Entrepreneurship the focus of these schools

Most business schools look for ways of advancing entrepreneurship through their MBA programmes.

Among these schools is the University of Cape Town (UCT) Graduate School of Business (GSB), which, through its Solution Space platform for early-stage startups and a research and development programme for corporates, established a community hub in Philippi in 2016. The long-term purpose was to get community members of Philippi and surrounding Nyanga, Gugulethu and Khayelitsha, as well as private stakeholders, donors, corporate parties and business school students, involved in a process that goes beyond the traditional space of a university.

The GSB Solution Space in Philippi Village is set up as a campus and also acts as a business incubator for local entrepreneurs. MBA students visit the hub as part of the Social Innovation Lab and participate in shortlisting and mentoring for the Venture Incubation Programme, designed to help entrepreneurial teams test and validate their business models in the early stages of a startup.

“Our presence in Philippi Village is also a way for the GSB to deepen its roots and relevance as an African business school,” says Sarah Anne Alman, manager of the GSB Solution Space.

Nelson Mandela University Business School is another South African institution that’s looking for ways of building entrepreneurship through its MBA programme.

“We have been busy in the entrepreneurship development space … (and) have been approached by local government and business to roll out entrepreneurship programmes”, school director, Randall Jonas told Financial Mail recently. “We are very strong there, particularly in the informal sector. We want to identify all the entrepreneurs in one geographic space, map activities and see if there are collaborative synergies.”