The latest empowering people. Award (epAward) ceremony held in Cairo in July, 2019 marked the third installment of Siemens Stiftung’s social development initiative which celebrates enterprises that have developed smart, technical solutions to remove some of the world’s biggest roadblocks. To honor the important work of our new empowering people. Network (epNetwork) members, here is […]
The last blog Collaborating in a Sea of Unknowns by epAward 2016 winner and epNetwork member James van der Walt gave an insight into surviving in a competitive business environment. Let’s take a ride with him to follow his entrepreneurial journey of setting up a successful social enterprise in Africa and discover the bumps and […]
I’ve been recently contemplating on the idea of collaboration in the social business space. The problem is that traditional business culture does not advocate associations and sharing of knowledge. It’s every man for himself and one’s business IP is tightly guarded. If someone with ill intent gets hold of your data, they can undercut your […]
After three months of gripping promotions for empowering people. Award 2019, we are excited to share that the award has witnessed enthusiastic participation from across the globe. The third round of the international competition for social entrepreneurs with a sustainable solution in developing countries has drawn close to 800 applications cutting across geographies, languages and […]
At a time when climate change, growing population and changing consumption patterns have mounted pressures like never before to revolutionize the oldest human industry – agriculture, agri-tech companies are vying to take ‘smart farms’ to the next level. While high-tech unmanned drones, AgBots and the Internet of Things are taking over farms, developing regions still […]
A social entrepreneur’s journey is a steep and constant learning curve! For Guido van Hofwegen and his wife Lieselotte Heederik making a pan-continent move from the Netherlands to Banda Aceh in Indonesia is a testimony of that. With the aim to support the post Tsunami reconstruction work in Indonesia, the couple soon realized the massive […]
When do the most innovative ideas hit us? Isaac Newton discovered the Theory of Gravity when an apple fell on his head. Three centuries later, Albert Einstein formulated the Theory of Relativity after he fell off a chair. For problem-solvers, creativity and innovation flow comes to them at some of the most unsuspecting moments in life. Young […]
Financing is one of the biggest challenges to any entrepreneur. For social entrepreneurs – an industry which sees little investment, despite its high impact – this is an even bigger obstacle to success. To help get over this obstacle, empowering people. Network brought 19 entrepreneurs together in Johannesburg, South Africa, this August. These entrepreneurs, coming from Burkina […]
My journey with SEED and providing one-on-one business support for eco-inclusive enterprises started in 2009. I worked with enterprises from Kenya and Ghana on their business plans, which at the time seemed to be already quite advanced. Given the maturity of their business plans, I assumed that the people behind those enterprises had a clear idea […]
Anyone who travels the world knows that preparation is key before entering a new country. Do you need a visa? What’s the best way to get from A to Z? Do you understand the local language? How much time should you plan to reach your destination?
