The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Business Reporter
INNOVATION for Africa is spearheading the setting-up of an Entrepreneurs Hub in Bulawayo as part of its efforts to ensure the city becomes investors’ destination of choice.
Innovation for Africa team leader Mr Mpiyesizwe Ndebele said plans were underway to come up with an Entrepreneurs Hub aimed at proving a platform for entrepreneurs to meet and learn from each other, and for start-ups to meet experts in their field for mentorship.
The Entrepreneurs Hub is a knowledge centre that exists to inspire and cultivate professional entrepreneurship among start-ups and SMEs from diverse sectors. It offers the necessary experience, framework and network to make the transition into a sustainable and profitable business.
“We realised that there was a need for a city wide ecosystem that will progress the cause of entrepreneurship because there are so many of us that have brilliant ideas and so many people doing different things but when we look at an area like entrepreneurship there is no cohesive, coherent strategy. So we are setting-up what we call an Entrepreneurs Hub, which is not a physical hub but it’s a City, which seeks to unite all the players that empower entrepreneurs and organise them into a sequential, strategic or cooperative network or unit so that it becomes a system to enable start-ups to meet experts in their field for mentorship,” said Mr Ndebele.
He said the setting-up of the Entrepreneur Hub was a collaboration of like-minds drawn from the private sector, officials from Government departments, business associations, non-governmental organisations as well as individual business people under the Innovation for Africa banner.
“We thought of organising all those that have a role in empowering entrepreneurs into an ecosystem that has order and that will mean we are setting up entrepreneurs to succeed and that way there is a guarantee for them to succeed instead of them working as individuals, we won’t feel the full effect of it but as a City we are saying let’s organise ourselves and have a co-ordinated entrepreneurship system. We are busy designing an entrepreneurship hub,” said Mr Ndebele.
He said the Entrepreneur Hub concept has proved to work in countries such as the United States of America and South Africa.
“I realised that as a start-up, there was no one particular place in Bulawayo where one can go and get all the information, help and support they need but also I was inspired by entrepreneurs in Kansas City and places like Atlanta Georgia when I visited the USA last year, they are doing it. I can see the need for our young people that are starting businesses are not getting the support that they need and also those people that are offering the support they are fragmented, let’s bring them together so that we can become cohesive unit,” said Mr Ndebele.
He said the Entrepreneur Hub concept has the impetus to revive Bulawayo’s economy, which has been on the doldrums for the past two years due to the effects of de-industrialisation.
“If we do it right, then Bulawayo becomes the destination of choice for any investments because entrepreneurship and businesses will be working, money will be made and investors are going to come and those who will want to start businesses will come to Bulawayo because they will be guaranteed to succeed.
“So whether for start-ups or investors Bulawayo will become a destination of choice, we all win because the City becomes better. This project does not need selfishness but it needs selflessness whereby everyone contributes towards the project but when it works, business owners will benefit from the system and then everyone develops and gets better,” said Mr Ndebele.
@DNsingo
