Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • GM Direct publishing break
  • “Makhanda is in shambles,” says Ward Four resident
  • Ward Two residents buy own floodlights to combat cable theft
  • A town without a playground: where do the children play?
  • Women, Politics, Power, Patriachy: A feminist lens
  • Makhanda’s Links Royal House Gaokx’aob (Chief) has died
  • What’s On – 30 March – 6 April
  • Unapologetically queer and Black consciousness approach to live performance
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»NEWS»Rhodes students win international entrepreneurship prize
NEWS

Rhodes students win international entrepreneurship prize

Grocott's Mail ContributorsBy Grocott's Mail ContributorsApril 24, 2019No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Four Rhodes University PhD Chemistry students were awarded the top position in the 2019 Hult Prize Challenge for their electronic and electronic waste management system. Team E-Smart, Nobuhle Ndebele (24), Lindokuhle Nene (25), Reitumetse Nkhahle (26) and Gauta Matlou (29) participated in the 2019 Hult Prize Regional Summit held at the Brookhouse International School in Nairobi, Kenya, from 19 to 20 April 2019.

In its 10th year, the Hult Prize challenged innovative University and College students from across the world to a social-entrepreneurship start-up that will create more than 10 000 meaningful jobs in the next decade. The Team E-Smart business model, which aims to create job opportunities for the youth through collection of electronic and electrical waste materials and further recycling, repairing or repurposing into new market products so impressed the judges that they were awarded the top position against 45 other teams from across the world. Rhodes University was the only South African university repressing participating in the challenge.

Welcoming the participants in this year’s challenge, the 42nd President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton said: “Young people feel stuck. It is this feeling of being stuck that makes them vulnerable to resentment, and then to divisive political rhetoric and conspiracy theories like the ones we are witnessing today around the world. If you feel economically stuck and socially displaced and there is no lifeline and no options… I therefore believe that this challenge, to develop an idea that provides meaningful work for 10 000 young people within the next decade, is particularly important in the current global environment.”

Team coach and Senior Lecturer at Rhodes Business School, Dr Tshidi Mohapeloa said she decided to help the students to understand business language, as they are scientists. “I am impressed with how they adapted and understood the business world. This is an opportunity for them to become entrepreneurs,” Mohapeloa said.

Team E-Smart Leader, Gauta, said: “The reason we chose a business model based on electronic waste is because these electronics have hazardous components in them.”

Lindokuhle said they have decided to be the youth that is going to stand and create things for themselves. “We are the driving force and agents of change and improvement in our country. We want to lay a platform for generations to come after us, they must know that as a human being, you can do anything you put your mind to. Students must not limit themselves based on specific disciplines that they are doing,” said Lindokuhle.

According to the Team E-Smart, South Africa annually produces about 316 thousand tons of electronic waste. Only about 12% is collected and recycled and it is exported to other countries. The team want to contribute to the economy while also promoting proudly South African goods. “The electronic waste that is currently not collected and recycled or repurposed will raise about R15 Billion for the South African economy,” added Lindokuhle.

The team plans to visit schools across the country to raise awareness about electronic waste and its dangers while inspiring young people to open their minds to opportunities. Following this win, the team will spend eight weeks in the United Kingdom for the Hult-Prize Acceleration program starting on 27 July 2019. The programme aims to prepare the 25-plus winning teams from different regional summits for the final pitch competition, where the best business idea will win $1 000 000 as a start-up injection.

Previous ArticleOC tops in Sedru Derby against Lily Whites
Next Article Mawas trash Nombulelo in Albany League
Grocott's Mail Contributors

Grocott's Mail Contributors includes content submitted by members of the public, and public and private institutions and organisations - regular and occasional, expert and citizen, opinion and analysis.

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.