UWC Leads the Way in National Enactus Entrepreneurship Competition
Nationally, 24 universities competed for the much-coveted top spot in the Enactus National Exposition Competition in Johannesburg, but this week (8 July), only eight managed to compete. In the end, there was only one winner: the Enactus team of the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
The UWC Enactus team were the national champions during this year’s Enactus National Exposition Competition in Johannesburg on 9 July.“This was a dedicated team who sacrificed their entire holiday in preparation for the competition,” said UWC’s Ms Wendy Mehl, recipient of the current Enactus Administrator of the Year Award and involved with one of the winning projects, LenoKids, since its inception.
“It is quite an accomplishment that we could take a development team to winning the national competition,” said Mehl.
The team will be rewarded by representing South Africa at the Enactus World Cup 2024 in Astana, Kazakhstan, in October of this year.
The University of Mpumalanga was the runner-up in a competition that brings together the top students and academic and business leaders from around the country.
The competition is shaping generations of entrepreneurial leaders who are passionate about advancing the country’s economic, social, and environmental health.
During the competition, student teams showcased the social impact of their work.
UWC entered two projects: firstly, Leno-Kids, a gamified English learning Whatsapp Chatbot platform that offers interactive classes driven by students in collaboration with the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
On the other hand, WebMax aims to tackle youth unemployment by providing digital skills training and promoting freelancing opportunities, addressing youth unemployment alongside businesses facing difficulties with a strong online presence.
Computer Science Master’s student, Sange Mafinyongwana, founder of Lenokids and heading up the winning team, said, “We are ecstatic and very grateful. This is just the beginning; from here onwards we want to target the global stage.”
Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Mr Abe Olivier, said the team is excited and overjoyed at winning the National Championships and eager to ignite entrepreneurial impactful opportunities for South Africa and the African continent. “We want a global footprint and we are very proud of the team and the tenacity they portrayed during the competition.
“I believe they obtained this positive result thanks to dedicated and focused entrepreneurial programmes at UWC’s CEI to help them develop the much-needed entrepreneurial innovators SA needs.”
According to the Enactus website, its network countries host national competitions where student teams showcase the impact of their work and are evaluated by business leaders.
National champion teams from each country in the Enactus network advance to the Enactus World Cup to compete, celebrate, and continue their learning.
The competition provides a national platform for the institutional teams to showcase their social enterprises to secure support and buy-in from Enactus South Africa corporate partners.
The aim was to spotlight the Enactus teams that in the last year most effectively demonstrated entrepreneurial leadership in driving business and innovation for sustainable and positive impact to benefit people and the planet.