The Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) - the world's premier event engaging social enterprises over all the continents - is taking place on the African continent in 2011. This year's theme is 'Social enterprise as a catalyst for sustainable development'. The intention is to have a 'how to' approach that covers topics such as sustainability, performance and social impact.

The emerging field of social enterprise, with its primary purpose of addressing the social, environmental and economic challenges of our time, is not new to Africa. However, the growth of the social enterprise will be remembered as one of the defining innovations of this century.

Globally social enterprise has grown from sporadic innovation in isolated organisations to a recognised cutting-edge field with its own body of knowledge and best practices. The extent to which the new economy and sector are changing will be show-cased, debated and appreciated on the African continent for the first time.

Further information available on The Social Enterprise World Forum 2011