Johannesburg - Global Entrepreneurship Week is a worldwide celebration of entrepreneurship and takes place in the second week of November, from November 14–20 this year.
During this week-long celebration, organisations and people from different parts of the world organise and convene events to share ideas and formulate solutions for local, national and international economic and social growth.
There are 582 million entrepreneurs worldwide, which translates to about 5% of the global population being entrepreneurs.
After recognising the importance of entrepreneurship to global economic advancement and human welfare, in 2008, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation created Global Entrepreneurship Week.
The celebration of entrepreneurship has since grown from being just a series of events happening only in the US and UK to expanding to over 165 countries, including South Africa.
In a country like South Africa, the importance of encouraging entrepreneurial development cannot be overstated.
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) today has reported that South Africa's unemployment rate decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 33.9 percent in the second quarter, down from 34.5 percent in the first quarter.
This means that unemployment in the country eased further from a record high of 35.3 percent recorded in the last quarter of 2021.
While the improvement is welcomed, it is imperative that South Africans turn to entrepreneurship as a way to alleviate the burden of unemployment on South Africans.
South Africa is a country brimming with ingenuity, and entrepreneurs need to come to the fore with innovations which can significantly impact unemployment and other socio-economic issues that are faced by South Africans.
Here are some reasons why Global Entrepreneurship Week matters:
Entrepreneurship drives innovation
Entrepreneurs have been at the centre of every new technology and innovation that has revolutionised the way we communicate, work and live for as long as we can remember.
The likes of Mark Zuckerburg, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are entrepreneurs and have not only made fortunes from being innovators, but their impact on society is monumental.
By introducing new products and services to the market, these entrepreneurs improved the standard of living, evolved society, and paved the way for new markets.
The world will be looking to entrepreneurs to help deal with the existential environmental crisis that the world currently faces.
Global Entrepreneurship Week recognizes the importance of entrepreneurship to economic growth
One of the key reasons Global Entrepreneurship Week was founded was to shine a spotlight on the impact that entrepreneurship has on economic growth and development.
Entrepreneurs are not just individuals that self-employed, they are also job creators. Through their innovative ideas, they bring about new-and-improved products, services, and technology.
All these factors have a knock-on effect on the economy. When more people are employed, it means that there will be more skilled workers to bolster the numbers of the labour force for various industries and generate more national wealth.
Entrepreneurship contributes to positive social changes
Entrepreneurship doesn’t only address economic issues but issues of sustainability too.
Social entrepreneurship, for example, helps solve problems of education, water scarcity, and gender equality, contributing to Sustainable Development Goals.
vusi.adonis@inl.co.za
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