Township Entrepreneurship InFocus Global Entrepreneurship Week 2017 KZN Umlazi

South Africa’s townships have always been a hive for entrepreneurial activity, but the main challenge has been unlocking the potential to generate broader economic benefits.
To understand the challenges that township entrepreneurs currently face, you would have to look at the challenges faced in townships generally, as well as their history. An alternative method of unpacking some of these challenges and successes, is to encourage storytelling and sharing by those who have and continue to build thriving township-based businesses or have been exposed to growing up in the township.
To kick this off, FNB Business will be running a series of Township Entrepreneurship events during Global Entrepreneurship Month and Week called Township Entrepreneurship InFocus. The aim is to uncover challenges and successes from those who can tell it from their own experiences.
Furthermore, we hope to create dialogue with other business men and women operating township based businesses who can further share their experiences with one another, by creating an environment of learning and sharing. We hope that these sessions will help us to collectively deal with challenges experienced by entrepreneurs in townships in establishing, sustaining and growing their businesses.
In a press release issued on 14th November 2017, CEO, FNB Business Mike Vacy-Lyle adds:
“We are looking to gather information that will assist us in bringing the right financial products and services to township entrepreneurs. Most importantly, we want to better understand the difficulties and needs that keep these entrepreneurs awake at night.”