Shaun Laffer, chief executive officer (CEO) of Sunpac (Pty) Ltd, a private distributor of personal care brands, described 2023 as having been an “extraordinarily challenging year” for doing business in South Africa. Macroeconomic factors, such as the devaluing rand, rolling power outages, delays caused by congestion at the country’s ports, rising interest rates and shrinking disposable income, were just some of the challenges Sunpac had faced.

Completing my Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Business at WBS was a transformative journey, providing me with valuable insights into the dynamic landscape of digital business.

A very rewarding and demanding experience that provided a rare opportunity to thoroughly research the topic of executive management.

The defining moment for me was not so much that we were able to turn the business around, but rather the ability to practically apply skills learned while studying. Having business acumen and skills is one thing, practically applying them and realising business shifts is a new experience altogether.

Passing my PhD and graduating was a defining and memorable moment for me. A great sense of accomplishment, it was both the ‘Mama, I did it’ feeling and the ‘coming of age’ feeling which came with the sudden realisation that I could do that and more.

A defining moment in my career has been the realisation that my purpose as an entrepreneur is far reaching, not just to create jobs and wealth, but also be a leading example of charting a path others can follow, especially women.

I feel honoured and proud to be a young entrepreneur, to create employment for other young people, and to deliver value through my business Corium Skincare. My entire life shifted the day I realised that I can actually do it, and I went for it!

That confidence to believe that my age won’t define me has stuck with me and opened doors in my career I could never have imagined. I ended up finishing as the top student for the year and have never looked back.

In April 2022, just over ten years after they founded BongoHive, Zambia’s first innovation and technology hub, Lukonga Lindunda, Simunza Muyangana and Silumesii Maboshe were planning for the next ten years. Based in the country’s capital, Lusaka, BongoHive had a social purpose: to create systemic and lasting social change for Zambians. The three colleagues were satisfied that BongoHive had made great strides in achieving this. But the venture was now bigger and more complex, with four business units. Should they focus on one as the growth area?

In May 2022, Christina Close, co-owner with Natalie Matthews of Love Jacaranda, a blanket retailer based in Johannesburg, was halfway through a two-month freelance job setting up a new digital venture in Cape Town. Since leaving her business transformation position at an international telecommunications operator, to work full-time on Love Jacaranda in September 2021, she had begun to feel lonely working by herself all day.