Engen believes that entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial culture are crucial to South Africa’s sustainable economic and social development. This is why the petroleum giant is again a proud partner and the headline sponsor of the 2018 Engen Pitch & Polish, powered by Raizcorp.
 
It is the ninth year that Engen has sponsored Engen Pitch & Polish, the annual entrepreneurial competition and workshop that is designed to give members of local community’s access to expert guidance and input on how to polish their business pitches.
 
"Engen believes that growing and nurturing business skills for emerging entrepreneurs in South Africa will boost employment, improve education levels and help alleviate poverty,” says Unathi Magida-Njokweni, Transformation and Stakeholder Engagement Manager at Engen.
“To accomplish this, we are proud to step up and support these future business leaders, to help propel them forward so that they are able to create jobs in the future."

Since inception its nine years ago, over 10 000 budding entrepreneurs have participated in Engen Pitch & Polish.
 
“In this time, all the participants have had their business ideas brainstormed and tested and been taught valuable business lessons and tools in order to help improve the way they pitch their business to potential investors,” adds Magida-Njokweni.
 
Engen Pitch & Polish is a national workshop and competition where participants get to spend a day in a fun-filled learning environment while receiving expert guidance on how to pitch their business ideas effectively.
 
This year regional events will be held at eight venues across South Africa, between August and October. The full schedule is as follows:

• Cape Town, Sat, 04 Aug at 09:00am - CAB Conference Centre, 19 Jeanette Street, Brackenfell
• Bloemfontein, Sat, 25 Aug at 09:00am - President Hotel, 1 Union Avenue, Bloemfontein
• Newcastle, Sat, 01 Sep at 09:00am - The Pines Conference Centre, 52 Aquamarine Road, Newcastle
• Durban, Sat, 08 Sep at 09:00am - Olive Convention Centre, 81 Somtseu Road, Durban
• Grahamstown, Sat, 15 Sep at 09:00am - City Hall, High Street, Grahamstown
• Emalahleni, Sat, 29 Sep at 09:00am - Portuguese Hall, 95 Nita Avenue, eMalahleni
• Nelspruit, Sat, 06 Oct at 09:00am - Arena @ Emnotweni, Government Boulevard, Nelspruit
• Johannesburg, Sat, 13 Oct at 09:00am - CedarWoods, 120 Western Service Road, Woodmead

The 2018 workshops will be conducted by international speaker and facilitator, Justin Cohen, a world leading expert on pitching for business.
 
The workshops are FREE and open to anyone who wants to spend a great day learning.
 
“Engen Pitch & Polish has changed thousands of lives over the years and we continue to measure the change by staying in touch with contestants and monitoring their ongoing progress,” says Magida-Njokweni.
 
“Since Engen first partnered with Raizcorp on Pitch & Polish, all my expectations have been exceeded, from the quality of the contestants to the interest of the audience, as well as the professionalism of the judges. As the headline sponsor, Engen could not ask for more.