Ellen Leboko
Social Entrepreneur

Ellen Leboko lives in Sebokeng, near
Vereeniging. Her husband was
retrenched in 1994.
Since that time, she has educated her 5
children. 3 are teachers, one is an
electrician and the other, a beautician.
She has also trained more than 200 men &
women from all over southern Africa
(including Lesotho), in various aspects
of catering, including baking, flower-
arranging, cake-icing and running a
restaurant.

• Ms Leboko is one of the true heroes of the South African
economy who have decided to reject victimhood in favour
of taking responsibility for their own economic destinies.
• According to a number of researchers about 80% of them
fail within the first year.1
• Lack of basic business skills is the primary reason for this
dour picture.2
1. The Business Plan, Small Business development Centre, Bradle7y University, Peoria IL.
2. African Studies Quarterly: Causes of Small Business Failure in Uganda, Charles Tushabomwe-Kazooba

• According to Adam Smith1 and numerous others, job-
creation depends on the stimulation of entrepreneurship.
• 1.2m small businesses in California account for 80% of
the GDP of this 7th-largest economy in the world.2
• Ellen Leboko and the greater majority (>65%) of 160 000
graduates of the Micro-MBA basic business course have
gloriously defied the odds.
• With suitable state and private support, this success story
could be multiplied to play a significant role in poverty-
alleviation in Africa and emerging economies everywhere.
1. The Wealth of Nations & The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Adam Smith
2. SB-Cal, Small Business California, on-line e-zine.

• The Micro-MBA course is a learner-driven,
outcomes-based programme. It starts with 5 days of
classroom experience, during which learners work
through 8 simple workbooks. This is followed by
three months of pro-active mentoring meetings.
• The entire process focuses on the need for the
individual to take responsibility for themselves.
• They decide whether to attend the mentoring
meetings and they decide which aspects of the
course to use. They are not “baby-sat” in the guise
of mentoring!

• Our success with a broad spectrum of individuals
(over 160 thousand), many with minimal education
and/or training, has proved that almost anyone can be
taught to do enterprise in order to take responsibility
for their own economic destiny.
• This agrees with research done by UWC that Training
in entrepreneurial skills is highly possible.
– “Important research finding:
• Entrepreneurs can be trained!1”
• Many illiterate rural women have successfully
completed the Micro-MBA course by bringing
somebody who is literate with them to the course.
1. S A Entrepreneurship, Education & Training, Chapters 5-8. Prof D J Visser U.W.C.

• The Micro-MBA model is designed to be replicated:
we train the Trainer/Mentors attached to
organizations or active within communities, who
then run courses and mentor entrepreneurs within
their local community or network.
• We have recently developed a programme to train
“Master Trainers,” so that these efforts can be
multiplied.
• The Department of Social Services in Mpumalanga
Province has already benefitted from this model, as
have several Church groups and NGO’s in other
countries in Africa. (e.g. Uganda, Zambia and
Kenya, with Nigeria and Rwanda soon to be
added).

Christopher Chewe
Filling Station
• Christopher owns a
number of taxi’s and had
to complete a Business
Diploma prior to his final
submission.
• The Business Plan written
during the Micro-MBA
course enabled him to
access a loan of R400 000
to open his filling station in
Soweto.

Sango Bam
Sangweni B&B in Langa
• Sango says, “This course
was vital to me, because of
some things that I was not
doing in my business.
• I have been running this
B&B business for 2 years
now and for the first time I
know how to do my costings
properly and how to manage
my money.
• I am much more confident
about the future.”

District Mail (Western Cape)

Scott Newbert1 maintains that entrepreneurs:
“contribute substantially to the overall welfare
of society through
– Job creation,
– Wealth distribution, and
– Lack of discrimination.”
1. Realizing the Spirit and Impact of Adam Smith's Capitalism through Entrepreneurship, Journal of
Business Ethics, Vol 46, No 3. Scott L Newbert

Time to Grow!
• At Micro-MBA, we have been paying our dues
since 1987.
• We have learned what does not work in economic
development.
• We have something that works at grassroots level,
as well as higher up the economic ladder!

We’re looking for partners!
MICRO-MBA
P O Box 8009, Roggebaai 8012, Cape Town
Tel: 021 461-1321 Fax: 021 461-5947
Web: www.micro-mba.com
eMail: cedric@micro-mba.com