Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen is the founder of Zapreneur and Think Workers. Each of these websites are aimed at answering this question – Can the Internet help South African small business?
Ebrahim-Khalil started his career at the Gauteng Provincial Government, where he was the manager of the Vusani Amadolobha Grant Fund, which was South Africa’s first public-private partnership fund for urban renewal. The theme of public service reform saw him join the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI), a research non-governmental organisation established by the Congress of South African Trade Unions. During his seven years at NALEDI, he managed the public sector transformation programme, with a focus on constructing alternatives. He lead the secretariat of the People’s Budget Campaign – a coalition between trade unions, churches and civil society that provided alternatives on fiscal policy.
From 2007 to 2009, he worked part-time at the Centre for Poverty, Employment and Growth at the Human Sciences Research Council building proposals for employment creation in the public service. In 2011, Zapreneur was launched. As an independent public policy analyst, his clients have included TIPS, NALEDI and the Department of Economic Development. He currently serves on the board of the South African Labour Bulletin, and is a member of the COSATU Economics Panel. He previously served on the board of the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (CASE). He has been featured in the inaugural edition of the Little Black Book, received a commendation for contributions to public service from his alma mater, University of Witwatersrand. While still a student he served as Vice-President of the Student Representative Council and won an Academic Merit Award.