Cape Town, South Africa — 16 September 2026 — The Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) today launched its 2026 Global Entrepreneurship Week campaign from GEC+Africa in Cape Town, as partners around the world also launched the campaign in their local markets. More than 11,000 partners, reaching every country, will run events and activities in November for people who have never considered starting a business.
Global Entrepreneurship Week runs November 16–22, 2026, under the theme Entrepreneurs Thrive Here. Every year, the campaign reaches 10 million people, many of whom have never considered entrepreneurship as a path available to them but have the ideas, talent, and ambition to solve local and global challenges.
The 2026 campaign comes at a moment when the forces reshaping work, technology, and economies are moving faster than at any point in modern history. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 projects that 92 million jobs will be displaced globally by 2030 — and that 170 million new roles will be created in the same period, a net gain of 78 million.
“The progress we make on the existential challenges of our time — food security, climate change, energy, the eradication of deadly diseases, the responsible governance of AI — will not come from governments, or corporations alone, or the handful of celebrated founders whose names we all know,” said Jonathan Ortmans, who founded Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2008. “It will come from millions of people in every community on earth who are empowered to look at a problem, imagine a solution, and build it.”
During Global Entrepreneurship Week and throughout November, more than 75,000 workshops, events, and programs are expected worldwide — most of them beyond traditional startup hubs, in libraries, community centers, schools, and public spaces.
Events will reach people where they are and connect them to the networks, tools, and support to take a first step — in their own community, at whatever scale works for them.
To learn more about Global Entrepreneurship Week, find events in your area, and to get involved, visit www.gew.co.
Global Entrepreneurship Week By The Numbers
The Global Entrepreneurship Network, the international host for this campaign, reports:
• 10M+ people reached annually
• 75,000+ events across 200 countries
• 11,000 partners worldwide
• 94% of participants feel more confident about their ability to start and grow a business
To learn more, visit www.gew.co.