University of Mpumalanga’s studentpreneurs scoop award in Malaysia
The Entrepreneurship Summit was designed to share best practices on entrepreneurship programmes across universities.
The University of Mpumalanga’s (UMP) studentpreneurs won the Best Pitch Award at the Start-up Entrepreneurship Programme held recently at the Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation in Malaysia.
Three students represented UMP: Jesse Steyn, Nomdeni Khoza and Ngthabie Mpaza.
They developed an innovative app for women in business, which aims to simplify the way women, businesses and stakeholders connect with one another.
The UMP team was led by the vice chancellor and chairperson of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator’s (CFERI) advisory board, Prof Thoko Mayekiso, the CFERI centre manager, Dr Kanayo Ogujiuba, and an entrepreneur lecturer in entrepreneurship, Dr Mazanai Musara.
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The three students were selected based on their performance during the internal rounds of the 2022
Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education Competition organised by the UMP CFERI. They also had an entrepreneurship mentoring programme that featured panelists for academics and industry, which discussed a variety of interesting entrepreneurial topics.
Following their best pitch award, these students will now collaborate with UMP CFERI to develop the app and establish a sustainable business model for women entrepreneurs by creating a mutually beneficial portal for communication and connection.
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Ogujiuba said the UMP students were involved in the start-up for studentpreneurs, during which they interacted with others of the consortium and exchanged business ideas. “They were also taken to MRANTI Technology to experience one of Asia’s finest technology centres. The tour included a manufacturing house and a group workshop for science and technology.
“The entrepreneurship summit was designed to share best practices on entrepreneurship programmes across universities, curriculum content and teaching delivery of entrepreneurship modules/courses, and support systems for start-ups. It also provided a platform for networking among participating universities for joint projects and research,” Ogujiuba explained.
