On the 22/06/2018, the Tropics Holding group organised the #tropicsbusinesssummit mixer, an event where selected actors of SA’s SMME landscape could educate each other and network. The goal of the mixer was also to give the attendees a foretaste of what the upcoming Tropics Business summit would be about. I personally was not disappointed and I can’t wait to attend the group’s main business event in October 2018.
The meeting started at 14:30, after the guests had a quick meal and drinks. Team Creative And moving and the staff of the Tourism Entrepreneur Workshop were reporting on twitter and Facebook.
I just arrived at the Radisson Blu and you can feel something great is about to happen. Team @TropicsMagazine getting ready for the event starting in a few minutes #tourismentrepreneur #tropicsbusinesssummitmixer pic.twitter.com/iZFzdhctY5
— Vanessa Mbenoun (@vanessambenoun) June 22, 2018
There were notable talks from Phyllis Malope (President of Pilane Development Centre), Celeste Gugu Ncana of Forever Living, Award-Winning director and producer Firdoze Bulbulia, and a special debate on Albertina Sisulu centenary with Nontsikelelo Sisulu-Singapi, Chairperson of Yound Women in Business Network. These women insisted on similar points: resilience, how to use errors & achievements from the past to build a better future, open ourselves to new opportunities and support each other as women in business, regardless of our sectors of activities (film, media, health & wellness, social entrepreneurship)
“African film industry must engineer its own economic boom” with @FIRDOZ — “How do we change our mindset? asks SA’s top director, producer, writer and educator #TropicsBusinessSummit2018 #TropicsBusinessMixer #creativeandmoving #tourismentrepreneur pic.twitter.com/KETHREQOe1
— Tourism Entrepreneur (@tourismpreneur) June 22, 2018
My talk was about the need for innovation in tourism entrepreneurship. I chose to educate the audience on the importance of tourism industry for our economy (over 21 million jobs created in Africa!) and how to innovate in such a competitive industry. I summarized the main points I raised during my talk in this article (click to access).
Dear #tourismentrepreneur, I will be giving a talk tomorrow(22/06/18) at the #tropicsbusinesssummit buildup event in #Johannesburg about the need for innovation in tourism entrepreneurship. Hope to see you there? #tourism #hospitality #entrepreneurship pic.twitter.com/zamwibuUXh
— Vanessa Mbenoun (@vanessambenoun) June 21, 2018
The event ended with a discussion with Soji Akinlabi (Africa Business Radio), Kudzai Muchechetere (Mamoyo Media), Mudzithe Phiri (ABR Dialogues) and myself, moderated by Venicia Guinot, founder of Tropics Magazine. The theme? How to use our statuses and businesses to improve Africa’s current portrayal, both locally and internationally. We all agreed that we needed to:
- collaborate and “ACT” more
- stop putting each others down and
- focus on servicing and educating fellow Africans about our own resources.
We need to stop dicriminating each other and start building each other instead #TropicsBusinessSummit #TropicsBusinessMixer2018 pic.twitter.com/7CnXx80R1J
— #TropicsSummit (@TropicsNetwork) June 22, 2018
Tickets and more information about the Tropics Business Summit are already available on the event platform. You can access it by clicking HERE.
Together, let’s make Africa greater!
Vanessa
