Finance for women entrepreneurs
Michael Appel
5 October 2007
More affordable, usable and responsive finance solutions will soon be made available to emerging female entrepreneurs and businesswomen with the establishment of the Women Entrepreneurs Fund.
Speaking at the SA Women Entrepreneurs' Network (Sawen) conference on Thursday, Sawen acting CEO Batho Matiwane said the fund would accelerate women's empowerment by providing more affordable finance solutions to emerging businesswomen.
Matiwane told conference delegates that Sawen was on the verge of becoming a full-fledged agency within the Department of Trade and Industry. A national office was also being set up, following the establishment of provincial Sawen offices in the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Sawen president Anna Mokgokong said some of the organisation's successes included establishing proper governance structures, publishing a businesswomen’s directory and carrying out trade missions in Vietnam, Germany, Uganda and the
Netherlands.
Sawen, a national networking forum for individuals and organisations that promote women entrepreneurs, facilitates the socio-economic advancement of women entrepreneurs.
It does this by helping women entrepreneurs get access to business resources, information and opportunities, monitoring the impact of women entrepreneurs on the country's economy, and lobbying public and private institutions on the economic empowerment of women.
Around 500 delegates, ranging from corporate executives to emerging entrepreneurs, attended this week's conference, which was opened by Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Elisabeth Thabethe.
Other speakers at the conference included television personality and businesswomen Basetsana Khumalo, Women Investment Portfolio Holdings (Wiphold) co-founder Gloria Serobe, and Lawrence Mavundla from the Co-operative for Hawkers and Informal Business.
Source: BuaNews
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