Creative entrepreneurs, this one's for you! A free course to grow your business
This six‑week, fully funded course aims to equip creative entrepreneurs in South Africa with essential business skills.
Photo: Pexels/Ray Piedra
Stephen Grootes speaks to Lara Rosmarin, Head of Entrepreneur Development at UVU Accelerate, about a free six-week business course for creative entrepreneurs in South Africa.
Listen to the interview in the audio player below.
A new free course is being offered by the United Nations Development Programme, in partnership with UVU Accelerate with the aim of unlocking Africa's multi-billion dollar creative economy.
This six‑week, fully funded course aims to equip creative entrepreneurs in South Africa with essential business skills, mentorship and investor exposure to grow their ventures.
The course is aimed at businesses operating in audio‑visual, design (graphic/fashion/industrial), music, multimedia, and heritage preservation.
South African entrepreneurs will join successful applicants from 10 African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, and more in this fully virtual course, which will feature workshops on entrepreneurial thinking, market research, branding, financial literacy, business modelling and pitching.
Participants will interact with industry experts and collaborate with fellow creatives, with the end goal of engaging with investors and potential partners.
Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Lara Rosmarin, head of entrepreneur development at UVU Accelerate says the programme is designed to support early stage entrepreneurs in Africa's creative industry.
"We're really going to provide structured incubation experience to help these founders refine their ideas, build sustainable business models and access eco-system support."
- Lara Rosmarin, head of entrepreneur development - UVU Accelerate
"So we're looking for those ideation-phase businesses, that are really on the cusp of growing an idea into a business. We need to teach them business skills, perhaps some financial skills, some marketing skills..."
- Lara Rosmarin, head of entrepreneur development - UVU Accelerate
"It's going to connect entrepreneurs from all over Africa in the creative space, to one another. And in doing that, we're going to form a support network for these entrepreneurs."
- Lara Rosmarin, head of entrepreneur development - UVU Accelerate
Applications opened on 2 June 2025 and close on 27 June 2025.
Interested entrepreneurs can learn more and apply at uvuafrica.com