Douglasdale student to attend Africa’s first global entrepreneurship school

Douglasdale student Lulama Maqubela has been selected as one of 35 university students invited to attend the first-ever Global Entrepreneurship Summer School (Gess) hosted in Africa.

The course is being held in Cape Town from 9 until 15 September and is founded on the belief in the power of entrepreneurial thinking for a better and sustainable future.

With a United Nations population estimate of 9,6 billion by 2050 and the equivalent of three planets of natural resources needed to support the world’s current lifestyle, the rapid development of sustainable, innovative business solutions to solve the global consumption crisis has become urgent.

Maqubela, studying accounting at Monash South Africa, learned about the summer school when her university sent out a mass email inviting students to apply.

She had to give a motivation as to why she should be selected for the programme, identify a consumption programme in her home country and suggest ways to solve it in her application.

Mqubela told Fourways Review, “I took a chance [and] gave them all the information they required [for an application]. My goal in life is to be an entrepreneur and so I always look for opportunities to grow, develop my entrepreneurial knowledge and network with other students and entrepreneurs from around the world.”

Gess will be hosting 140 undergraduate and postgraduate students across four international cities (35 students each in Munich, Mexico City, Shanghai and Cape Town) in order to develop entrepreneurial solutions that meet the world’s biggest challenges.

The students will work in international and interdisciplinary teams to develop their own ideas that present both a sustainable impact on society and a self-sustaining, profitable business model.

Throughout the programme, the teams will be partnered with a coach who will give feedback and help with technical issues.

“I want to take initiative and come up with actual solutions to consumption problems in South Africa and be beneficial to my country,’ she concluded.

“I am looking forward to learning about social entrepreneurship, learning about how to materialise an idea into a successful business and networking with other young leaders and innovators worldwide.”

Maqubela, who describes herself as ambitious and a go-getter, is hoping to come out tops during the summer school.

“I am so excited and grateful [for the opportunity to attend]. I don’t only want to participate, but I want to be on the team with the winning idea.

Details: www.globalsummerschool.org