Global youth entrepreneurs creating sustainable social development to compete in South Africa

36 National Champion student entrepreneur teams, competing for the title of Enactus World Champion

Johannesburg, South Africa, for release on 2 October 2015 – 1,700 social development programmes at universities in 36 different countries will be brought together in Johannesburg, South Africa at the Enactus World Cup. The annual global event will be held in for the first time in Africa from 14 – 16 October at the Sandton Convention Centre, where 3,500 students, faculty and top global business leaders will be convening showcase their entrepreneurial innovation. 

In South Africa, there are 27 Enactus teams on 27 campuses with team South Africa represented by the University of Zululand at the Enactus World Cup. Team South Africa is joined by 35 other teams, ten of which are from Africa competing with the best student entrepreneur teams in the world all for the title of Enactus World Champion.

Enactus, an international non-profit organization brings together students, academic and business leaders through the belief that investing in students who take entrepreneurial action for others creates a better world for us all. Annually at the Enactus World Cup, 36 Enactus National Competition teams will present their projects for improving the standards of living for communities through business innovation. 

The principal topics, which will be addressed throughout this year’s event, through the team projects themselves and highlighted by this year’s action panels:

• Food, water and energy security

• Women’s economic empowerment

• Entrepreneurship is a consistent theme throughout the event

“KPMG is proud to be the presenting sponsor of the Enactus World Cup” as said by Andrew Cranston, Global Chief Operating Officer at KPMG International. “I encourage you not to miss this unique opportunity to inspire the next generation of leaders and, in turn, be inspired by their example and entrepreneurial spirit. The investment of your time in this special event can make a world of difference.”

South Africa’s 2015 National Champion team from the University of Zululand will be competing for the Enactus World Champion title by presenting two of the team’s eight projects. In one of the featured projects, the Enactus team works with a small-scale fish farmer to help protect endangered species and improve the standard of living in the local community of Port Dunford, including job creation and increasing the farmer’s profitability.

The second project involves working with an organic vegetable co-operative comprised mostly of elders (elderly men and women) at eNgwelezane Township, south of Richard’s Bay. Key outcomes include extending their range of products to a ready-made spicy vegetable pickle, thereby reducing food waste. The Enactus team provided business management skills, packaging design, customer care training and assistance with product distribution of their new product range to retailers. The project continues to grow the group’s revenue and create new jobs.  

The significant scale of the Enactus World Cup will create history at the Sandton Convention Cente. The Enactus World Cup will be the first time the entire centre is occupied by one organisation. The Enactus World Cup audience will extend beyond those lucky enough to attend, this year anticipating an audience of over 33,000 participants from over 100 countries via live streaming on http://enactus.org/worldcup/ allowing everybody with an interest in Enactus and entrepreneurial action to be part of the experience. 

Social media is key for Enactus, hashtags include #WeAllWin & #EnactusWorldCup. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter: Enactus ZA Facebook and Enactus ZA Twitter. More information on Enactus South Africa is available on: http://www.enactusza.org and the global Enactus website is: www.enactus.org 

KPMG is proud to be the global presenting sponsor and is especially proud to help bring the event to South Africa this year. Other sponsors include Absa, member of Barclays, CHEP, Coca-Cola, Harmony, Massmart/Walmart, MTN SA Foundation, Sage and Unilever all as Host Country Sponsors. 

Recent locations of the Enactus World Cup include, China, Mexico, United States of America, The United Kingdom and Canada. This year’s event is a set to be an intense competition and an excellent celebration including a special reprised performance of African Footprint, the Soweto Gospel Choir, innovative DJ’s and additional surprises. 

For more information about attending teams, media registration and to schedule media interviews please contact Linda Thompson.

Ends (703 words)

ABOUT ENACTUS: Enactus, an international non-profit organization brings together students, academic and business leaders through the belief that investing in students who take entrepreneurial action for others creates a better world for us all. Guided by business experts and academic advisors at more than 1,700 universities in 36 countries, the 70,500 student leaders of Enactus create and implement community outreach projects each year to empower people to improve their livelihoods, impacting more than 1,950,000 people.  

DIGITAL SCHEDULE & MEET THE TEAM FEATURES: http://enactus.org/worldcup (Meet the Teams profiles launching on 2 October)

Issued by Linda Thompson on behalf of Enactus South Africa NPC

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.     

Tel: +27 72 054 1179 or at Enactus South Africa: Tel: + 27 11 484 1098

http://enactus.org/worldcup/schedule-2015/