4 PROGRAMMES EMPOWERING YOUNG WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS BY SINAZO MKOKO
Unlocking women’s business potential is key for our economy
W
hile gender equality is yet to be achieved globally, efforts by the civic, private and public sector are being made to ensure that women are at the forefront of economic emancipation in South Africa. In October 2022, Stats SA released theGender Series Volume IX: Women Empowerment, 2017 to 2022 report which showed that there are still gender disparities despite the progressive laws and interventions aimed at women empowerment.
Stats SA stated: “Empowerment of women is core to South Africa’s processes of sustainable development. Leaving no one behind means addressing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and inequalities.” Here Public Sector Leaders lists 4 programmes/ initiatives aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs in South Africa.
Women Empowerment Fund (WEF) Are you a black woman who owns a business or starting one? The WEF could be the answer to your financial problems. The empowerment fund aims to accelerate the provision of funding for businesses. Founded in 2014, the fund has a mission “to affirmatively drive the value and volume of approvals for and disbursement to businesses that are owned and managed by black women.” WEF states that the funding starts from R250 000 to R75-million across a range of sectors, for start-ups, expansions and equity acquisition purposes.They use a number of funding instruments that range from secured (senior debt) to unsecured options (equity), and/or a hybrid of the two in efforts to provide for different transactional needs.
Isivande Women’s Fund (IWF) Originally aimed at women, this is an exclusive fund that aims to accelerate black economic empowerment by providing more affordable, usable and responsive finance than is currently available for all black people in business in South Africa. Businesses that require funding between the values of R30 000 to R2-million can apply for the funding. The fund targets “formally registered, that are 50% + 1 share women-owned and/or managed enterprises that have been in existence and operating for at least six months.”
50 | Public Sector Leaders | August 2023
