An exceptional opportunity was created for the upcoming as well as established youth entrepreneurs of Limpopo in the month of April in the form of the Limpopo Business Exhibition and Entrepreneur Development Conference. Running under the theme "building sustainable and globally competitive SMMEs," both the exhibition and conference saw the aspirant tycoons of the province undeterred by the chilly weather and turn out in large numbers to take part in the event which was a joint initiative between the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).

The Mayor of Polokwane, Thabo Makonyane in his key note address at the opening ceremony commended the event in its mandate of encouraging the youth and said the event was "an important step in terms of building local economies" and that he wanted to see the youth of Limpopo "growing and valuing their local economy."

During the Development Conference, the delegates were not only mentored by organizations and individuals from different sectors but the event was also a platform for the emerging entrepreneurs to be linked to service providers, financial institutions and potential clients.

The exhibition, which was open to the public was an opportunity not only for the SMMEs, but also for business support organizations and youth development entities like CIPRO, MTN Foundation, Nedbank Foundation ,Standard bank , SEDA and Limdev to exhibit and communicate their role in building and supporting SMMEs and the services they offer to achieve this goal.

All the stakeholders; the delegates, support organizations and the general public were more than eager to impart and receive knowledge and engage each other in making sure that province's SMMEs' potential would be maximized and the focus on this development to extend beyond the three days of the exhibition and conference.

The event was thus in its entity an opportunity for the delegates to not only network but also gain valuable information and insight to develop their businesses and initiatives into sustainable and competitive entities. The event itself was a success but the success of the mandate of the event will only be seen and felt in the future growth and development of Limpopo's SMMEs.