Unemployment has led a lot youth to venture into entrepreneurship. This has created a lot of conversations around including entrepreneurship as part of the academic programmes in higher education institutions.
Every career or qualification has a potential to lead one to venture into entrepreneurship.
“Universities do not necessarily need separate courses on enterprise and entrepreneurship. Instead, entrepreneurship should be a lens through which we look at all education and the world of work”, said Ms Ceri Nursaw, the Chief Executive of the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE).
Entrepreneurship and the contribution it can make towards development remained the highlight at the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) Lekgotla 2020.
What was taken into consideration was; How South Africa rates in terms of entrepreneurial attitudes, Framework factors that inhibit entrepreneurship in South Africa, How to ensure entrepreneurialism becomes part of people’s behavior, How to drive change in entrepreneurialism, and How to become an entrepreneur while still a student.
It was revealed that, South Africa has greater opportunities in terms of entrepreneurship surpassing the global average. It was also found that this is also accommodated by the rights skills. However, intentions to actually start a business are low which has resulted in fewer people entering the entrepreneurship space.
“The good news was that within South African culture, enterprise and entrepreneurship commands a very high status and is seen as a really good career choice. This isn’t a natural state for many countries and it’s a significant opportunity for South Africa,” said Nursaw.
Another factor looking into Framework factors that inhibit entrepreneurship in South Africa was that growth and development of entrepreneurship in South Africa red tape and bureaucracy, and insufficient government support affected people starting businesses. Easier to control and do something about, though, is the need for entrepreneurial education, both at secondary and post-secondary levels.
In closing Narsaw said institutions should have to have incubator facilities so students have community support. Equally important, however, “is creating a mindset that this isn’t unusual; that you can do it; it is part and parcel of how you will need to be in the future.”
