Tag: entrepreneurship

Over the past decade, we have invested more than R1.2 billion in education, but the significance of that investment is not measured by funding alone. It is measured by what that investment has enabled: ensuring stronger education-focused NGOs, better-resourced early learning centres, more equipped and empowered learners, successful graduates, growing enterprises and new economic opportunities

Leadership often demands the courage to embrace failure, rethink established practices and recognise opportunities for growth. In What Could Possibly Go Right?, bestselling author and restaurateur Danny Meyer explores how leaders can build successful organisations without losing sight of the human relationships that sustain them.

Being capable, dependable and successful should create opportunities for growth. However, for many high-performing professionals, these qualities can become unexpected limitations. In The Competence Cage, entrepreneur and author Noni Kokinos examines how professional competence can trap people in endless cycles of responsibility, leaving little room for personal freedom, ownership and meaningful progress.

If you run a franchise network long enough, you learn that the problem sitting in front of you is rarely the only problem you have. A franchisee tells you that margins are under pressure. Dig a little deeper and you may discover that they have stopped replacing staff. Training has slipped, and service standards are beginning to suffer. Sales then start softening, which puts further pressure on the numbers.

Employment and entrepreneurship can seem worlds apart. However, the same skill set can help young people succeed in either. For young people eager to enter the world of work after years of schooling and studying, the choices can seem exciting yet overwhelming. Should you join a company in an entry-level role and work your way up? Or should you take a leap and start your own business? Whether you have a boss or are the boss, either path can mark the start of something big.

What happens when South Africa’s most successful CEOs, founders, and business leaders let their guard down? In CEO Nights, the bestselling author answers this question through candid conversations that reveal the realities of leadership beyond the boardroom. Drawing on his 25-year leadership journey across Africa, Mabunda explores the principles, mindsets and decisions that shape exceptional leaders.

South Africa places considerable weight on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as engines of employment and growth. However, their access to capital still falls short of the role we expect them to play. Consequently, development finance has become an important part of efforts to close this gap. Every Rand channelled into development finance carries an expectation of tangible economic outcomes.

South Africa’s founder-led tech ecosystem is deeper than it has ever been, but it is still structurally thin at scale. The most recent data tells a clear story. The Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association 2025 VC Industry Survey recorded R13.35 billion in active venture capital investments across 1,325 deals. ICT accounted for nearly two-thirds of total deal value.

Access to finance remains one of the most significant barriers facing South Africa's Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). While many entrepreneurs need additional capital to grow, securing funding can be challenging, particularly for businesses operating outside major economic centres.

From the sawdust-covered floors of a small Krugersdorp joinery to Johannesburg’s boardrooms, Forged in Grit tells an extraordinary story. Barry Philip Lok, founder of William Tell, traces his journey from humble beginnings in the 1970s to building one of South Africa’s leading publicly listed manufacturing businesses.