The fourth Step up 2 a Start-up programme is set to take place in South Africa, aimed at at learners in grades 9-11 and under the theme “Seeking Opportunity, Connecting People and Creating Sustainable Value”.
The programme, which is sponsored by Standard Bank and will focus on social entrepreneurship, will kick off in August 2017 with learners able to watch the entrepreneurial movie “Vukuzenzele” at 15 Ster-Kinekor cinemas nationwide over a period of five weeks.
Each learner will receive a toolkit, which will assist them in implementing the skills learnt and developing their own business ideas and models. Learners will be given the opportunity to compete in an entrepreneurial competition by submitting their business model canvasses for assessment and adjudication by a panel of industry professionals and sponsors.
At least nine top business models will be identified and the teams responsible will be invited to attend a bootcamp in Johannesburg. This will hone and polish participants’ skills, as they start to think more about developing and starting their businesses based on the ideas they submitted, and will culminate in a prestigious gala dinner and awards ceremony where the winners will be announced.
“I have no doubt that this new initiative to nurture and grow young entrepreneurs will produce real results in a short space of time. It is imperative we instil the right mindset for growth and provide essential support to develop ideas that will grow into highly successful businesses of the future. At Standard Bank, we are committed to youth entrepreneurship and enabling the youth to achieve their next big dream,” said Jayshree Naidoo, head of the Standard Bank Incubator.
