Centre for Entrepreneurship
WITS BUSINESS SCHOOL (WBS) has launched the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CfE) this year with the financial and intellectual support of WBS Alumnus Mark Lamberti and the Department of Trade and Industry (dti).
“The vision of the CfE is to nurture entrepreneurship through entrepreneurship education and training, research, professional development and community entrepreneurship,” said Lamberti (pictured left). The CfE will be headed by a director and efforts are underway to find a suitably qualified leader. Professor Mthuli Ncube is the acting director. “It is crucial that the public sector and stakeholder institutions develop the necessary capacity to respond to the need for the development of an entrepreneurial culture within South Africa,” said WBS Director Professor Mthuli Ncube.
The objectives of the CfE include supporting the sponsored Professorial Chair in Entrepreneurship to lead research and teaching in the field, holding workshops and conferences in order to share knowledge more widely and conducting teaching activities in entrepreneurship studies in the existing MBA programme. “We also want to develop research activity at Doctoral and Masters levels in the area of entrepreneurship, as well as provide training in entrepreneurship on the basis of short certifi cate programmes to targeted audiences,” said Ncube (pictured right).
Forging partnerships and links with other schools and centres within Wits with an interest in entrepreneurship and with national government and local metropolitan authorities in promoting Entrepreneurial Studies is important to the CfE. “The centre will undertake research activity in the field of entrepreneurship studies in line with the University’s vision of promoting research output towards the attainment of the strategic vision of becoming a world class university,” Ncube added. “Research at the highest level is needed, combined with practical interventions for business creation and support. WBS has vast experience in teaching entrepreneurship and venture creation studies, as well as conducting research in the area,” said Ncube. “We therefore welcome this opportunity to present practical solutions to South Africa’s challenges.” The first step in the development of the CfE is the establishment of a Chair of Entrepreneurship to provide leadership for the CfE and to develop a support system for setting up and growing new ventures. The CfE will be governed by an advisory board with representation from various Wits faculties, to which the director of the CfE will report. “Without entrepreneurship, our vision of a vibrant economy characterised by growth, equity and employment cannot become a reality,” said Ncube. “The CfE will seek to play a role in the development of a pre-incubator and incubator at Wits University and will thus be instrumental in facilitating the creation of new enterprises and the growth of existing businesses.”
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