About GEN in South Africa

GEN IN SOUTH AFRICA: HISTORY + MILESTONES

The Early Years: GEW and Building Community

In between GEW campaigns, GEN began to convene the ecosystem. For example, GEN worked with the Department of Economic Development, the Department of Tourism, Endeavor Africa, Gordon Institute of Business Science, Hollard Absa, and many other institutions to build GEW in South Africa. The annual GEW events served as a platform to bring key stakeholders together to discuss how best to support the start and scale of small businesses. Attracting thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs each year, many of these entrepreneurs attest to the fact that attending a GEW event accelerated their aspiration to start a business and when their businesses were struggling to grow, participating in GEW motivated them to be resilient and connected them to resources. 

Various civil society structures lobbied for the establishment of a Department of Small Business Development. One can argue that such organizations and voices were heard from the annual GEW, which brought various public and private sector stakeholders together. In 2014, the President of South Africa announced the creation of the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD). This became a momentous and defining moment for the entrepreneurship ecosystem as the development of startups and SMMEs became a core part of Government’s strategy. The DSBD and the City of Johannesburg were instrumental in bringing the 2017 GEC to Johannesburg.

GEC Johannesburg 2017

As GEN’s brand became more widely known through the annual GEW campaign and other activity, South Africa emerged as the perfect nation to host the first Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Africa hosted in Johannesburg in March of 2017. GEC Johannesburg brought together more than 8,000 entrepreneurship leaders from more than 175 countries with thousands more participants from South Africa. The event marked a turning point for South Africa's entrepreneurial ecosystem and was supported by leading South African organizations.

Launch of GEN South Africa

With momentum building for entrepreneurship following the GEC in Johannesburg, a national leadership team emerged to form GEN South Africa as an independent national GEN affiliate in 2017 with a role of conducting year-round programs and activities that foster startup activity and support the entrepreneurial ecosystem in South Africa. GEN South Africa is registered in South Africa as an NPO with a mission to support economic growth through entrepreneurship, which is needed to for South Africa to address its socio-economic challenges.

A Flagship Landmark Follows a Flagship Event – 22 On Sloane

Committed to an enduring legacy from the GEC, 22 On Sloane was opened just nine months later establishing a home of GEN in Africa and countless new collaborations and partnerships with both the government and private sector. With more than 10,000 square meters of space, it remains the largest startup campus in Africa and home to more than 100 companies. 

At 22 On Sloane, GEN offers accelerator and incubation programs to founders, co-working space and ecosystem events, and programming through its venture studio. The campus offers companies operating in the education, e-commerce, financial services, gaming, health, technology, products, and services sectors turnkey solutions to scale, from the initial idea to commercialization and access to capital and markets. As a result of its capacity building and access to capital and markets initiatives, 22 On Sloane has supported 578 SMMEs and has created 1116+ high skilled jobs and more than US $13 million in cumulative revenue generated by startups and SMMEs.

Breakthrough Research – The Mindset Study

A common characteristic between the global and national leaders behind GEN in Africa has been research. GEN was born from the Kauffman Foundation in the United States, known for its attention to academic rigor and elevating economic research about entrepreneurship. GEN’s founding team in South Africa led by Kizito Okechukwu started in the field as researchers. 

In 2018, work commenced with a study of entrepreneurial mindset in South Africa led by GEN in partnership with the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation (AGOF). The national study involved an extensive review of academic literature around the entrepreneurial mindset and the development of a 72-question survey that African Response, a professional polling firm, administered to more than 3,500 people throughout the country. The results have informed the design and delivery of AGOF’s entrepreneur support programs during the years that followed.

GEC+Africa 2024 Convenes Africa's Ecosystem

After surviving the pandemic unlike many hubs and accelerators around the world, the GEN South Africa team at 22 On Sloane organized a second GEC – GEC+Africa – that welcomed more than 2,500 entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and other entrepreneurship ecosystem leaders from 43 African countries in Cape Town from 13-14 March 2024.

GEC+Africa supported and connected all African entrepreneurs with global resources and investor networks, which are naturally critical to the development of growth-oriented small businesses and new startups on the continent.

The Congress took place at a pivotal moment in the African entrepreneurial landscape, which as many delegates noted is poised to become one of the most dynamic regions in the world. Partners and supporters included major support from African Bank, the Western Cape Provincial Government, Department of Small Business Development, SAB Foundation, Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropy South Africa, UNDP, South African Tourism, Telkom, and Cape Innovation Technology Initiative.