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Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA)

The EDA is a pioneering and stimulating environment for small and growing enterprises; building and regenerating entrepreneurial spirit amidst a culture of innovation and social change.

The Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA) is the heart of entrepreneurial development and thinking at GIBS. The EDA specialises in understanding entrepreneurship, enabling business owners to understand the environment within which they work and thrive within it. We work with entrepreneurs in both the formal and informal sectors, at various stages of business growth, in multiple geographic locations as well as through online programme delivery. The EDA has an extensive and diverse research portfolio, leading the first national mapping study of social enterprises in South Africa, and with numerous publications in the green economy, social, youth and township-based entrepreneurship. 

 

 

Since its inception in 2012, the EDA has trained over 2,700 entrepreneurs. These people and their businesses generate over R3.6 billion in revenue, and a majority show consistent growth in revenue and jobs. The EDA is built on the premise that entrepreneurial mindset and attitude is as important as technical skill especially in the South African climate where entrepreneurial activity is said to be low for a developing nation. The EDA’s primary focus is making business education accessible to start-up, micro and small business entrepreneurs, especially those who have been underserved or marginalised. In doing so, our purpose is to help small business owners to develop sustainable, efficient enterprises that are able to employ more people.

Our Social Entrepreneurship efforts are focused on developing and researching South Africa’s social enterprises. These are the organisations that generate both social and economic value, blending the social mission of charities with the approach and profit motive of business. Our work in this sector positioned us as the first university unit in the country focusing on social entrepreneurship and our year-long Social Entrepreneurship Programme is a pioneer in its field. The team has led major research projects including the first study to identify social enterprises in South Africa and published The Disruptors – social entrepreneurs re-inventing business and society in 2016 and The Disruptors 2 in 2018.

Our #GrowYourBiz programme, in partnership with the Walmart Foundation, provides targeted support to growing small businesses across South Africa. This is done through business training and peer-to-peer coaching aimed at helping entrepreneurs to grow their businesses into viable entities. A snapshot of our 50 delegates and their businesses can be seen here.

In association with J.P Morgan, we embarked on a series of conversations that formed the basis for a Small Business Survival Toolkit to assist SMME's during the COVID-19 pandemic. The video series can be found here. The free 10-part podcast series can be found here. For this partnership, the EDA won the Silver Award for the Best Business School Partnership from the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Business Graduates Association (BGA). 

Our Corteva Agriscience Women in Agriculture programme made it into the Top 20 in the Going Beyond Awards. The programme empowered farmers with the necessary business & personal skills to run their agriculture businesses more effectively and profitably.





Our Reports
Pivot or Perish - How Entrepreneurs Overcame Lockdown Uncertainty in South Africa’s Townships
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Our Impact to Date
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Whitepaper: Barriers and Enablers for the Uptake of Fintech Remittance Platforms
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EDA Alumni Profiles 2020
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Working Paper: Capacitating Entrepreneurs for a Sustainable Township Economy
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EDA Alumni Profiles 2019
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Working Papers Showcase on Green Entrepreneurship in SA - 2019
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Survey of Social Enterprises in South Africa
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Research Report on the Green Economy
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Our Latest Media Releases
How to Find Business Funding
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A Food Systems Approach: Setting the Table to Address Agriculture's Triple Challenge
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Encouraging Women’s Participation as Key Players in the Construction Sector
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How Black Female Entrepreneurs Leverage Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for Early-Stage Capital
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Empowering Entrepreneurs
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Why Your Personal Brand is Crucial for Entrepreneurial Success
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Why Monitoring and Evaluation is Essential for Business Development Service Providers
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Recognising the Need to Support Women in Agriculture
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Entrepreneurship Development: A Certain Way to Promote SDG Alignment
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Women’s Potential in Agriculture Must be Increased
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An Insider’s View: Building Socially Conscious Enterprises of the Future
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GIBS Offers Circle of Global Business Women Programme
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How Three SA Businesses are Using Covid-19 to Pivot, Adapt and Innovate
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Are Small Businesses the Answer to an Economic Turnaround for SA?
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A Helping Hand on a Lonely Journey
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Informal Traders are Plucky, Hungry, and Hold Great Latent Economic Potential
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What it Takes to be an Entrepreneur
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Old-Fashioned Rocket Fuel for Small Businesses
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What Social Entrepreneurs can do to Transform SA
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ESD Thrives With an Impact-Driven, Investment Approach
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A Synopsis of our Enterprise and Supplier Development Dialogue
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