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The WSU Enactus Team, along with Nelson Mandela University, will be representing the Eastern Cape province in the Enactus South Africa National Competition in July 2022.
Following their participation in the virtual Regional Competition against fellow EC universities, the WSU team snatched one of two spots reserved for the region, making them one of 12 semi-finalists who will go head-to-head in the national competition.
Further to being crowned the national champions, the winning team will go on to represent South Africa in San Juan, Puerto Rico in October 2022.
WSU team advisor, Senior Student Development Practitioner Nombulelo Khanyisile Blaai said: “As the WSU Enactus team we will be working very hard in preparation for the upcoming National Competition. We are hoping for much support from all angles. This is one of the elite codes in our institution that are working very hard at promoting entrepreneurial skills within the university and surrounding communities.”
Working in partnership with business and higher education, Enactus mobilizes university students around the world to use the knowledge gained in the classroom to address real-world business and economic issues in their communities.
Enactus students form teams on their university campuses and develop outreach projects that teach market economics, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, personal success skills, business ethics, and environmental sustainability.
“Enactus competitions are challenging, team-oriented events that create a sense of accountability and motivation for teams to continually improve the quality of their projects. They also provide an opportunity for collaboration and best-practice sharing, further strengthening the value of the learning experience and the overall effectiveness of the program,” stated Blaai.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and minimization of physical contact, the team has had to embrace unconventional ways of collaborating to come up with a pivoting strategy to keep the project running and ready for the competition.
With eased regulations, they are hoping to have continuous team camps, project visits, as well as capacity building sessions.
Working in collaboration with the Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubators at Mthatha campus, they will be able to assist the students in preparing for the competition despite the challenges of unrest.
“This opportunity will provide a forum for the team to present the results of their projects, and to be evaluated by business leaders serving as judges. The aim of the competitions is to compete, collaborate and celebrate with each other to ensure sustainable change in our communities, and we are hoping to learn and grow to be stronger in the program, said Blaai.
By Sibabalwe Kela
