Ernest Boateng is the Chief Operations Officer at the South African Institute for Entrepreneurship. He has extensive experience in entrepreneurship and enterprise development and sat on various NGO Boards. He has worked in education, agribusiness, forestry and cooperative sectors. He is a seasoned facilitator and organiser of school and adult entrepreneurship competitions. Ernest has solid knowledge of programme development and management, as well as development of training materials using different simulation methodologies. He has keen interest in developing programmes and projects, from start to finish, which lead to funding and business opportunities.

He has managed various entrepreneurship and education projects on behalf of companies and organnisations such as Sappi ASSORE, ABSA, Santam, Coronation, Royal Bafokeng, Service Seta, Seda, Khumani Mines, Somkhele Mines and others.

He was born in Ghana, finished high school, and BA Honours degree in Social Sciences from the University of Ghana before settling in South Africa in 1993. He obtained his post graduate qualifications in Development Economics, Marketing Management and Advanced Business Management from the Universities of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa (Unisa) and North West (NW) respectively.