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Johannesburg - Entrepreneurs from around the world will turn their attention to South Africa from Monday, when for the first time since its inception in 2009; the Global Entrepreneurship Congress comes to the country.
The 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) will draw more than 6 000 delegates from 165 countries for the world’s largest entrepreneurial gathering of investors, policy makers and researchers.
The GEC is hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network, Sustainable Entrepreneur Accelerator (SEA) Africa and the City of Johannesburg.
SEA Africa is also custodian to the Global Entrepreneurship Network – South Africa (GEN-SA) chapter.
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Gamuchirai Mutezo, chief operations officer of SEA Africa, said that the GEC being held in South Africa is an exciting opportunity and platform to nurture the concept of entrepreneurship among existing and aspiring entrepreneurs.
“It is an opportunity to encourage conversations of that nature around dinner tables or during classroom discussions, develop partnership and networks – whether it is identifying a new clientele or business partner as well as being exposed to activities taking place across the continent,” Mutezo said.
“There is so much to learn and experience from a personal and professional perspective,” Mutezo added.
Delegations from Mozambique, Botswana, Kenya, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal and Nigeri will be attending the GEC. Other countries expected include Guatemala, Paraguay, the USA and Thailand.
Numerous industry role-players and incubator programmes are expected to exhibit and be a part of the GEC 2017.
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The Lean Enterprise Acceleration Programmes (LEAP) - which provides business support, access to markets and shared resources for entrepreneurs - is one such exhibitor.
LEAP’s Managing Director, Petra Rees said that an event like the GEC is an opportunity to tap into the latest, greatest, best and trends.
In 2010, Rees co-founded a new subsidiary dubbed 'LEAP', focusing on supplier enterprise development and support of SMEs in South Africa.
“In South Africa, entrepreneurs often wonder whether what we are doing is world-best practice and how we compare to the rest of the world in general. Not everyone has the opportunity to travel, have access to latest technology and international networks. Entrepreneurship is a lonely road where often you don’t know which turn-off to take, whether the stranger on the side of the road is a psychopath or just an incredible road trip partner and you hope like hell you won’t get caught breaking some rules” she said.
“They simply have similar experiences about dealing with rejection, insecurities, being broke, chasing the unimaginable and then having the perseverance, commitment and passion that made them into global icons today. This is a unique opportunity to submerge yourself into these stories and learn from them,” Rees added.
The GEC will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg from 13 to 16 March.
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