North-West University (NWU) student, Martin Nkgodi Maupa, is beaming with pride. Martin, who is a team president of the Young Entrepreneurs Business Organisation, now represents the NWU as Community of Practice (CoP) member in the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme, after recently competing in the 2021 Global Enterprise Experience as a co-leader of his global team.

Global Enterprise Experience (GEE) is an international business contest that aims to develop managing skills across different cultures, time zones and world views. This year, 168 teams consisting of eight people each, representing diverse countries and views, took part by tackling a social entrepreneurship challenge. The challenge for 2021 was to write a six-page business concept proposal for a profitable product or service that fosters a United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal with limited capital.

Martin’s team consisted of members from China, Colombia, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria and South Africa.

“We only had three weeks to make it all happen. We had to connect virtually, build a team culture, generate creative ideas, jointly choose a project idea, research it, and write a quality proposal that covered strategy, marketing, economic evaluation and financing.” he says.

“We managed to score 94% for our business proposal, titled ‘Viaduct’. Our idea was to create a digital platform where alumni, final-year and postgraduate students and experienced industry experts can collaborate and collect information to create value for research support purposes and continuing professional development.”

The 24-year-old, who is pursuing a BSc degree in quantitative risk management at the NWU’s Potchefstroom Campus, says the GEE is the first global social entrepreneurial initiative he took part in.

“This experience challenged me and unleashed potential and skills I did not know I had,” says Martin.

“I never knew that existing global problems could be converted into self-sustainable and profitable business ventures that needed limited capital until I participated in GEE. I always thought that you had to rely on government grants, donations or seed funding to start a business. This initiative taught me that waste material could be converted into resources, which in turn could create businesses that create opportunities for vulnerable societies, and contribute to the economy and infrastructure development,” he adds.

According to Martin, the initiative does not only focus on training students to become social entrepreneurs, but it also provides them with a skills set to unlock their potential and empower them to guide others too.

 I learnt much more than I could ever learn through textbook-based learning,” says Martin.

With this achievement Martin received Community of Practice (CoP) membership of the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education programme or the 2021/2022 financial year. As a member of the CoP for Student Entrepreneurship, he will have the important task to co-initiate, co-inspire, co-create, and co-evolve within his CoP, an achievement he views as a big breakthrough. The purpose of this CoP is to mobilise the national student and graduate resource to create successful enterprises that will ultimately lead to both wealth and job creation.

He also qualified for Blue EDHE membership status as a “Rising Star”.

Martin Nkgodi Maupa is proud to have been co-leader of his global team during the 2021 Global Enterprise Experience.