Prof Lose is the Senior Researcher and Director of the Mandela University Africa HUB at Nelson Mandela University (NMU). He holds an Honorary Fellowship with the Centre for Business & Economic Research (CBER) at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. In 2024/25, he was awarded the Hult Prize South Africa for University Entrepreneurship Coordinators, recognizing his impact in advancing entrepreneurial ecosystems.

He contributes his expertise by serving on the boards of multiple business incubators across South Africa. In academia and governance, Prof Lose is an executive member of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) Convocation, an advisory board member for its entrepreneurship department, and part of NMU’s Student Entrepreneurship & Youth Employability Working Group.

Zandile Nqoko is an enterprise development leader with over 16 years of experience in incubation support, capacity building, and infrastructure development for SMMEs across both the private and public sectors.

Her career spans senior roles at AB InBev Africa, the South African Breweries (SAB), and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), where she designed and led enterprise and supplier development programmes across seven African markets. Her expertise covers programme design and delivery, SMME mentorship, access to markets and finance, monitoring and evaluation, and multi-stakeholder governance across government, corporate, and academic partners.

Zandile holds a BCom in Economics and a BCom Honours in Business Management from the University of Pretoria, a Small Business Consultancy Certificate from North-West University, and has completed the Incubation Manager Development Programme. She is committed to advancing innovation, research commercialisation, and inclusive entrepreneurship through business incubation.

Chris Cupido has been a lecturer since 2003 and joined the Department of Entrepreneurship and Business Management at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in 2006. He holds a National Diploma in Management, a BTech in Business Administration, an MBA, and is a Pastel Certified Trainer.

He has served as Acting Head of Department, Curriculum Development Officer, RPL Officer, and subject coordinator for Entrepreneurship and Financial Management. Chris has led numerous initiatives in entrepreneurship education, work-integrated learning, community engagement, and enterprise development, supporting students, start-ups, SMMEs, and rural communities.

He is a Director of Business Incubation Web Access (BIWA), serves on the Academic Advisory Board of TSiBA, and contributes to several national and international entrepreneurship initiatives. His work also includes curriculum development, research, textbook contributions, and enterprise development projects in partnership with government and industry.

Prof. Madinga is the Chairperson of the Marketing Advisory Board at UCT, where he has been instrumental in fostering stronger ties between academia and industry. Under his leadership, the board, which includes professionals from sectors such as technology, finance, retail, and advertising, ensures that the department’s programs are relevant and aligned with current industry needs.

He is the Chairperson of the BIWA Community of Practice (CoP), serves as a member of the CPUT Council, serves in the CPUT Convocation Executive as President, and serves on the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) Panel of Capability Advisory Services, among other leadership roles.

Dr. Matsoso has a strong record of academic leadership. She coordinated the International Conference on Business and Management Dynamics (ICBMD) (2015–2018) and currently serves as the Executive Conference Chair of the International Conference on Business Innovation and Incubation (ICBII) 2025.