Programme Director, Ms Thami Nkadimeng, The Message Architect and Author of Finding Your purpose

H.E. Pitso Lesaoana; Minister of Minister of Gender, Youth, Sports, Arts, Culture and Social Development of The Kingdom of Lesotho,

Hon. Tasneem Motara, MEC for Gauteng Department of Economic Development

Adv. Kgotso Maja,  Chairperson of GGDA Board

Ms. Lebogang Zulu, National Chairperson of the South African BRICS Women’s Business Alliance

Ms. Asanda Luwaca, Chairperson of BRICS Youth Council of South Africa

Ms. Margret Molefe , NYDA Deputy Executive Chairperson, 

Ms. Noluthando Mashologu, The Innovation Hub Deputy Chairperson

Mr. Tom Mkhwanazi, Chief Executive Officer, W&RSETA

Our Youth from all the BRICS Countries 

Our stakeholders in the innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystem

Members of the media, good afternoon

I officially welcome you to The Innovation Hub, a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency, and an agency of Gauteng Department of Economic Development which is strategically tasked with driving innovation and entrepreneurship in the Gauteng Province. We are honoured that the BRICS delegates have once again decided to set foot in  our home, The Innovation Hub being Africa’ first accredited Science and Technology Park, for such a prestigious event. The Innovation Hub, in collaboration with our esteemed partners the South African Business Youth Association, National Youth Development Agency and Z Park are proud to host  this young international community to an event of this magnitude which aims to unlock opportunities for our youth on the African continent by providing them with a platform to engage in meaningful dialogue and deliberation, and to showcase their innovations.

The theme for this event is, “Innovate to Empower, Building Futures, Transforming Societies” which anchors our commitment to enhancing innovations across borders for fostering socio-economic transformation.

Collaboration of this magnitude  is crucial, not only for the growth of our economies but for our SMMEs, and the session will assist these small companies to harness their zeal to innovate  and come up with innovative solutions that will solve societal challenges in the province and country and thereby improve global competitiveness.

It is also imperative to note the importance of Innovation capabilities, as it is a fundamental source of significant wealth generation in our economy. I am certain that after the deliberation and through pitching your innovations, you will be able to take inputs and refine your innovations, so you are able to  act on issues impacting your communities and the global landscape.  We constantly host events such as these, to enable you to collaborate, think creatively and utilise opportunities presented to be able to innovate more to improve government and private service  delivery challenges in Gauteng.

This year, we will be intensifying our activities to empower our youth as through:

• Assisting young innovators to navigate the value of death in bringing their innovations to market with a focus on previously disadvantaged township-based companies,
• Deliberately using young innovations to address demand-led challenges in government and industry through the Open Innovation Solutions platform ultimately linked to market entry.
• Inculcating a culture of science and innovation in school-going youths under the theme ‘making children play with science’ aimed at providing an early influence on the possibilities of an ever-increasing technology-based future.
• Hosting of hackathons so our youth can develop solutions to solve societal challenges in our province.
• Dedicated training in in cutting-edge ICT which encourages coding, data annotation, and mobile repair.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for joining us today. We look forward to hearing all about your innovations and wish all the participants that will be pitching today the best of luck, for those who will not make it to go to Russia, remember that for the fact you decided to innovate, you are also a winner.

"Advancing Innovation Today to build Gauteng for Tomorrow”

I Thank You!