---

Former vice-president of the SRC and final year LLB student at the University of Free State, Surprise Manyaiyi, was chosen to represent South Africa on behalf of “Start-up Safari”, which is an international business programme created for young leaders and entrepreneurs about which she has compiled a report.

Surprise and her team won second place at a business pitch competition which took place at the leadership and development programme in India. She developed a business model that is now in its prototype stage titled NEP (National Employment Portal). She described NEP as a solution that assists businesses to attract and locate potential employees in a short space of time. Her idea was inspired by South Africa’s high unemployment rate, as well as the difficulty job applicants face during their process of searching for and securing employment.

Surprise was one of the candidates who was chosen from South Africa to represent their countries at the competition that was being held during the programme in India. Delegates learnt about the Indian culture and global entrepreneurial and operational sphere. They also met multifarious business founders who lead successful business start-ups such as Allen Gray and Uber.

Throughout the eight days candidates spent in India, they attended discussions and presentations about entrepreneurship, global markets, competencies of their business ideas, and economies in which their business ideas would be run. Contestants spent their time learning, networking, and developing their business ideas with assistance from certified business founders working jointly with the programme.

On the final day contenders pitched their business models and Surprise won. She said that she was looking for others to form part of her team, preferably individuals completing their studies in Actuarial Sciences to assist her with mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in insurance, finance and other logistical areas relating to her prototype. Surprise wishes to motivate students to apply for Start-up Safari, and similar entrepreneurial programmes that will help mould them into entrepreneurs as well as harness their leadership skills.