The global coronavirus crisis has rendered Enactus’ mission more critical than ever: to engage the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders to use innovation and business principles to improve the world.
Likewise, the 2020 Enactus national competitions are focused on creating a positive energy for positive change.
As an organisation that places the safety and health of everyone among its top priority, it was deemed fit to have Enactus national competitions going virtual or delayed from the original schedule.
“But the NextGen Leaders of Enactus are and will be on the front line of the economic recovery around the world — they will define how we revive and thrive in the emerging new normal,” a statement from the organisation thus read.
EnactusZA is therefore excited to announce it will be hosting the Special Competitions on July 14 and 15 virtually on the online videoabd contest platform LaunchPad6.
As in the past, the competition is presented in association with MTN, Harmony Gold Mining Company (Ltd), Ford Motor Company Fund and Unilever.
EnactusZA 2020: Eligible teams
A total of 16 EnactusZA teams (in alphabetical order) have advanced to the second (semi-final) stage of this year’s challenge.
Called to address specific community causes and needs, the teams have presented their impact reports on the following 2020 themes:
Harmony Local Economic Development Challenge – addressing poverty alleviation and job creation in local communities around the country through entrepreneurship.
The 8 EnactusZA teams competing in this category are:
- Central University of Technology (CUT) – Village Fa
- Durban University of Technology (DUT) – Finiks
- Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) – Ukukhanya
- University of Kwa Zulu-Natal (UKZN) – Wormy Compost
- University of Limpopo (UL) – Triple R
- University of Mpumalanga (UMP) – Hatching Hope
- University of the Free State: Bloemfontein Campus (UFS: Bloemfontein) – Kutanga
- Vaal University of Technology (VUT) – Insika
Unilever Enactus Plastic Waste & Packaging Challenge –finding solutions to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover ‘post-consumer’ plastic waste.
The 8 EnactusZA teams in this category are:
- Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) – Beach Muncher
- University of Cape Town (UCT) – Refill revolution
- University of Johannesburg (UJ) – Pair Packaging
- University of Mpumalanga (UMP) – Re Fuel
- University of the Free State: Bloemfontein (UFS: Bloem) – Re Future
- University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) – Unilever Refill & Recovery stations
- Vaal University of Technology (VUT) – Buhle
- Walter Sisulu University (WSU) – Greenfields
MTN Enactus ICT Challenge – aimed at offering students an opportunity to come up with innovative ideas and develop digital solutions to address socio-economic challenges.
- The top 10 teams will be announced at the 2020 Enactus South Africa Virtual Competition.
- The teams leverage design thinking methodologies in developing powerful and meaningful digital solutions and services within the Health, Education and Agricultural sectors.
- Each team will win R100 000 from this MTN sponsorship while they will be mentored and guided by EnactusZA to ensure that all their apps or services or platforms are registered as companies and fully functional.
FORD C3 Building Sustainable Communities Project Partnership – Cycle 7 – mobilizes Enactus teams to use entrepreneurial action to find innovative, creative and unique ways to address an urgent, unmet social need or problem in the local community, empowering the community to become a more sustainable place to work and live.
The following teams (in alphabetical order) are finalists, and will be acknowledged at the Award Ceremony on July 26. Each of these teams won US$5000 for their projects:
- Central University of Technology (CUT) – Village Fa
- Rhodes University (Rhodes) – Grahamstown E-Bike
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) – SmartGro
- University of Mpumalanga (UMP) – Re-fuel
Top executives from these partner companies will assess and judge all the team’s 12-minute presentations on the LaunchPad6 platform. In addition, there will be 5 minutes allocated for a Question and Answer session.
The platform will be open to members of the public to view results during the final award ceremony of the Virtual National Competition on July 16, 2020. This is where the top 3 teams in each special Cchallenge will be announced. The teams will receive project grants and trophies.
About EnactusZA
Bringing together top student, academic and business leaders from around the country, Enactus National Competition provides unique opportunities for networking, mentorship and idea exchange.
Every year a select group of students from around the world meet in front of a group of international business leaders to present the results of their community outreach projects that address socio-economic challenges confronting the world today.
The selected teams are then evaluated based on how successful they are at using business concepts to improve the quality of life and standard of living for their surrounding communities.
A panel of judges reviews the presentations of these teams and ultimately choose the EnactusZA National Champion.
This team represents South Africa at the Enactus World Cup where they compete against the national champion teams from than 30 countries. This year’s event scheduled to take place virtually September 8 to 10, 2020.
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