On Monday Patel announced the creation of the SA Finance Enterprise Agency (SAFEA) that will incorporate three existing small development agencies, namely Khula Enterprises, the SA Microfinance Apex Fund and the small business section of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The new agency will be a division of the IDC, from which it can obtain [...]

I always believe that the best route for every entrepreneur in his/her entrepreneurial journey is to build a sustainable business that withstands the test of time, and employ a proper exit strategy when the time comes, and if you are passionate about philanthropy, you can choose to get involved in non-profits. So, yes – I am [...]

South Africa’s entrepreneurial base is more eager than ever as the country becomes a more attractive location for investment opportunities and small businesses, looking to South African Investment Network for business connections. As South Africa is increasingly recovering from the “brain drain” that drove the country’s educated business people to other countries and regions of [...]

There are many lessons to be drawn from the stories behind this year’s entrants in SmartCompany’s Hot 30 Under 30. But perhaps the most important is that for every piece of advice given, a completely opposite course of action might be appropriate under the right circumstances. This year’s list contains entrepreneurs who have brought deep [...]

Like most people who grew up in America, I really had no idea what to expect when I first travelled to South Africa (besides gazelles and lions). My first trip was to Johannesburg two years ago to open a new office, and I have been back several times since, most recently Cape Town. Of all [...]

Cape Town – One of the most influential players in the United States’ Silicon Valley and in companies like YouTube, PayPal and Google is a South African. Technology entrepreneur Roelof Botha was in the country last week to receive an honorary PhD from Stellenbosch University. Naspers chief executive Koos Bekker calls Botha one of the [...]

Like many women who came of age in the 90’s, I had a glorified impression of advertising as a career, and it was heavily influenced by the media. My childhood years included an odd obsession with the movie “Baby Boom,” starring Diane Keaton as the “Tiger Lady,” a Madison Avenue power chick. My teen years were [...]

When Chika Ekeji enrolled in the MIT Sloan School of Business’ full-time MBA program, he was ambivalent about actually finishing his degree. What he was really in school for, he’d decided, was a chance to found his own company. “I used to joke that I was on the dropout path,” says Mr. Ekeji, who while [...]