BUSINESS OF SA START-UPS

ONLY 15% ARE SUCCESSFUL

ONLY 15 PERCENT of its start-ups are successful, despite South Africa having the second-highest ranking on the continent on the 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Index, the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation said on Friday. The reasons for this disparity, along with the state of entrepreneurship in South Africa, were discussed at an Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Forum held by the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation. On the panel were Kizito Okechukwu, from Global Entrepreneurship Network Africa, Venture Capital 4 Africa’s Thomas van Halen, and Dr Nontobeko Mabizela, from Allan Gray Orbis Foundation. During the discussions it was found that job creation remained a key challenge, along with a lack of skills development and insufficient support for entrepreneurs. A report, “the State of Entrepreneurship in South Africa”, by the Gordon Institute of Business Science found although entrepreneurial activity was increasing, South Africa still lagged other countries. Mabizela said: “It appears as though our efforts and successes in the area of entrepreneurship exceed that of our peers in many instances. However, our entrepreneurs seem doomed to fail. Yes, we record an impressive number of start-ups, but few translate into sustainable jobs.” There are 340 organisations providing entrepreneurial support in the country, but the entrepreneurial participation rate was still 40 percent lower than in comparable countries. | Staff Reporter