“Success doesn’t happen overnight,” Ms Zana Boshoff, Project Manager for Universities South Africa’s (USAf) Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme emphasised in a one-on-one interview in Pretoria on 18 November. The interview followed immediately on the heels of a United States Embassy-organised roundtable discussion led by global entrepreneur Christine Souffrant Ntim at the USAf Office in Hatfield.
“Because of social media influence, our youth, in general are very impatient,” Ms Boshoff (right) explained, noting how platforms create misconceptions about entrepreneurial success. “Social media creates this world that looks like success happens overnight, but actually, you have to start at the bottom.”
This reality check followed a compelling address by a global entrepreneur, Ms Christine Souffrant Ntim to members of the Student Women Economic Empowerment Programme (SWEEP), a programme under USAf’s EDHE programme, during which she had shared insights into global entrepreneurship opportunities. SWEEP, launched officially in 2021, now has chapters at 19 campuses of 17 of South Africa’s 26 public universities.
“The SWEEP programme was built to be a support structure and system for student women specifically,” Boshoff explained. The programme emerged in response to identified challenges that female students encounter in pursuing entrepreneurship, thus offering “an alternative route for economic participation, particularly valuable if you can’t find a job after studies, or if you face challenges like gender-based violence –common in women who are dependent on others for their day-to-day living expenses — or any other challenges within your environment.”
Building strong foundations
SWEEP systematically structured its approach around three fundamental pillars. “First, you’ve got to be employable,” Boshoff detailed. “You’ve got to know how to write a proper email, how to conduct an interview or be interviewed, how to speak properly, how to present yourself professionally.”
The second pillar focuses on personal development. “Only once you’ve got those basics in place can you move on to building personal skills, resilience, and motivation,” she noted. “How do you take hardships? Are you easily offended?”
“After establishing these foundational elements, the third pillar—entrepreneurial skills and capabilities—come into play,” Boshoff explained.
Resources and support
The programme provides extensive support through:
- capacity building workshops
- training materials
- post-workshop modules
- WhatsApp support group
- International exposure programmes
- developing a platform for resource-sharing
“We’re working on a SWEEP website platform,” Boshoff explained, “building a community platform of engagement –where the SWEEP members/chapters can share resources.”
Cultural context and challenges
The programme acknowledges the complex cultural and social pressures facing young women entrepreneurs. “Stereotyping and family backgrounds play a massive role in our context,” Boshoff observed. This understanding shapes SWEEP’s approach to supporting students through various challenges.
During her address, Ntim had reinforced this perspective, noting that the challenges of women entrepreneurs often extend beyond business. She said women entrepreneurs do not just provide for their families but also must take care of their households, including often young children.
Supporting future entrepreneurs
As SWEEP continues to evolve, collaboration remains key. “If you’re a university that’s under-resourced, then link up with the university closest to you in that province,” Boshoff advised. “Say, ‘Listen, I do not have the resources, how can we connect? How can we do something together?’“
For students interested in joining SWEEP, Boshoff emphasises the importance of exploring available resources: “Often you don’t think about what’s available on campus because you don’t really ask.” She points to the EDHE website as a starting point, where students can find a list of all coordinators involved with entrepreneurial development at their respective institutions.
“Confidence is a big thing that we need to focus on, specifically among women,” Boshoff reflected. This echoed a sentiment that Ntim had expressed, encouraging participants to see their unique perspectives as strengths rather than limitations.
The programme continues to expand its reach and impact across South African universities. As Boshoff noted, since EDHE’s inception nearly six years ago, “We have seen tremendous progress. Every single university is doing entrepreneurship to a certain extent. Everybody participates.”
From its humble beginnings in 2021, SWEEP programme events attract women from almost all universities, a demonstration of increasing awareness, interest and potential change across the board.
For the next generation of women entrepreneurs, SWEEP offers not just resources and support; it facilitates networking with a community of like-minded individuals working towards similar goals. Through its structured approach and growing network, the programme is helping to reshape the entrepreneurial landscape of South African higher education, one student at a time.
Success stories
The Higher Education Programme grant from the British Council supports the SWEEP programme. In May, SWEEP took chapter coordinators and chairpersons to the United Kingdom, exposing them to the London ecosystem through mentorship sessions and networking opportunities.
