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Student entrepreneurs have created some of South Africa’s most successful businesses and this year’s winner of the South African qualifier for the Entrepreneur’s Organisation (EO) Global Student Awards (GSEA) Musa Maluleka is likely to be counted amongst the country’s most influential young businesspeople in years to come.

The GSEA is the premier global business competition for university students and represents more than 1 700 prominent student entrepreneurs from more than 55 countries. Built on a mission to inspire students to start and grow entrepreneurial ventures, GSEA brings global visibility to pioneering student business owners. Since 1998, the GSEA, a program founded at the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University, has honoured outstanding students who simultaneously attend university full-time while running their own businesses.

This year’s qualifier competition was hosted by the Durban chapter of EO at the Oyster Box hotel on January 28.

Judges included social entrepreneur, author and speaker, Karabo Che Mokoape, Mark Essey, CEO and founder of Debt-In and Capability BPO, Ushir Mehta, managing director and shareholder of Production Logix, Dr Norah Clarke, director of the Entrepreneurship at the Department of Higher Education and Training and Baraka Mtunga, co-founder and executive director at UhuruOne, who flew in from Tanzania for the event.

Adam Shapiro, head of GSEA South Africa, said that judges had a tough time selecting a winner from the six finalists who had been selected from around South Africa. As the South African winner, Maluleka, won a cash prize of U$500, an Entrepreneurial Thinking course from Red & Yellow Creative School of Business and U$200 worth of their own logo-branded goodies from Bigeye Branding.   All candidates have been sponsored a series of presentations skills training by Missing Link which has greatly enhanced their presentations.

He said that many people are leaving S A  at the moment,  but the reason for not leaving the country are the six finalists along with those who reach the semi-finals of this competition. “It has been so inspiring to see as each presentation was so diverse and so professional,” said Shapiro.

Maluleka will also go on to the 2020 EO GSEA Global Finals to be held in Cape Town. This is the first time that this prestigious event will be held in Africa. He will present to a global audience of over 13 000 EO members (300 attending locally, the rest via streaming).

Shapiro said that over 50 students from South African universities had entered the South African round of the competition during 2019.  Entries closed in mid-October and two finalists from each region were selected as part of the regional judging in November last year.

Globally, over 2000 students from across the world competed in 2019. At the Global Finals, students compete for a prize package of US$25,000 in cash and a total value of over $40,000, which includes a travel/lodging expense paid trip to compete in the Global Finals.

The winning company, Disktjie is a South African soccer boot brand founded by 19 year old Musa Maluleka.  It makes innovative quality affordable soccer boots that are suitable for the African environment.Maluleka started with capital his mother had saved for him which he used to have 40 pairs of soccer boots manufactured.  Maluleka is studying Accounting Sciences at Wits and says when he was still at school, he understood the need for education and so is embarking on his studies for an honours degree.

He said this award will help him take his business to a global platform.   He will invest his prize money to improve business.   Maluleka attributes his success to the support his mother has always offered.

In addition to Maluleka, finalists included University of KwaZulu-Natal candidate Zamokuhle Thwala,  who has created Agricool, a digital crowdfunding platform that empowers small-holder farmers who do not have access to finance and agricultural credit, University of Cape Town student Denislav Marinov and his company, DVM Designs, and University of Pretoria student, Gcinisizwe Mbokza whose company, AntCulture, provides an equipment leasing and cash management solution that allows farmers to farm, sell and get paid for their produce as efficiently as possible, Milan Levy, Milan Media, a student at Vega School (IIE), and Vuako Aky Khosa from the Changing Lives Shoes Laundry, who is studying at the  University of Cape Town.

What makes the GSEA unique is that it is not a business plan competition reminiscent of popular television programmes but instead focuses on encouraging and uplifting student entrepreneurs. Seventy percent of the total score is focused on the entrepreneur and 30 percent is on the business. Students are scored on their strength and character as entrepreneurs as well as the potential of their businesses.   

Judges said that although there was only one winner, all participants had benefited from feedback.

Given that youth unemployment is at a historical high in South Africa at present, judge Barak  Mtunga, said that events such as this were critical in encouraging young South Africans to play their parts in revitalising the country’s economy. He said that  judging was very challenging as the  finalists are all very good entrepreneurs.

Issued by The Entrepreneur’s Organisation