Accommodation and food service activities

At RIIS, we work right at the intersection of corporate strategy, socio-economic development and entrepreneurship & innovation. By combining these three disciplines and not treating them as mutually exclusive areas, we have continuously partnered with our clients to drive them to new levels of success.



We have worked with a range of private and public sector organisations to improve the way in which they can plan for and respond to a changing world. In particular, we help organisations accelerate their innovation programmes through collaboration and partnerships across their value chain. In

The Nelson Mandela Bay iHub is a business incubator located in Port Elizabeth that supports businesses in ICT. The iHub has a specific focus on technologies that have the potential to disrupt existing value chains and facilitate market access for our incubatees whilst contributing to social development. Our sectors of interest include (but not limited to) educational technology, smart agriculture, automation and robotics, big data analytics, cloud computing and blockchain technology.

The main service offerings of the iHub are:

• Business Development - The centre offers business development

Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, BWA is the Channel Partner representing IHS Markit Product Design & Supply Chain in Sub – Saharan Africa.

IHS Markit is the worldwide leader in providing technical standards & specifications, journals, patents intelligence, root cause analysis and parts management databases to corporations around the world.

IHS Markit products and services serve the critical information needs of many industries including oil & gas, construction, petrochemical, aviation, and electronics.

Discover an online platform that simplifies and expedites the process for finding and

Grassroots innovators are innovative individuals that may not necessarily have the requisite educational background or infrastructure to promote the commercialization of their innovations. Their innovative capacity is often driven by necessity and in-depth knowledge of local challenges that could be solved with appropriate technology innovations. The Regional Innovation Networking Platform seeks to identify Grassroot Innovators in the Eastern Cape to support them with tools to help with the commercialization of those innovations. The iHUB is the leading organization and the implementing

The French South African Tech Labs (FSAT Labs) is an incubator and accelerator for French and South African tech start-ups, based in Century City, Cape Town. It offers 400 sqm of incubation & acceleration space. Based on the partnership between Seda (Small Enterprise Development Agency) and Methys, the FSAT Labs is a new service for entrepreneurs who desire to become powerful changemakers. Twice a year, we select and support a new class of entrepreneurs.

Innovation Highway is a development initiative by the Technology Transfer and Innovation Support Office of the North-West University (NWU), to volunteer the commercialization skills of its team members in order to help establish start-up companies for entrepreneurs outside of academia. It is housed in a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NWU and is tax-paying. Innovation Highway focuses on early-stage technology –linked innovations and often assists with hurdle costs such as development, validation costs, prototyping costs and registration of intellectual property rights in return for a profit

National University of Lesotho is a growing institution striving to meet the needs of the nation, by producing competent and skilled graduates who can easily take up the call to assist in the development of Lesotho. The 80-hectare University site is situated at Roma (pop. 8,000) some 34 kilometers southeast of Maseru, the capital of Lesotho.

The governing body of the University is the Council and academic policy is in the hands of the Senate – both Council and Senate being established by the Act. The University holds membership in:

·       The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU)

Innovate Durban is a Non-Profit Company aimed at stimulating innovation within the Durban region. Its focus is to support and promote innovation by creating platforms that will build and develop the innovation ecosystem in Durban. Innovate Durban was set up by the eThekwini Municipality in 2013 in an effort to create a conducive environment for innovation. At the time, there was a lack of support for innovation and there was limited collaboration. Innovate Durban was initially set up as a Stakeholder Forum that brought together business, government, academia, civil society and entrepreneurs

Startup Mzansi is a grassroots network of entrepreneurs working together to build an environment for entrepreneurship in South Africa. Through online platforms, grassroots Startup Communities and cross-sector initiatives, Startup Mzansi is advancing entrepreneurial momentum and a culture of entrepreneurship, as the voice of South African entrepreneurs.

Offerings; 

• Consulting 
• Research 
• Training 
• Acceleration 
• Investment 

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) is a statutory council dedicated to conducting human and social science research that is in the public interest. Our research aims to advance South Africa and Africa’s understanding of and engagement with its social conditions and contexts within which these social conditions occur. The knowledge we generate seeks to contribute to local, regional and global understandings of the human and social conditions of people, and the processes and interventions, which will assist in the improvement of their social standing. This is with the aim to be a hub of