The Reason

Let me start by thanking each of you for working tirelessly to help entrepreneurs create sustainable jobs for fellow South Africans. It is no easy feat but a necessary one. So let us keep our eye on the target and never lose faith. A prosperous Africa will be a reality.

My name is Muziwethu Mtshali, CEO of Entreprenerdy SA. We are an entrepreneurship ecosystem enabler. We believe that entrepreneurship can be taught. Our systemic entrepreneurship activity method was developed by entrepreneurial scientists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. We have enabled over 40000 entrepreneurs across seven countries. We have collected 30 000 000 data points that guide us in understanding entrepreneurs; therefore, there is an incredible opportunity to build a global entrepreneurship ecosystem. But first, let me bring it back home.

I consider myself lucky to have been a part of these undertakings and view my position as not a job but a calling.

Let me set a scene for you. It is a cold winter morning in the township of Soweto. Londi wakes up at 3 am and shuffles her way through the dark to the kitchen drawer in her cramped shack. She feels for a lone candle and a box with a few matches upon opening it. Londi takes extra care to be quiet and not wake her younger sister from her sleep. After lighting the candle, she finds her bag and empties it onto her bed. Carefully she folds her legs under her and begins to bead her handmade necklaces to sell to tourists who visit Soweto to experience its rich history. She knows her beading is special. So special that when she turns on the tv and sees the designer accessories sold in the city for prices so exorbitant, she gets a knot in her stomach. Londi is a victim of being born into circumstances that have impeded her personal development and entrepreneurial aspirations. Both of her parents died when she was a teenager. Even though she was bright, she had to drop out of school and find a job to support her and her little sister. With the little she made from menial piece jobs she found here and there, she was able to feed and clothe both her sisters. For people in dire straits, necessity is the mother of all inventions. But why does necessity have to lead to such inventions in the lap of destitution? Why aren't there means for people like Londi who are in these situations to pull themselves and their families out of these situations so many years after apartheid? Who gives them a break? People like Londi need an arm around the shoulder and support to expand their efforts.

Examples like this are the reason I am inspired to carry on day after day, late into the evening. The unemployment rate in South Africa currently sits at 34,9%. Our families, friends and neighbours cannot find gainful employment. People are struggling to make ends meet day in and day out, and the situation has worsened over the last two years. I know that 1 in 8 South Africans has been labelled latent entrepreneurs. If you go to a Starbucks or a Checkers and count eight people, 1 of those eight individuals needs a nudge to start their own business; they need a reason.

Their needs are my reason because their reasons help the country. I believe I would not be remiss to say that you have that very same reason. We want to enable entrepreneurs to create sustainable jobs. Turn that 1 in 8 into eight and forcefully drag that unemployment statistic down by all possible means.

How do we go about achieving this? Action. Plain and simple, we need to Act. We need to get the cogs in motion. To quote Confucius: “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.”

We need to zoom out of the politics of the issue and focus our lens on our reason. We want to help entrepreneurs and prompt them to breathe life into their ideas. We keep them in mind; they are our motivation and our unemployment alleviator.

Having worked closely with many diverse entrepreneurs, I have found that the right ones are looking to truly disrupt the market to bring about meaningful change and look for environments and ecosystems that are mutually beneficial.

Therefore I urge all those reading who can effect change to listen to what the entrepreneurs are saying. The entrepreneurs we enable seek not a handout but rather a?hand up. A hand to guide them along the way. An open hand, not a closed fist that blocks them at every turn. And if they are guided, I assure you, there will be no losers.

I leave you with this, billionaire, businessman and artist Shawn Carter once urged that we all strive to quote, “Leave a mark they can't erase, neither space nor time”. Let us all act now to leave a mark that will never be erased no matter how much space or time elapses.

Yours in entrepreneurship

Muziwethu Mtshali - CEO Entreprenerdy South Africa