Under an initiative called a Residential Knowledge Exchange Study Visit, 19 SWEEP members were taken on a week-long visit introducing them to the UK entrepreneurial ecosystem in May 2024. While in the UK, participants attended a series of workshops at the London School of Economics, where they engaged with mentors and business experts, were taken on site visits to other campuses and successful UK impact start-ups and incubators. They were also exposed to a networking event designed to inspire, empower and promote cross-cultural interactions across a variety of sectors. All of this was to foster cross-cultural exchange and collaboration among students from diverse backgrounds and provide a platform for participants to showcase their ideas and projects on an international stage.
“They literally got a list of all the entrepreneurs they visited, all the women they met,” Boshoff noted.
The programme’s impact is already evident through success stories like that of Ms Pearly Joubert, a neuroscience and physiology master’s student from the University of Cape Town. “She had a business idea, something with nutritional supplements for young ladies, very much a social enterprise,” Boshoff said about the co-founder of NuFlo, a company dedicated to developing a nutrition supplement for women by utilising neglected, climate-resilient crops, empowering women farmers across Africa.
NuFLo probiotics are manufactured from bambara groundnuts, specifically chosen to support each phase of a woman’s menstrual cycle. By selecting from prebiotic-like ingredients proven to enhance gut health, a NuFlo consumer can tailor their blend to fit their unique needs. [image downloaded from Waiting List –]
Boshoff says of Joubert: “She just literally took up every opportunity from the UK visit to the capacity-building workshops. She’s speaking on platforms now, she’s a guest speaker, and she’s still a student.”
Joubert’s business idea was born out of a personal journey to restore health – a perfect illustration of what Ms Ntim said about the most successful entrepreneurs being the ones who provide authentic solutions for problems in their immediate contexts.
EDHE’s broader mandate
EDHE is a programme of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), funded through the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP). EDHE is positioned within USAf, the representative organisation of the 26 public universities. The programme is people-focused, developing the entrepreneurial capacity of students, academics, and leaders.
Within the context of graduate and youth unemployment, EDHE has been driving student and graduate entrepreneurship since its establishment in 2016. Beyond SWEEP, the programme hosts flagship initiatives throughout the year, including the annual Entrepreneurship Intervarsity competition, Student Entrepreneurship Week, and the EDHE Lekgotla—a gathering of leaders in entrepreneurship where best practices are shared across institutions.
“Everybody participates in entrepreneurship to a certain extent now,” Boshoff noted, reflecting on EDHE’s growth over nearly six years. The programme has successfully established entrepreneurship support structures across South Africa’s 26 public universities, from technology transfer offices to business incubators. “Through our economic activation office programme, we want to bring all of that under one umbrella,” she explained, though acknowledging this remains a work in progress.
EDHE’s approach recognises that entrepreneurial development requires both practical skills and mindset changes. “The true entrepreneurs are the ones that do their homework properly,” Boshoff observed. “They are the ones that will work for free, willing to sacrifice their time for nothing because they are truly dedicated to getting this done.”
Connecting with EDHE
For university coordinators interested in establishing or strengthening SWEEP chapters at their institutions, the EDHE team offers comprehensive support and guidance. While SWEEP specifically addresses women’s entrepreneurship development, EDHE’s broader mandate has focused on promoting entrepreneurship among all students in South Africa’s public universities, addressing graduate unemployment and developing entrepreneurial skills across the higher education sector.
“Through EDHE, we have already provided a lot of resources,” Boshoff emphasised. Coordinators can visit the EDHE website for programme information, resources, and news about student entrepreneurship development. EDHE is also present on social media, including on the YouTube channel.
For specific enquiries about SWEEP or broader EDHE initiatives, coordinators can contact the EDHE office at Universities South Africa in Hatfield, Pretoria, or visit the contact page on their website. The EDHE team continues to welcome queries about establishing new SWEEP chapters and fostering inter-university collaboration, furthering its mission to transform the participation of student women in entrepreneurship across the public university sector.
Tersia Gouws is a contract writer for Universities South Africa.