We are entering the last week of November and all eyes are focused towards the end of what has been yet another eventful year.
The week also ends with the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2025 reaching its apex and that in itself coming with many good lessons.
Today, the atmosphere across the world is possibly one of reflection, renewed ambition and quiet determination. For a week, millions of people across more than 200 countries have been united by a single theme: ‘Together We Build.’
This theme has also echoed loudly in Eswatini, where the energy of GEW has revealed both the country’s emerging strengths and the urgent work that still lies ahead.
It was lovely to see the Umliba Youth Entrepreneurship Conference held on November 19, 2025, unite so many stakeholders in the youth and commerce eco system.
The unity spoke to the theme of ‘Together We Build’.
Over the past several days, Eswatini’s young entrepreneurs have stepped forward with ideas as diverse as they are daring innovations in agriculture, digital technology, fashion, renewable energy, community development and the creative economy.
Workshops, panels, exhibitions and start-up gatherings have taken place across the country, including one hosted by Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP), and for many young people, GEW has felt less like an event and more like an awakening.
This week has reminded them that entrepreneurship is not merely a career path, but a national duty, a way to participate in shaping the nation’s future.
Across the conversations and events of the week, one message consistently resurfaced: Individual brilliance alone is not enough.
Alone, you can go fast, but together, we can go far. The countries that thrive are those that collaborate.
We have seen too many examples over the years to mention. The strongest enterprises are the ones built with shared support.
A product is not a product until it inspires a sale, and the most resilient economies are those where government, private sector, academia, communities and young innovators work hand in hand.
‘Together We Build’ is not a slogan; it is the blueprint Eswatini needs if it intends to unlock the full potential of its entrepreneurial generation.
We need to move away from the old mentality that if it’s made in Eswatini, it may not be of superior quality.
Recent exhibitions and reports of Eswatini products being bought in Europe is proof that we have the same quality and skills that can pass international tests.
This year’s theme resonates deeply in a country that is navigating its own developmental crossroads.
Eswatini is rich with talent, creativity and youthful energy, yet it continues to wrestle with structural challenges, unemployment, limited market access and constrained opportunities outside urban centres. GEW has shown that these challenges cannot be solved in isolation.
Young entrepreneurs cannot carry the weight alone; they need ecosystems that nurture, protect and invest in their growth.
They need mentors who open doors, institutions that offer training, financial systems that trust them, and policies that encourage experimentation rather than fear it.
Throughout the week, another truth became clear: Innovation is inherently collective.
Whether in the digital economy, the green transition, agriculture or the creative industries, no single actor holds all the answers.
Eswatini’s progress depends on networks of collaboration, a student in Mbabane working with a rural artisan in KaBhudla; a local manufacturer partnering with a group of young innovators; a bank developing more flexible financial tools for small enterprises; investors willing to take risks on first-time founders.
We have seen it with projects like Government in Your Hand, where young innovators also played a part in the development of the app.
GEW reminded the country that when people build together, ideas become movements, and movements become industries.
As the week winds down, the question now is what happens after the banners come down, after the last panel discussion ends, and after the final GEW livestream fades. The real work of building begins now.
If Eswatini is to benefit from the momentum of this global week, the energy must continue long after the celebrations.
The conversations must turn into commitments, and the inspiration must harden into action.
Young people must continue to push boundaries, and the institutions around them must meet that ambition with equal boldness.
The close of GEW is not an ending; it is a call to deepen the partnerships formed this week.
It is a reminder that national progress does not emerge from isolated actors but from a coordinated national effort.
Eswatini now has an opportunity to redefine what it means to support entrepreneurship not as an occasional initiative, but as a culture woven into the country’s development story.
As GEW 2025 draws to an end, one thing is clear: The spirit of ‘Together We Build’ belongs not to a week but to a future Eswatini must create for itself.
With its young innovators leading the way, and with collective support behind them, the country stands ready for a new chapter, one where building is continuous, collaboration is instinctive and entrepreneurship becomes a force that shapes the destiny of the nation.
We look forward to an Eswatini that continues to build together.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has rejected Washington’s plan to send a low-level delegation to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg this weekend, saying he will not hand over the G20 Presidency to a chargé d’affaires.. (Pic: iplomatic Insider)