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UFS Business School helps young people become entrepreneurs

12 December 2022 | Story Kekeletso Takang | Photo Supplied

web read more — Through the New Venture Creation Programme, the UFS Business School aims to equip unemployed youth with the skills needed to identify and assess entrepreneurial opportunities, design a basic business model, and write a business plan.

The University of the Free State Business School (UFSBS) recently hosted a New Venture Creation programme aimed at mitigating unemployment among the youth. Through this programme, the UFSBS aims to equip unemployed youth with the skills needed to identify and assess entrepreneurial opportunities, design a basic business model, and write a business plan.

The unemployment rate in South Africa was 33,9% in the second quarter of 2022, with youth remaining particularly vulnerable in the labour market. The New Venture Creation programme, funded by the Education, Training and Development Practices Sector Education and Training Authority (ETDPSETA), provides the opportunity for 100 unemployed youth in the Northern Cape and 100 unemployed youth in the North West to be part of the programme.

In addition to the UFSBS, the ETDPSETA has also partnered with the Office of the Premier in the Northern Cape, the Sol Plaatje Municipality, and the Department of Social Development. These partners assisted with the identification and recruitment of participants in order to ensure the right people were included in the programme.

“For me, the programme was informative and practical,” said Paseka Tlali, one of the top achievers taking part in the New Venture Creation programme. “It allowed me to learn about developing a business plan. Since completion, I have registered a business focusing on media consultancy. Through my business I can educate others on the importance of developing a personal brand.”

David Gool, another participant from the Northern Cape, said, “I have now become a social media ambassador working with Herbalife as their brand ambassador, thanks to the programme.”

Participants were taken on a practical journey to identify an idea and turn it into a profitable small business. Not only were they taught about new venture creation, but they were also taken on a journey to understand themselves better. The four-month programme saw participants go from attending classes to presenting their business plans to a panel that was also referred to as “The Circle of Elders”. This panel consisted of the ETDPSETA, the UFSBS, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA). They provided each participant with practical feedback and guidance on how to make their planned venture a reality.

The New Venture Creation programme includes the following study units: Entrepreneurship Journey, Marketing Plan, Operations Plan, Business Model, and Business Plan Framework, among others.

Graduation ceremonies were held at the completion of the programme in De Aar and Kimberley, sponsored by Standard Bank.

Read up on more programmes offered by the UFS Business School here

News Archive

UFS unveils new HPC cluster

2011-04-04

Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Prof. Theuns Verschoor and staff of the UFS ICT department at the unveiling of the HPC cluster

Our university has unveiled a brand-new multimillion-rand High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster, which promises to enhance the way research is done at our university.

The new HPC cluster is a super powerful computing cluster, and already has 28 users from six university departments using it to speed up and simplify their research. The cluster of more than R2,7 million was unveiled in March 2011.

It boasts an incredible 800 processing cores and special high-speed data-transfer technology, to make even the most expensive home PC look like a stone-age relic.

Prof. Janse Tolmie, Senior Director: Information and Communication Technology Services (ICT Services) at the UFS, says the cluster is used to simulate experiments and their outcome electronically, using advanced software and the high processing power of the cluster.

The cluster is especially useful to researchers in the Chemistry, Bio-chemistry and Medical Physics departments. Prof. Tolmie says these simulations are an internationally recognised means of conducting research and it is very important for a research institution to have access to such a facility.

In the past, many research articles have been published by UFS researchers, based on research done using the previous incarnation of an HPC cluster at our university.

Prof. Tolmie says the cluster can also be connected to clusters at other universities and research facilities to form national or international HPC grids.

This will enable researchers elsewhere to access the massive processing power that UFS researchers now have at their fingertips.

Media Release
30 March 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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