Hanze University

June 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A sunny spring day on campus

A sunny spring day on campus

A while ago, I wrote about TSiBA’s relationship with Northeastern University in Boston. There are other international universities with close ties to TSiBA, and I am privileged to spend part of my sabbatical in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands, home of Hanze University. Three of our students have been here as well: Elkay, Jasmine and Thobela have done their IPJs in Groningen.

Groningen is a city in the northeast of The Netherlands with about 200,000 inhabitants, 50,000 of which are students. Imagine that, 1 in 4! (Accordingly, some “kneipen” – Dutch for shebeen – are open 24/7)! Twenty thousand are enrolled at the Hanze. They share a very modern campus to the north of the city with the University of Groningen (RUG) which counts another 20,000 students. The campus is modern and has some stunning architecture. Here’s a gallery of my favorite buildings (click for a larger view):

One of the most remarkable facts about Groningen is the number of bicycles it has. The Dutch are renowned for using the bicycle as their favorite means of transportation, but Groningen beats all records. Estimates say that there are about three bicycles for every single inhabitant, the highest density of bicycles in the world! Take a look at one of the many campus parking lots: on busy days; you’ll have a problem parking your bike and even more of a problem finding it when classes are over!

Where's my bike?

Where's my bike?

I have been invited to give several guest lectures (seven at last count) at Hanze; about TSiBA, of course, and entrepreneurship, but also about globalization and other economic trends. The story of TSiBA really excites the community here so I am sure we will have a relationship with Hanze for many years to come. For now, we are expecting two students from Hanze to travel to Cape Town to visit us, Douwe Hooijenga and Arik Vlaanderen, who – with their colleagues Angelique Rosner and Alkanna Buist – have fund-raised 11,500 Euro (about 114,000 Rand) for TSiBA (see the full story here). Be sure to shake their hand when they visit TSiBA in August!

Peter Kraan

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Northeastern University

June 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Soon, very soon, the 4th annual TSiBA / Northeastern Field Study Programme will begin. On July 7th, thirty-six American students will arrive in Cape Town to work together with 52 TSiBA Students on a range of hands-on entrepreneurial projects. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Northeastern University. Having been involved in creating the South African component of the field study programme, it was very interesting and educational to witness the perspective on TSiBA from the “other side” of the ocean.

Walking to class

Walking to class

Northeastern University is located in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the oldest cities in, no surprise, the northeast of the United States. There are many similarities between Northeastern University and TSiBA Education: Northeastern describes itself as a leader in the integration of classroom learning with real-world experience – sentiments very familiar to TSiBA – and was recently ranked No. 4 by Forbes Magazine as one of “America’s Most Entrepreneurial Campuses”. Professor Dennis Shaughnessy, founder of the Social Enterprise Institute of Northeastern and head of the US delegation coming to Cape Town adds: “What I recognized when I saw TSiBA was that TSiBA was very much like the roots of Northeastern maybe as much as 100 years ago. Like TSiBA, it was very community based, blue collar, the first generation of college students from their families”.

Entrepreneurs from Boston and Cape Town

Entrepreneurs from Boston and Cape Town

Of course, Northeastern in 2011 is much larger than TSiBA Education: It consists of 8 colleges offering undergraduate degrees in 65 departments to about 15,000 students. At the graduate level, the university offers more than 125 programs to about 5,000 students. The university even has its own Police Department and its own stop on Boston’s public transport system! So we still have some catching up to do, but then we have some time left: NU was founded in 1898, 107 years before TSiBA.

Northeastern University Police Department

Northeastern University Police Department

I was very pleased to learn that the TSiBA Field Study programme has become one of the most popular field study programmes at Northeastern: it is over-subscribed and less than half of the students that apply can be accepted. “This was one of the best experiences I have ever had and I will, in a heartbeat, go back, without question”, says Riley Pruett, a Northeastern student from the 2009 programme. And there is an interesting development that grew out of the 2008 programme for one of TSiBA’s own: Cebisa Mahlukwana is slated to start his MBA at Northeastern next year!

On his way to Boston!

On his way to Boston!

Peter Kraan

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Inspiration Breakfast Hanze University Foundation

June 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Today was the big day. Four second-year students from the MER Faculty (Management, Economy and Law) of the Hanze University of Groningen, The Netherlands had spent the better part of 4 months organizing the Inspiration Breakfast 2011 on behalf of TSiBA. Under the auspices of the Hanze University Foundation, Angelique Rosner, Alkanna Buist, Arik Vlaanderen and Douwe Hooijenga raised a total of 11,500 Euro (about 114,000 Rand) through a fundraising breakfast attended by 50 people from local business.

This will allow 3 TSiBA students to study for a year

This will allow 3 TSiBA students to study for a year

The perfectly organized event was opened by the Mr. Eric Dam, Head of the Foundation, and Mr. Henk Pijlman, Chairman of Hanze University. Both stressed that they were very impressed by the efforts of the Hanze students as a good example of “solidarity of young people with young people”.

