When AACSB announced its list of 25 Influential Leaders for 2025, UCT GSB graduate Anele Mkuzo took her place alongside the world’s most dynamic business leaders. With this list, the AACSB (the international association for business education accreditation) recognises outstanding alumni and faculty from accredited business schools who are creating a lasting impact in society. It is no surprise then, that Anele is one of the honourees, given her determination to propel entrepreneurship where it matters most: at the grass roots. Anele is the founder of African Entrepreneurship Initiative (AEi), an enterprise that focusses on inclusive, culturally relevant entrepreneurship education for Africa’s most marginalised communities through training by multilingual experts.
AEi’s journey is deeply intertwined with Anele’s own. She was born and raised in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape province in South Africa where she was surrounded by the harrowing effects of unemployment, crime, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
“It radicalised me. There are so many people in all walks of life that want to create a better future for themselves and their communities, and contribute to the economy. But they lack access to resources, systems, and networks. I was able to overcome my circumstances because of the opportunities that education provided me with. I wanted to do the same for entrepreneurs coming from similar circumstances,” she shares.
This created a spark within her that today fuels her mission to build an inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystem that reflects the reality, creativity, and potential of South Africa’s most marginalised, namely its youth and women.
South Africa’s language complexity
Anele’s journey of personal transformation through education developed a desire within her to help others succeed, and so she became an agent of change through education. “So firstly, it’s important to note that South Africa is one of the few countries around the world whose schooling system is mainly delivered in a language (English) which is a second or third language of its scholars. From formative years, learners are grappling with the complexities of language before undertaking the challenges of the subject matter,” she explains.
AEi’s innovative approach in entrepreneurship education delivers programmes in multiple African languages – a transformative and culturally-demanding undertaking. In a country where English is deeply entrenched as a business language, creating inclusive business languages was not going to be an easy task. But Anele is not one to shy away from a challenge. She tackled this head-on by collaborating with communities to create accessible business language and terminology, by translating business concepts into indigenous African languages. Her work is deeply rooted in ensuring that no aspiring entrepreneur is left behind simply because of their background, language, or lack of access. “The more I do these programmes, the more I realise that young people are being left behind at a staggering rate, and inequality is widening the lack of accessibility,” she says.
Through a collaborative effort, AEi has successfully delivered entrepreneurship education and learning in local languages – a bold and culturally resonant move. According to Anele, the impact has been remarkable. “We saw shifts in participation, mindset, and self-belief. It was not just education, it became empowerment,” she adds.
Balancing corporate expectations with youth needs
To date, approximately 1000 young people have been empowered through AEi programmes and demand is growing, dispelling the misconception that young people are ‘apathetic’ or uninterested in entrepreneurship. On the contrary, Anele believes that the youth are under-resourced and there is a clear demand for youth-targeted programmes that can help unlock the potential of South Africa’s youth. “They have brilliant ideas, but lack platforms and support,” Anele says.
But Anele is fully aware that funding comes with strings attached to it. With her AEi team, they have learnt the fine art of balancing the needs of the grass roots with the expectations of corporate sponsors, which can be challenging. Their innovative collaborative approach enables co-creation of solutions by involving corporates in the community experience and aligning real-world impact with structured outcomes. Though this is not an easy feat to achieve, Anele has learnt through experience that this approach is necessary for lasting impact.
Impact is the greatest reward
Over the years, Anele has received multiple accolades for her outstanding contribution to empowerment and community upliftment, as well as her innovative approach to entrepreneurship education. She feels encouraged by this recognition, but says that reassurance about her programmes, her drive, and fulfilment come mainly from seeing the positive impact her programmes have on the communities, especially young people and women. This is what inspired her to start AEi in the first place, to contribute to real change in the lives of the marginalised. “Ultimately for us, it’s the lives that we get to positively impact through our programmes,” she says.
Anele’s completion of the MPhil in Inclusive Innovation at the UCT GSB further reshaped her thinking about inclusive innovation. She recalls, “It made me interrogate every part of our work – from tools to delivery, and made me come to the conclusion that, inclusion isn’t an afterthought; it’s the foundation.”
At the core of Anele’s beliefs about inclusive innovation is the idea that innovation should be human-centred. That is, solutions should be designed to remove barriers and truly transform the lives of the people that the programmes are designed for.
Building inclusive mindsets, for all
Behind Anele Mkuzo’s accolades and innovations is a story about resilience, commitment to progress, and the radical act of believing in the marginalised and neglected. In a world that still too often designs for the elite few, Anele continues to ask the uncomfortable but necessary question: “Who does this solution exclude – and why?” In doing so, she challenges all of us to design solutions and systems that bring about change, and to do so with an inclusive mindset. Perhaps this is what being an Influential Leader is actually all about.
But Anele’s story is also about the power of education to transform lives and inspire others to create a better future for themselves and their communities. Through AEi, inclusive education, and a belief in people over systems, she is building a future where entrepreneurship is not a privilege but a possibility for all.
by Luvuyo Mncanca
