The world’s biggest entrepreneurial event, with 160 countries actively participating, kicked off yesterday. Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) brings together entrepreneurs, policy makers, practitioners and politicians in a mass multi-national celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Since it was formed in 2007, millions of people have participated in entrepreneurial-related activities during Global Entrepreneurship Week. These range from large-scale competitions to intimate networking gatherings, all with the aim of connecting participants with potential collaborators, partners, mentors or investors and fostering new ideas.

“Global Entrepreneurship Week is a global movement which was created to inspire and encourage people to develop their ideas and take the next step in their entrepreneurial journey. It is a fantastic opportunity for would-be innovators, business-owners and young people with great ideas to come together, network and celebrate the power of entrepreneurship in driving economic growth,” says Chimene Chetty, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CfE) at Wits Business School.

The CfE has three events lined up in celebration of GEW 2016, starting off on Thursday 17 November at WBS with a knowledge-sharing breakfast for women entrepreneurs, in partnership with the Commonwealth Businesswomen’s Network and Xanopia Women’s Business Group. Guest speaker Pearl Motha, an MBA student and entrepreneur, will inspire with her story of single-minded determination and success against the odds.

Investing in the township economy is a subject close to Chetty’s heart. The CfE has formed an exciting partnership with eKasi Entrepreneurs, a project endorsed by the Gauteng Department of Economic Development in their current focus on townships, to foster the development of the township economy. The 23 November sees the launch of this partnership with a panel discussion at WBS facilitated by Chetty, which will consider ways of growing the township economy through investing in township-based businesses.

eKasi Entrepreneurs serves as the ‘middle man’ between township and rural entrepreneurs and larger institutions, in both the private and public sectors. eKasi, in turn, enjoys a solid relationship with EntBanc, which provides technological backing and support for small township businesses.

“The aim of eKasi is to expose small business owners from townships to services available that can help them with training and mentoring. As an academic partner, the CfE is excited to become involved with eKasi through offering masterclasses and other training vehicles in the townships,” says Chetty. “In essence, we will be using our masters students and alumni as business advisors and mentors to the township entrepreneurs on an ICT platform developed by Entrance. It is important that money made in the townships stays in the townships in order build that sector of the economy, and in this way, we aim to encourage just that.”

On 29 November, the CfE will be partnering with the Wits University School of Governance’s Centre for Learning, Evaluation and Results (CLEAR) with another panel discussion. The theme of the discussion will be impact investing, and how to measure its monetary and social return on investment (ROI).

“The question we will be asking is, ‘Can the principals of social entrepreneurship and impact investing inform a new African business model?’” says Chetty.

“In order to advance entrepreneurship and drive economic growth and job creation, we need effective engagement among all stakeholders. As an academic partner and thought leader with a strong advocacy role in the community, our overarching vision at the CfE is to find sustainable solutions to building an entrepreneurial economy,” says Chetty. “Global Entrepreneurship Week provides a great platform for like-minded people to connect and identify new ways of leveraging each other’s knowledge and expertise to foster a country and continent-wide culture of entrepreneurship.”