Some networking going on

Some networking going on

Besides the good food, there was musical entertainment throughout, but the highlight of the day for me was Coco from African Percussion. He had traveled all the way from Delft to get us stomping, clapping and shouting in perfect African rhythm!

Douwe and Arik in the hot seat

Douwe and Arik in the hot seat

Arik and Douwe have been so inspired by their project that they have booked tickets for a trip to Cape Town this August. “We can’t wait to go! If it wasn’t for year-end exams starting next week, we’d be there already” they explained. And I think that Angelique and Alkanna won’t be too far behind. Congratulations and good luck to the four of you!

Peter Kraan

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Congratulations to the two TSiBA Entrepreneurship students who received brand-new lap tops from Northeastern University!

November 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Prior to class discussion last Thursday, ENT-2 students settled down in their seats and waited for a lecture to begin. However, class was special on this day as visitors from the main office came into the classroom and joined the group. As the students began to look around with curiosity and anticipation, ENT-2 lecturer Peter Kraan appeared and was holding a box with “DELL” written on the side. The classroom was filled with intensity and two students in particular were glowing and radiant with smiles.

Last July, 20 students from < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts collaborated with BBA-2 students at TSiBA for the purpose of engaging in a business consulting project.The students learned first hand about the obstacles entrepreneurs are faced with when starting and growing a business. The students worked one-on-one with their entrepreneur to overcome these problems by providing them with advice and resources that will promote growth in their business.

In addition, the students took trips to Robben Island, learned first hand about the dramatic effects of Apartheid, went biking to Cape Point and visited the Desmond Tutu HIV/AIDS Foundation.On weekdays, they gathered together in the TSiBA arena and listened to hero speakers. They also learned about each other’s different and varied cultures. In addition, they had the opportunity to be taught by Professor Dennis Shaughnessy from Northeastern University.

Near the end of the programme, the Northeastern students were presented with the opportunity to provide two TSiBA students with brand-new laptops. This was a token of appreciation for their dedication and commitment to the NEU/TSiBA Field Study Project. The Northeastern students had given a silent vote. By majority, Phumzile Fatyela and Charne Fortune were chose and honored to receive these special gifts.

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Once again, congratulations to Pumzile and Charne and a special thank you to all the TSiBA and Northeastern students for making the Field Study Project a memorable one which will last a lifetime!

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BBA-2 Student at TSiBA Enters the World of Entrepreneurship

September 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Nqobile Bhengu, a dedicated BBA – 2 student at TSiBA, has put her management and creativity skills into action by starting her own business in designing personalized cards. She started the company with two other members, and faced a challenge almost immediately after formulating a business plan. The two original members left the group and Nqobile was then faced with her biggest obstacle: Does she join her competitors, who consist of 6 members, and share their passion, or does she continue to follow her own passion and carry on the business alone? With much thought and discussion amongst herself and the competition, she decided to stick with her gut and take on her business by herself, under the name Design4U. Nqobile has been chugging through the process of starting a business by creating cards to sample her work, building financial models to track sales and profits, and by networking with other professionals in the industry. She knew that her product was something that people really appreciated, and this was evident when she made her first sale back in May. Nqobile’s personalized cards are unique in that she works one-on-one with her customers to create a card that caters to their liking. Her customer will then have a chance to write their own personal note or greeting which is then printed on beautiful hand-made paper. “I named the company ‘Design4U’ because it tells the customer what I do. I design personalized cards specifically for my customer.” – Nqobile Bhengu

Today, you may find Nqobile in the Entrepreneurship Centre making calls or writing e-mails to potential customers, or working with her mentor who has experience in this particular field. Nqobile’s passion and dedication to her business is sparking much interest among her network of supporters. She has had three personal and independent investors who also believe in her and the business to the point where they are willing to help fund her venture. Nqobile has found a hobby that she enjoys doing and then turned it into a business by first discovering the market potential for her product and service. This, along with her self-discipline and motivation will be the factors that will contribute to the success of her own business that started here, at TSiBA.

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Micro-MBA Course

February 24, 2009 By 2 Comments


This past week the Entrepreneurship Centre successfully conducted its first Micro-MBA Program. The program is a one week course in which participants learn relevant skills related to starting and running a small business. These skills range from market demand analysis to financial management. Twenty-one entrepreneurs participated in the program representing various types of businesses; hair styling, catering, shoe making, and IT services just to name a few. Not only did participants learn from the course material, but they also learned from each other as they discussed the challenges they have faced in starting up and running a small business.

Although the initial training week is over, we will continue to provide consultation to all the participants as they start up or continue to run their business. Due to the program’s success we are already planning to run it again in the next few months.

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