The third Stellenbosch University (SU) Entrepreneurship Indaba, recently hosted by SU LaunchLab in collaboration with Stellenbosch Business School and the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, focused on exploring how SU can better apply and improve its entrepreneurial skills to drive meaningful social and economic change.

Bringing together thought leaders, innovators, and faculty representatives, the Indaba carried the theme-Moving Together, emphasizing the need for a unified, institution approach to entrepreneurship.

Prof. Deresh Ramjugernath, SU’s Rector and Vice-Chancellor highlighted the urgency of collaboration and challenged the audience to consider how SU could translate academic excellence into societal impact, especially amid South Africa’s high youth and graduates’ unemployment rates.

Speakers discussed the importance of a coordinated entrepreneurship strategy to align with existing initiatives, embed entrepreneurial skills across curricula, and reward interdisciplinary collaboration. Discussions began with the Allan Gray Centre for Africa Entrepreneurship and SU LaunchLab’s models of sustainability and innovation through external partnerships. These examples illustrated how entrepreneurial entities could thrive by leveraging support, industry collaboration and international networks. Additional discussions looked at similar models from universities across the globe and highlighted what could be extracted from those models.

The Indaba reaffirmed SU’s commitment to supporting an entrepreneurial mindset across disciplines, equipping students and researchers to create meaningful solutions for society. As Prof. Ramjugernath noted, “Transformation in higher education must mean advancing the needs of society and entrepreneurship is a key vehicle to do just that. We were probably the leading economy in Africa with a very large programme of industrialisation. However, over the last 30 years, we have de-industrialised as a country.”

Prof Ramjugernath also mentioned that the country has seen a decline in its entrepreneurial activity, compared to East Africa, where there is high level of entrepreneurial activity. He further highlighted the need of more work from the institution to intervene and begin enhancing SA’s entrepreneurial activity.

As SU’s dedicated innovation hub, LaunchLab continues to play a crucial role in turning this vision into reality. By connecting students, researchers, and industry partners, LaunchLab provides the infrastructure, mentorship, and network needed to transform ideas into viable enterprises that address real world challenges. Through its ongoing programmes, LaunchLab supports the mission to cultivate a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that not only drives innovation and job creation but also contributes to South Africa’s broader social and economic transformation.