About the Awards
The Business Partners Ltd Entrepreneur of the Year® Awards serve as a prestigious annual competition dedicated to recognising and honouring the achievements of successful entrepreneurs in South Africa’s thriving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector. These Awards not only celebrate excellence in entrepreneurship but also aim to inspire aspiring business owners to embark on their own journeys towards success.
With a reputation for spotlighting and elevating exceptional talent within the SME community, the Awards create a powerful platform for showcasing the remarkable contributions of South African entrepreneurs.
Join us in celebrating the spirit of innovation!
Promoting, Sharing, Educating and Influencing
The Business Partners Limited Entrepreneur of the Year® initiative is not just about the competition. It is about:
- Promoting and celebrating entrepreneurial excellence;
- Promoting entrepreneurship as an honourable and rewarding career path;
- Sharing stories of entrepreneurial success;
- Educating entrepreneurs so that they reach a standard of excellence;
- Educating the youth about what entrepreneurship entails with the aim of encouraging them to select entrepreneurship as a viable career path;
- Influencing Government legislation by being the voice of entrepreneurs in order to create a conducive entrepreneurial eco-system in which business owners can thrive.
Prizes
Finalists stand the chance to win prizes worth a total value of R2 million, which includes cash prizes of over R500 000 coupled with mentorship support. Finalists and winners of the competition are able to expand their networks and receive invaluable exposure for their businesses – enhancing the value of their offering to their customer and the society.
History of the competition
Promoting entrepreneurial excellence as the norm, not the exception
Business Partners Limited, one of Africa’s leading business loan and equity providers and 2019 Gold winner: SME bank of the year (Africa), initiated the Entrepreneur of the Year® competition in 1988 to celebrate the vision, passion, innovation and commitment of individuals running successful small and medium enterprises.
However, the candidacy was limited to the client pool of Business Partners Limited. To this end, Business Partners Limited decided to extend the programme to the rest of the South African business community. With this extension came much success and collaborations.
There are many entrepreneurial competitions in South Africa that acknowledge businesses on some level, but none that offer the same national credibility as the Business Partners Limited Entrepreneur of the Year® competition in the formal small and medium enterprise fraternity.
The competition recognises and empowers South Africa’s successful entrepreneurs by enhancing their knowledge, networks and exposure. It is widely considered to be the pre-eminent competition of its kind in South Africa and has served as a business growth springboard for past finalists and winners.
Competition Criteria
The Business Partners Limited Entrepreneur of the Year® awards prides itself on the credibility of its assessment process hence the need to supply the judges with the detail needed to make an informed and thorough decision on finalists and winners of this competition.
To enter the Business Partners Limited Entrepreneur of the Year® competition, you need to be based in South Africa and comply with the minimum criteria of the categories outlined below.
Entrepreneurs who enter may be considered for the following categories in the Entrepreneur of the Year® competition:
This prize is awarded to an entrepreneur who not only employs a significant number of employees, but also actively contributes to uplifting, upskilling and training them. They help to reduce the unemployment rate of the community, area and province where the business operates. The controlling owner must be stated.
This is an additional Entrepreneur of the Year® category and is awarded at the discretion of the judging panel.
An entrepreneur who has the ability to:
- Reinvent the way business is done in his/her industry; and/or
- Be innovative in the product or service being offered to the market; and/or
- Find a way of drawing the best qualified and technical people in his/her industry and keeping them by creating an environment in which employees can flourish.
- The controlling owner must be stated.
This is an additional Entrepreneur of the Year® category and is awarded at the discretion of the judging panel.
This prize is awarded to an entrepreneur(s) whose business has a huge social impact on the communities wherein they operate beyond the financial gain objective. The panel of judges deliberates over the elements that showcase social impact amongst all the finalists and then selects the final winner.
This is an additional Entrepreneur of the Year® category and is awarded at the discretion of the judging panel.
An established entrepreneur who has made great strides in their business over many years. The steering committee proactively sources finalists for the Lifetime Achiever award category with the judges selecting the final winner.
This is an additional Entrepreneur of the Year® category and is awarded at the discretion of the judging panel.
The Judging Process
The judging process is completely independent and is led by the judging panel comprising five judges. The judges represent different areas of the business community. The evaluation process runs through three different filtering processes ensuring that all entries are checked and rechecked to remove human error and subjectivity.
The data requested during this process also gives the judges very important and critical information which they need in order to make a complete and credible judgment on the candidate being reviewed. The judging process is completed by an interview with each finalist to ensure that any questions or issues needing clarity are addressed. An on-site visit at the businesses may also be conducted.
Our in-depth judging process culminates in 7 winners being announced and honoured at our awards ceremony.
The evaluation process runs through three different filtering processes, or stages, which ensure that all are checked and rechecked to remove human error and subjectivity.
The judging stages include the following:
Preliminary screening of the entry forms to shortlist within the three main categories of emerging entrepreneur, small business entrepreneur and medium business entrepreneur.
Financial information and supporting documents are requested from this list. The data requested gives the judges very important and critical information which they need in order to make a complete and holistic judgment on the candidate being reviewed. From here finalists are chosen.
The judging Process Is Completed By An Interview With Each Finalist to ensure that any questions or issues needing clarity are addressed. An on-site visit at the businesses may also be conducted.
2026 Judging Panel
Meet our esteemed judging panel
The integrity and prestige of the Entrepreneur of the Year® Awards are upheld by an independent panel of respected business leaders and experts. We thank our judges for their commitment to recognising entrepreneurial excellence and helping us celebrate the remarkable achievements of South Africa’s SME sector.
David Morobe
A seasoned business leader with more than 32 years’ experience in SME impact investing across the private and public sectors. Until his retirement from Business Partners Limited in January 2026, he served as Executive General Manager: Impact Investing. A respected voice in the SME ecosystem, he is known for engaging effectively with boards, policymakers, entrepreneurs, business organisations and the media, both locally and internationally. He is currently a director of Eborom Business Consulting, which supports entrepreneurship through mentorship, training and business development programmes.
Christeen van Jaarsveld
An award-winning franchise leader and Sales Consultant at Alternative Finance Group, helping SMEs access fast, strategic funding. As owner of AT Threesixty Finance Sandton, she combines deep industry expertise with a practical, advisory-led approach to navigating complex funding solutions. A respected panellist and SME finance specialist, she is passionate about expanding access to finance and enabling businesses to achieve sustainable growth.
Dr Lumkile Mondi
A lecturer at the School of Economics and Finance (SEF) and the Wits Business School (WBS) at the University of the Witwatersrand, he previously served as Chief Economist of the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa. He chairs VM Automotive, Thelo Rolling Stock Leasing and the South African Housing Development Fund, and serves as a director of Sedibelo Resources Limited and trustee of FinMark Trust. He is a former member of the State-Owned Enterprises Presidential Review Committee and President Mbeki's Economic Advisory Panel.
Rhofhiwa Madzena
An award-winning journalist with an extensive background in radio and television, she has served as an anchor for CNBC Africa, a contributor to Forbes Africa and Forbes Woman Africa, and a business anchor and producer for eNCA. She currently freelances as the anchor of the SAfm Moneyweb Market Report, continuing to provide South African audiences with insightful analysis and trusted business news coverage.
Ronald Abvajee
An award-winning entrepreneur, business leader and international speaker, and the founder and CEO of Healthy Living Consulting. His accolades include being named SMME of the Year at the 2023 Africa Business Awards and CEO of the Year at the Future of HR Awards.
Ronald is a Brand Champion for the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa and serves as President of Entrepreneurs’ Organization Johannesburg.