The Hope Factory to celebrate, empower entrepreneurs with new partnerships

Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is upon our dear world, and like many other entrepreneurship initiatives, South African enterprise development programme The Hope Factory hopes to inspire and empower entrepreneurs through mentorship and support.

For small business owners, having a mentor can be invaluable and the statistics prove this. Research has shown that 80% of entrepreneurs who have mentors working alongside them survive long term, versus only 45% who don’t have a mentor.

The Hope Factory’s CEO Annie McWalter notes the importance of GEW:

From November 17 to 23, we are joining entrepreneurs across the world to commemorate GEW. We have picked events where we’d like to add value by assisting startup entrepreneurs succeed in their ventures. This is what GEW is all about — to bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare.

The Startup Picnic, taking place at the CSIR Sports & Recreation Club in Pretoria will be a fun day connecting entrepreneurs. The event is also set to attract various entrepreneurship activists and organisations i.e. angel investors, venture capitalists and incubators.

Read more: Startup Picnic initiative to celebrate GEW with beers and a braai in SA

During The Festival of Entrepreneurship starting on November 16 to 20, eKasi Entrepreneurs will be launching in Gauteng. Elvis Sekhaolelo, the executive director of eKasi Entrepreneurs, elaborates the excitement:

We are so glad that The Hope Factory will be exhibiting at the expo as this is a platform that allows township entrepreneurs access to opportunities and resources from corporate South Africa, Government Departments and Agencies. More so, this is done through Entrepreneurship Development, skills development, public-private collaboration, social innovations and access to markets.