Following the successful hosting of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Kenya, South Africa has been named the host country for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) in 2017.
The Congress will map out entrepreneurial ecosystems, share new developments in startup financing, connect entrepreneurs to the best resources and networks, and identify emerging entrepreneurial hotspots and global expansion of the producer movement.
The event was initiated by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and the Kauffman Foundation 2009, and was established to facilitate networking between thought leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and other stakeholders with the view to building economies and improving human welfare.
Organisers said the city of Johannesburg will co-host the Congress with research and development specialist SEA Africa.
Kizito Okechukwu, executive head of SEA Africa, said: “This Congress will assist businesses and promote entrepreneurship across the African continent. We are therefore calling on entrepreneurs to leverage from various support structures and programmes being introduced by various partners. We are expecting leading global entrepreneurs and innovators to grace this occasion.”
The Minister of Small Business Development Lindiwe Zulu said: “GEC will help sustain the momentum of an entrepreneurial revolution which President Jacob Zuma set in motion last year when he announced the establishment of our separate department that would focus on small businesses and cooperatives! I am confident that GEC 2017 will further thrust entrepreneurship and small business development firmly on the national agenda and the collective consciousness of our nation.”
Craig Bond, CEO of Retail and Business Banking at Barclays Africa, said, “The GEC is a platform that can open doors for our youth, ignite entrepreneurship and put our youth in the global arena. It contributes to the overall Pan-Africanism objective by strengthening common perspectives amongst nations, creating partnerships and collaborative efforts, and encouraging inter-regional trade.”
Jonathan Ortmans, Global Entrepreneurship Network president, said, “GEC 2017 is just one example of the Global Entrepreneurship Network commitment to helping the next generation of African entrepreneurs start and scale—rebranding the continent and permanently shifting perceptions around the world.”
