About GEN in Zambia

GEN began working alongside Zambia's entrepreneurial community in 2008 when it conducted its first Global Entrepreneurship Week campaign with support from the World Bank Group. At the time, the Bank was implementing the Zambia-COMESA SME Toolkit project in partnership with ELIF Business Solutions Ltd., which was founded by Edwin Zulu. Momentum built quickly: the 2010 GEW campaign featured a large conference backed by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry that drew more than 2,000 participants. The Ministry announced plans for a national Youth Development Fund. During these early years, the campaign focused on youth and student entrepreneurship and opening doors for underrepresented founders, planting the seeds for more than a decade of grassroots ecosystem building.

In 2012, GEN named ELIF Business Solutions its lead GEW coordinator (i.e., the national host organization). As the campaign matured, it steadily attracted higher-profile champions and recognition. In 2013, Matilda Karimamusama, GEW Zambia’s lead coordinator, won a Barclays Citizenship Award for Individual Achievement and led the Zambian delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC). Government leaders increasingly participated in the campaign — the Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry officiated opening ceremonies and the Minister of Education hosted flagship GEW events, including the My Job + 1 Business Challenge Awards. 

In 2014, the campaign was centered around the Creating the Future Conference, organized by Teen Vision Trust. TVT was founded by Chibamba Kanyama, a prominent broadcaster. The annual conference focused on building entrepreneurship skills so that Zambians could participate in the global economy. During the 2020 global pandemic, GEW Zambia experimented with new delivery models, partnering with Microsoft Biz4Afrika and Thinkroom South Africa to run virtual networking sessions.

As the campaign developed into a nationwide platform, GEN responded by establishing a formal affiliate — GEN Zambia — to carry that work forward on a year-round basis. GEN Zambia is led by Edwin Zulu and Jacob Jones Sikazwe. It works to support entrepreneurs by connecting them to global markets, aligning ecosystem stakeholders, and building a culture of public-private collaboration. Drawing on the years of experience building partnerships and delivering business development services, GEN Zambia forged strategic collaborations with the Ministry of Tourism and its agencies — Zambia Tourism Agency, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, and the National Heritage and Conservation Commission. For example, GEN Zambia is contributing expertise and training seminars to the Tourism Agency’s national initiative, FACE Zambia, a multi-partner educational initiative that includes Ethiopian Airlines and the Zambia Postal Service. GEN’s emphasis on a sustainable, enterprise-driven business model supports the national GEW campaign and ensures that Zambian founders and ecosystem leaders participate in GEN’s global GEC events.

GEN produced the 2025 GEW campaign in partnership with the Ministry of Technology and Science. With events in every province and technical, vocational and entrepreneurship training led by Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka, NORTEC College in Ndola, and Nkumbi International College in Mkushi, a defining thread was inclusion of women founders. GEN partners with the Women's Entrepreneurship Access Center (WEAC) – formerly the WECREATE Zambia – to anchor the women’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. GEN and WEAC are closely aligned and function as collaborative pillars by providing resources, education, access to capital, and training programs. WEAC is a physical hub opened with support from the African Women's Entrepreneurial Program (AWEP), the Caterpillar Foundation, and U.S. Embassy. GEN and WEAC help women move into the formal economy through business growth programs, tools, and events.

A consistent feature of GEN's work in Zambia is government engagement. In 2019, Inonge Wina – Zambia’s first female vice president – endorsed GEW Zambia with a national call for public and private participation. She aligned the campaign with government priorities set out in the Seventh National Development Plan. In 2022, Elias Mubanga, Zambia’s first Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Development, participated in GEC Riyadh, joining more than 40 cabinet ministers from around the world to discuss the global economic trends. During the event, he invited global investors to explore opportunities in Zambia. He led the Zambian government’s national delegation the following year to GEC Melbourne and chaired the technical committee during the Startup Nations Summit, a policy-focused gathering at the Congress. GEN Zambia served as secretariat.

GEN supports Zambian founders through its global programs. For example, Lusaka is home to a robust Startup Huddle chapter. Organized locally by Ingrid Simasiku, GEN's peer-driven program supports local founders through regular mentor-supported meetups. GEN also runs a mentor match program that pairs aspiring entrepreneurs with experienced founders, and an investor match program that guides fundraising strategy and connects founders with angel investors and venture capital firms. The Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC), a global pitch competition GEN launched in 2019, provides founders with training, mentorship, and exposure to investors as they compete for a share of $1 million in prizes. National finalists include Ignitos Space (Zambia), founded by Ahmad Hamwi.

GEN maintains extensive relationships with key Zambian ecosystem stakeholders, including the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development, the Ministry of Technology and Science, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and SMEs, the Zambia Development Agency, the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA), Evelyn Hone College and NORTEC College, ZANACO PLC, and a range of cooperating partners such as the European Union, the Irish Embassy and UNDP. To support rural enterprise development, GEN Zambia works with Nasla Halaal Beef Company and the Senanga District and Provincial government to extend business development support beyond Lusaka.

GEN’s president, Jonathan Ortmans, has visited Zambia and been a champion for the country on the global stage. In 2025, GEN Zambia led by Edwin Zulu, was nominated for the GEN Country of the Year Award at GEC Indiana. The award recognizes national leaders who have most advanced GEN's mission.

As GEN Zambia has continued to widen its reach, it is supporting bilateral cooperation. For example, it facilitated trade and private sector agreements between Zambia and Rwanda, and joined forces with GEN’s leaders in UAE to launch a flagship investment program aimed at building long-term trade, investment, and digital transformation corridors between Africa and the Gulf. With its sights set on positioning Zambia as a leading hub for entrepreneurship and MSME development in Africa, GEN's goals in the country continue to be about connecting Zambian founders with the knowledge, networks, capital, and policy support they need to scale.