De Beers Teams up With Stanford to Aid Entrepreneurs

The Stanford Seed Transformation Programme, part of a US$3 million investment by De Beers Group, is a year-long leadership programme providing management training, team workshops and networking support for southern African entrepreneurs.

Its aim is to help them grow their businesses, create jobs and lead their regions to greater economic diversity and prosperity. The programme, based in the Botswana capital Gaborone, is open to established business owners in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

The partnership is in collaboration with a range of Government entities in Botswana, including the Botswana Innovation Hub and the Botswana Ministry of Tertiary Education.

Applications close on 6 October and the programme, taught by Stanford Graduate School of Business with local facilitators, gets under way in January 2018.

At the partnership launch in August, Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: “Economic diversification and youth employment opportunities are priorities for our government partners and are priorities for De Beers Group as well. We all believe these two programmes, in partnership with a world-renowned educational institution, have excellent potential to help accelerate diversification and stimulate more opportunities for young and ambitious southern Africans.”

To learn more about the programme and apply, visit www.gsb.stanford.edu/seed/transformation-program/southern-africa.

The second programme, Stanford Go-To-Market, is an intensive, one-week entrepreneurship boot camp, taught by the Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty. Applications open in October and the course takes place in March 2018. 

It involves a combination of lectures, case studies and small group discussions, with the aim of helping budding entrepreneurs gain the confidence and skills to develop their business ideas and get them to market quickly.

The programme runs initially in Botswana but may expand to include participants from other southern African countries. Find out more at www.gsb.stanford.edu/programs/stanford-gotomarket-botswana.

Dr Alfred Madigele, Minister of Tertiary Education for the Government of the Republic of Botswana, said: “We welcome the private sector’s support of developing programmes that will enhance diversity and have a socio-economic impact for the youth. The impact this initiative will have on the expansion and transformation of the economies, primarily focusing on mining, to technology, innovation, and the entrepreneurial economy is immeasurable.”

About De Beers
De Beers is a member of the Anglo American plc group. Established in 1888, De Beers is the world’s leading diamond company with expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers employs more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. As part of the company’s operating philosophy, the people of De Beers are committed to ‘Building Forever’ by making a lasting contribution to the communities in which they live and work, and transforming natural resources into shared national wealth. For further information about De Beers, visit www.debeersgroup.com.

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