G20 FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT CONFERENCE 2025

Tshwane University of Technology (www.tut.ac.za);Dr Patrick Ebewo is a distinguished enterprise and entrepreneurship development expert who significantly impacts academia and social initiatives within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. With over a decade of experience in academia and industry, he has collaborated with private and public enterprises, playing a pivotal role in shaping entrepreneurship programs to foster positive societal change. Dr. Ebewo's educational background is robust, with a Doctoral degree in Business Administration specialising in Entrepreneurship Development. As the Head of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), Dr. Ebewo brings extensive experience and expertise to shaping academic curricula and guiding aspiring entrepreneurs. His leadership extends to the TUT Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, where he spearheads initiatives to support sustainable emerging businesses. Under his direction, the Centre facilitates innovative business ideas, cultivates entrepreneurial competence, and fosters a culture of peer support and networking. His leadership at the TUT Centre for Entrepreneurship Development earned the esteemed 2023 Presidential Award for Innovative Solutions in Small Business Development, acknowledging his exceptional contributions to entrepreneurship. Dr. Ebewo is also an active contributor to academic scholarship. He is on the Editorial board of the Journal of Business Leadership and Management and an Associate Editor for the Journal of Entrepreneurial Innovations. He is a reviewer for several prestigious journals, including Cogent Business & Management, MDPI Journal: Education Sciences and Behavioral Sciences, International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, Journal of Enterprise and Development (JED), and Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research. His research portfolio includes 21 peer-reviewed journal articles, 16 conference presentations, and a published book chapter on Defining Arts and Cultural Entrepreneurship from a South African perspective.

De Montfort University, UK;Irene, Bridget N is a Senior Lecturer at the Leicester Castle Business School, De Montfort University, Leicester. Her scholarly interests range widely, encompassing entrepreneurship and focusing on the culturally instantiated facets of the debate on gender entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial competencies, family businesses, entrepreneurship education, and the informal economy. Her PhD research contributes to the already established discourse on gendering entrepreneurship and provides explicit feminist perspectives highlighting the inadvertent reinforcement of women’s subordination to men in the context of entrepreneurial endeavours.

Gordon Institute of Business Science, South Africa;Prof Motshedisi (Tshidi) Mathibe is an award winning case writer, NRF and NIHSS grant holder, Associate Professor and Head of Business Management and Entrepreneurship at GIBS. Her research interests are in the field of social entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship, informality, township economy, and Base of the Pyramid markets. In addition to teaching and research responsibilities, Prof Mathibe plays a vital role from ideation to development to a presentation of these young minds’ solutions to the company’s senior management. She is involved with The United Nation’s Global Impact Young Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Innovators Programme. Here, she mentors and supports a team of young innovators in their efforts to frame a challenge, applying sustainable business and innovative concepts/ideas to create tangible business solutions with real market potential. Prof Mathibe is an adhoc reviewer for NRF rating applications, an examiner for Masters and PhD thesis for universities across South Africa, a research collaborator across Africa, UK and Canada, and an adhoc reviewer for conference papers and journals. Prof Mathibe currently also supervises masters and MPhil students. In addition to her research focus, Dr Mathibe has extensive experience in curriculum design and content development.