Let’s Get Excited for Global Entrepreneurship Week

Next week marks the 16th anniversary of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), and it’s a big deal! The GEW, powered by the Global Entrepreneurship Network, has been helping millions of people worldwide unleash their ideas to start and grow new businesses. It’s like a global party for entrepreneurs and innovators, with 10 million people in 200 countries coming together to build connections and promote their work to their local communities.

During GEW, start-ups and small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) get to network with each other, and various institutions provide grant funding through pitches to entrepreneurs. It’s a time for policymakers to find new ways to support entrepreneurs, and entrepreneur support organizations showcase the start-ups and SMMEs they’ve helped throughout the year.

GEW is a crucial get-together for entrepreneurship ecosystem stakeholders to celebrate, take stock, and find dynamic ways to ensure the growth and sustainability of the ecosystem. It’s also a time when government leaders across the globe come together to better promote entrepreneurs. Just over a year ago, Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, issued a statement celebrating the ingenuity and hard work of entrepreneurs and thanking them for their important contributions to Canada’s economic prosperity.

In South Africa, the National Development Plan (NDP) aims for SMMEs to ideally create 90% of employment by 2030. However, recent reports show that this target will not be met. This serves as a call for corporates to come forward and collaborate to support the development of start-ups and SMMEs to create much-needed jobs in the economy.

This year’s GEW at 22 On Sloane, powered by African Bank, has various activities planned with private and public sector partners. These include a fintech hackathon, a policy discussion, an access to market opportunity session, an ecosystem day, and the Presidential SMME and Cooperatives Awards.

GEW will be celebrated from November 13th to 19th, and 22 On Sloane will kick-start its activities with a fintech hackathon from November 10th. It’s a time for all organizations to re-evaluate their support to better assist entrepreneurs facing challenges of access to funding and markets.

To learn more about GEW activities, visit: www.genglobal.org and www.22onsloane.co