The Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is the largest and most visible one-week campaign affiliated with entrepreneurship, which occurs annually every November. It is an international event, which involves the participation of over 170 countries, and more than 10 million people. It is a celebration of entrepreneurs, innovators and job creators, who launch their startups by bringing ideas to life in order to drive economic growth and increase human welfare.
Seychelles has been chosen, amongst 170 countries, to host GEW 2020 which starts from the 16th to 23rd November. The activities are being led by the young team at the Department of Entrepreneurship and Industry in collaboration with the Enterprise Seychelles Agency and the Seychelles Investment Board.
“We have secured a number of partners and participants and there are a series of events, which will be taking place to highlight the importance of entrepreneurship for development during the said week. The activities will be visible as of Monday 16th of November 2020. From Students running a business” to topical debates on youth and women and interactive quizzes; the week is more or less packed with activities” said a spokesperson from the Department of Entrepreneurship and Industry.
“Entrepreneurs are valuable to any economy, because they create and distribute new wealth, generate new employment and raise the standards of living with their ground-breaking ventures. They are also immune to hardships. If there is a message that we would wish to be conveyed during the week is that in the face of adversity, there is a way out; and that is the entrepreneur’s way.”
“Seychelles, through our Department, have already embarked on a collaboration with the United Nations Corporation of Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in regards to the development of an Entrepreneurship Strategy for Seychelles. This Strategy will increase the level of entrepreneurial activity by developing policies that directly address entrepreneurs’ needs, for instance, optimizing the regulatory environment, enhancing the entrepreneurship education and skills of the general population, facilitating technology exchange and innovation; improving access to finance; and promoting awareness and networking.” stated the spokesperson.
“Another request that was made to UNCTAD was to establish their flagship capacity-building programme – EMPRETEC – in Seychelles to foster the motivation and self-confidence of Seychellois who have chosen to start or expand their businesses. EMPRETEC is based on a behavioural approach, designed to unleash personal entrepreneurial potential.”
Seychelles started participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2019 but with only a few activities. A request was made earlier this year by the GEW Inc. for Seychelles to host GEW in view of its unceasing efforts where entrepreneurship development is concerned.
The Seychelles Business Studies Academy (SBSA) kicked off the GEW activities with a special entrepreneurship lecture series in October. A brief programme of the several GEW Seychelles 2020 activities are listed below but to keep up to date with Global Entrepreneurship Week Seychelles news visit the official GEW Seychelles website – genglobal.org/Seychelles, the Department’s Facebook and Instagram pages. Updates may also be accessed by using the hashtags #GEW2020 #GEWSeychelles.
