Dr Semona Pillay Chair Holder The year 2025 marked a period of growth, collaboration, and meaningful impact for the Wholesale and Retail SETA (W&R SETA) Leadership Chair. The year started with a focused Writing Retreat that strengthened research productivity and deepened partnerships between UJ, VUT, and the W&R SETA. Learning sessions across three provinces reinforced strategic alignment, while engagements with first year students and Youth Project bursary recipients demonstrated a strong commitment to nurturing future retail leaders. Experiential learning featured prominently. Research dissemination also intensified, supported by a symposium that bridged academic insights with industry needs. The digital MasterClass series equipped students with cutting-edge retail and technological skills, reflecting the chair’s focus on future-ready learning. 2025 was defined by purposeful collaboration, research excellence, and transformative student development – laying a strong foundation for continued sector impact by including: SDG 4: Quality Education – Skills development, bursaries, writing retreats, Master Classes, and the Africa by Bus learning programme directly support equitable, high-quality education. SDG 5: Gender Equality – Emphasis on women in leadership, women’s empowerment in logistics and trade, and highlighting women’s historical economic roles. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – Preparing students for industry, improving workforce readiness, and strengthening retail sector capabilities. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure – Focus on digital retail, technology adoption, innovation, and backend retail systems. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals – Strong collaborations across UJ, VUT, CPUT, CUT, W&R SETA, industry partners, and cross border learning initiatives. Three highlights include: 1. The UJ W&R SETA Leadership Chair, in partnership with VUT, hosted a four-day online Master Class series designed to strengthen students’ understanding of the rapidly evolving digital retail landscape. The initiative equipped students with essential digital, analytical, and leadership capabilities needed for a technology-driven industry. These sessions advanced digital literacy and inspired students to view retail as a future focused, purpose driven career path. 2. A two-day W&R Leadership Chair Learning Session, held from 26 to 27 June, 2025, brought together leadership and researchers from UJ (Gauteng), Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) (Western Cape), and the Central University of Technology (CUT) (Free State) for powerful dialogue, collaboration, and strategic reflection addressing sector challenges and opportunities, sustainability plans, and strategic partnerships to strengthen industry impact. WHOLESALE AND RETAIL SETA (W&R SETA) School of Consumer Intelligence and Information Systems 53 College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2025
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