I try to attend as many conferences as I can. Attending conferences is one of the things that help me grow professionally. In some of these conferences, I am a speaker, and in some, an attendee. Conferences help me expand my network and I get to learn a lot.
Last week's conference, the Youth Entrepreneurship Expo at Wits University, organized by Young African Entrepreneurs Institute, was one of the most important conferences I have attended in recent times.
In this Expo, I was tasked to facilitate a discussion on access to funding for South Africa’s emerging entrepreneurs.
It was a great honour to speak to people who drive business lending in the country. To understand the fundamental challenges they face as lenders, and as people who work closely with entrepreneurs. The discussion also enlightened me on the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in South Africa.
My takeaway from the conference was that South Africa’s fundamental challenge on entrepreneurship is not money.
The challenges are at the foundation of our society: entrepreneurial education, financial discipline, innovation, culture. These are the fundamentals that if we were to get them right, our country would be set on a prosperous course.