Female entrepreneurs get help to unlock business opportunities
A LOCAL women empowerment organisation, Esteemed Businesswomen Zimbabwe (EBZ), has established operations in Matabeleland South province where it seeks to capacitate female entrepreneurs and help unlock business opportunities for thousands of small to medium enterprises (SMEs).
With a membership of more than 3 000 nationwide, the organisation has expressed commitment to working closely with the Government in growing the economy from the grassroots level by creating synergies among women and linking them to lucrative markets.
EBZ launched its Mat’South Chapter in Gwanda recently. EBZ founder and entrepreneur, Ms Sipho Mazibuko, said they realised that most women under SMEs lack vital knowledge in areas such as company registration, tax clearance and how to access Government loans, among other critical skills.
“The purpose of this meeting was to meet with SMEs women in Gwanda for an engagement on various business issues as well as to introduce them to the Esteemed Businesswomen Zimbabwe group,” she said in an interview.
“The group is now big. We started as Esteemed Businesswomen Bulawayo, Matabeleland and then Zimbabwe. We now have Esteemed Businesswomen Botswana, Esteemed South Africa and Esteemed Diaspora covering Australia, the UK, USA and Ireland.
“As we grow the group, we don’t want women in rural areas to be left out of the opportunities, which women in urban areas are exposed to. We now have Esteemed Businessmen, which has about 300 members. Men raised a concern that they were being left out of this drive.”
Ms Mazibuko said she was utilising her 26 years of experience in business to empower women on how to manage their businesses, how to get funding, where to get funding, manage their books, financial literacy and business etiquette among other issues.
She said EBZ seeks to incorporate and empower women who are selling even the smallest products such as roasted maize and tomatoes among other products.