THENSA driving entrepreneurship education –

By Edwin Naidu

Tertiary institutions in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) convened in Johannesburg to start collaborating on co-creating a curriculum that aims to transform entrepreneurship through education.

The strategic partnership between eight institutions in South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, and Eswatini, was launched by the Technological Higher Education Network South Africa (THENSA) to enhance graduate employability in southern Africa.

Funded by the Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) programme, the University-Industry Co-Creation (UNIICo-create) aims to tackle the pressing challenges of low job creation, limited start-up success and graduate unemployment in the SADC region, according to project lead Dr Sershen Naidoo.

Unpacking the initiative during the week-long event, Naidoo said the collaboration recognised the role of entrepreneurship in driving economic growth and addressing Sub-Saharan Africa’s priority action on sustainable growth and jobs.

The collaborative approach adopted will ensure that the project’s impact is systemic and sustainable, with strong support from academics and policymakers.

UNIICo-create unites a diverse range of stakeholders, including higher education institutions, education ministries, EU partner institutions from Ireland, France and Finland, and key higher education authorities and consortia.

This includes the Southern African Regional Universities Association, the SA Qualifications Authority, the Association of African Universities, the Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa and Universities South Africa.

Naidoo said the project’s key objectives were the co-creation of curricula by training academic leaders to collaborate with industry and societal partners in developing curricula that promoted entrepreneurship and innovation.

Secondly, the plan was to establish co-creation units and pilot the integration of these units within university technology transfer offices to facilitate collaborative projects between students, staff and industry.

As drivers of an ecosystem, they will create a network of advocates who can influence policies related to university-industry cooperation, curriculum design and joint qualifications.

Through this initiative, Naidoo said participating universities would be equipped with the tools, resources and partnerships to cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets among students and staff.

Dr Anna Matros-Goreses, the executive director of the directorate for research, innovation and partnerships at the Namibia University of Science and Technology, said the institution was already strengthening its role as an entrepreneurial university through the University-Industry Co-Creation Project.

A key component of the initiative is the Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship Service course offered under the Faculty of Commerce, Human Sciences and Education.

“Our goal is to drive meaningful impact and establish Namibia as a hub for African entrepreneurship and technological advancement,” said Matros-Goreses.

She said this initiative targeted students, researchers, entrepreneurs and industry leaders, reinforcing the university’s commitment to bridging the gap between academia and the market while contributing to Namibia’s socio-economic development.

Chakela Thaba, lecturer at the Lerotholi Polytechnic in Lesotho, said when he joined the higher education sector some 20 years ago, he was appalled at how disconnected institutions were from societal needs.

“They functioned like isolated ivory towers, rarely translating into job creation or offering direct solutions to the challenges faced by people in the villages of my country. It frustrated me to see knowledge locked away in silos, with little collaboration and even less tangible impact. This project promises to change that,” he said.

Thaba said higher education should not be a series of lone efforts. Instead, all stakeholders should work together—not just to create curricula, but to offer them, shape them, direct them, review them and ensure they are effective.

“It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a unified, coordinated effort to transform a nation through education.”

Mboni Dlamini, the executive director of eSwatini Qualifications Authority, believes that the UNIICo-create Project presents a significant opportunity for students in Eswatini by fostering closer collaboration between universities and industries.

He said the co-creation of curriculum would ensure that education programmes aligned with the real-world needs of the job market. This would reduce the skills mismatch that has been a challenge in Eswatini, where graduates sometimes struggled to find jobs due to outdated or theoretical training.

For the industry, this means having access to a workforce that is job-ready and innovative, thereby reducing the time and resources spent on retraining graduates.

Dlamini said the regional approach to higher education could help enhance competitiveness in the global economy.

“The UNIICo-create Project promotes a shift from a traditional academic model—which is often lecture-based and theoretical—to a dynamic, interactive and experiential learning model,” he said.

INSIDE EDUCATION