In contributing to government efforts to encourage the creation of more innovative entrepreneurs, the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology has established the Limkokwing Entrepreneurship Accelerator Platform (LEAP).
This is an incubation program which provides final year associate degree students with an internship experience unlike any other.
Students in this program will ‘incubate’ companies for new creative industries in Botswana as well as learning skills such as entrepreneurship, business innovation, strategic creative thinking, leadership, teamwork and hands-on creative skills.
“Limkokwing University of Creative Technology realises the need to invest in young people’s abilities, especially those that presents a great deal of interest in the creative industry. It is through this industry advisory board that we intend to reach the target market with particular attention to the needs of the industry through the empowerment of these celebrated intellectuals who understand the works in the industry,” noted public relations manager, Mercy Thebe.
She highlighted that Botswana is driving towards an educated and innovative nation and hence this initiative is key to the nation of Botswana. “Limkokwing would like to note that this is an investment towards human capital for Botswana 2016 and beyond. The philosophy is to give more opportunities to students to continue helping build a better Botswana beyond 2016 and use the abilities of industry experienced individuals to help students attain profound opportunities in the industry,” she added.
Minister of Trade and Industry, Neo Moroka, officially launching the program, commended Limkokwing for their efforts, noting that this is a major milestone in the transformation of Botswana’s tertiary education, particularly that it does not only provide academic knowledge, but it also develops practical skills for entrepreneurial pursuit.
Moroka said that education is the key to the growth and development of any economy because it enhances the knowledge and skills of people so that they can be either retrained to take advantage of new opportunities or start off as new and innovative entrepreneurs. “The introduction of LEAP is therefore, a definite value-add in this regard,” he said.
“I believe with the skills and knowledge that will be acquired through LEAP, young confident and empowered entrepreneurs will create new opportunities that will take Botswana economy several notches up the value chain,” he said. He noted that this will also compliment entrepreneurship and enterprise development pursued through LEA.
He further urged students to make full use of the platform stating that the entire world economy is in trouble and the world looks to the business sector to bring about recovery. “I want you as prospective entrepreneurs to appreciate and understand that the prosperity of a nation is dependent on the productivity and competitiveness of its enterprises, which enterprises are of course, driven by entrepreneurs,” he added.
Moroka also noted that in participating in the programme, students should be mindful that the nation will hold them accountable to contribute to the achievement of the Vision 2016 pillar of “prosperous, productive and innovative nation”.
He asserted that this program will also go a long way in assisting the nation to meet the formidable challenges ahead, “challenges that invariably will be exacerbated by the current world economic recession,” he said.
