Dr Michael Twum-Darko, BIIC project manager is over the moon after the Business Innovation and Incubation Centre won a grant of GBP 20 000 to implement a community-building programme.

The Business Innovation and Incubation Centre (BIIC) has won a grant of GBP 20 000 to implement a community-building programme called Inclusive Technopreneurship Forum/Conference (ITF). The ITF is intended to bring African universities together in 2022 to share research output, learning, teaching and assessment experiences as well as community engagement activities to develop African graduates to become technopreneurs.

This is an additional grant to the GBP 100, 000 granted to the BIIC to implement an inspiring-based pedagogy to develop graduates as technopreneurs – sustainable inclusive industry-linked graduates technopreneurship development infrastructure. This CPUT/ Faculty of Business and Management Sciences /BIIC initiated projects with Manchester Metropolitan University (as a United Kingdom partner) and Snake Nation (Ecosystem Partner) have received global recognition.

While each participating Innovation for African Universities (IAU) stakeholder will feature on the ITF programme flyer CPUT and Manchester Metropolitan University remain the convener and organiser Institutes, respectively to ensure a responsible sustainability plan in the foreseeable future. The ITF was designed using the International Conference on Business and Management Dynamics framework, and the co-partners are Durban University of Technology , Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana), University of Venda , Kenyatta University (Kenya) and Industry partners from FinTech, GovTech, WineTech and Telco global players.

“We have already received enquiry from leading publishing houses in UK to publish the proceedings of ITF,” said Dr Michael Twum-Darko, BIIC project manager.

However, CPUT and Manchester Metropolitan University remain the convener and organiser institutes respectively to ensure a responsible sustainability plan in the foreseeable future.

Dean of Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, Prof Paul Green, said the grant was some exciting news which is aligned to Vision 2030 of One Smart CPUT.

Industry and ecosystem partners will be invited to participate and sponsor the annual ITF . Future editions of the annual ITF will be planned at least two years in advance to mitigate any potential risks associated with it. Technical and non-technical keynote speakers wil be invited to the ITF.

A dedicated database and email updates subscription will be explored to establish the world’s first inclusive technopreneurship community of practice (ITCoP) that works collaboratively with the IAU CoP.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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The Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of TymeBank Group, Coenraad Jonker, recently visited the Business Innovation and Incubation Centre (BIIC) at District Six campus, to explore collaboration on the eVillage concept with BIIC and CPUT to revolutionise township and rural economies via digital banking.

The eVillage concept is to integrate tried and tested disruptive technology and modelled Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to create and retain wealth to simulate and grow township and rural economies for youth enterprise development and employment creation. BIIC Head, Prof Michael Twum-Darko, says the TymeBank collaboration will facilitate the finalisation of the eVillage prototype and make it a reality.

Dean of the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences (FBMS), Prof Paul Green, who welcomed the guests, said: “What we are attempting to do here as a faculty and also the only university of technology in the Western Cape is to increase our footprint in these particular types of projects.”

“Each business will be run by youth and CPUT graduates trained, mentored and coached by BIIC to become an entrepreneur.”

Those present included Sandra Lloyd (TymeBank Community Franchising), John Lawson (Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Sumaya Taliep (City of Cape Town), Bushra Razack (Phillippi Village), Pasi Nieminen (XCFpay - Finland), Dr Revel Iyer (CPUT), Lucien Paulsen (Plum Systems), Chris Mulhall (RD4A), Mark Simon (Plum Systems), and CPUT students Blessing Hove, Roman Gulu and Bambelela Mpulu.

The delightful BIIC founder, Twum-Darko is upbeat about future of the eVillage concept saying: “It was a very successful event for the chairperson/co-founder of Tyme Bank to visit the Centre and to engage with the Centre. His visit was to determine how to collaborate with the BIIC on the e-Village, eSpaza, e-Campus business/project which has been innovated and incubated at the Centre since 2021.”

He said the project emanated from a community engagement-driven research with MTech (Business Administration) students, conducted at Zwelethemba Township in the Breede Valley District Municipality. Twum-Darko, who is also the Head of the Graduate Centre for Management (GCM), said TymeBank is interested in piloting and the roll out of e-Village, e-Spaza, e-Campus “to retain wealth in rural settings and townships to create employment and small enterprises of different services to simulate the local economy”.

“The Executive Chairman of TymeBank was also impressed with GCM’s flag ship qualification – Diploma in Banking.”

Following numerous presentations, Jonker said: “For me. the unique aspect of what I have heard this morning is the hands-on connection into the informal economy of South Africa.”

Green also said: “Coen Jonker, I have seen the information and I am really excited that we can partner with you in all of this.  I strongly believe that we are going to see excellent results that are going to emanate from this particular collaboration and this particular partnership.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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