from academia, government and industry. Over 50 CEOs from national and international companies, including incubators, attended. Sixty percent of the attendance was industry-based and 40% academia-based.
It established a bridge between academia and industry to work together to shape entrepreneurship policy and strategies, make incubations self-sustainable, address key challenges in student, graduate and township businesses, and integrate 4IR technologies. All incubators need to adopt AI, IoT, and automation tools to enhance their offerings. The use of virtual incubation platforms is also essential for expanding access to underserved regions.
One of the presenters at the conference was former editor and journalist Dr Thami Mazwai, who conducted a masterclass on the township economy. He is the editor a book on the history of entrepreneurship in Soweto titled ‘The Journey of the Soweto Entrepreneur since 1905’ that was launched last year.
An offshoot of the conference was the creation of a community of practice to shape entrepreneurship and incubation policy. Senior academics from the University of Cape Town and the University of Johannesburg are part of this, which bodes well for additional universities signing the MOA.
Together, we are driving incubation policy at a national level, which means getting the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and the Department of Small Business Development on board to work with us. There is so much that can be done, such as identifying graduate doctors who are unemployed, and bringing them into incubations so that they can establish their own practices. The same goes for all professions.
Another offshoot of the conference was a range of sponsorships, such as sponsorship from Mashauri, a Madrid-based organisation dedicated to helping universities advance an entrepreneurial mindset among students and graduates. They sponsored the online training in entrepreneurship of 20 students from each of the MOA participating universities. BIWA and Mashauri are now developing an Incubator Managers Development Programme (IMDP).
This adds to the range of incubation programmes we now offer. For example, with funding from the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency (SEDFA) CfERI provides an 18 to 36-month incubation programme and other services to students, graduate entrepreneurs, unemployed young people, and young township entrepreneurs. CfERI is active at several universities in South Africa.
Incubated businesses need capital to grow and as the Mandela University Africa Hub and CfERI at Mandela University, we decided to create an Enterprise Development Fund, to which Nelson Mandela University’s finance division disbursed R2.7million in December 2024 in support of student and community small business development through its campus-based Mandela University Africa Hub and Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI).
The money was divided into grants of R100 000, and awarded to 27 entrepreneur incubatees - 85% students and 15% community-based entrepreneurs, all of whom established and are running small businesses. The terms of the grant is that it is used to take their businesses to the next level.
All universities need a formal policy on entrepreneurial development. Mandela University’s allows students to operate businesses on campus and to employ students to run them. Current student businesses on the Gqeberha and George campuses including tutoring services, website development, driving schools, tuckshops, food and ice cream vendors, fashion and beauty stores, and tailoring. The criteria to operate a small business on campus includes a lease agreement with the University and payment of a rental fee.
One of our next goals is to determine how many incubators there are in South Africa, where are they, what do they offer and what are their standards.
Our vision is for DHET and the Department of Small Business Development to sign an MOA with BIWA for us to present them with a draft national policy for each university to have policy-driven youth entrepreneurship to make an impact on graduate and youth employment. If we can coordinate entrepreneurship in a systematic way, it will go a long way to contributing to employment and positive societal change.
We have also put out the call for research papers for BIWA’s second International Conference on Business Innovation and Incubation to be held from 1 – 4 October 2025. The submission deadline is 1 May and the papers need to reflect original, well-researched theoretical and practical findings or ongoing findings related to entrepreneurship, business innovation, incubation and management. The conference will be held in Cape Town and hosted by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Key figures ,such as the Minister of Business Development, will be invited.
For more information email info@biwa.co.za