Women recognised for entrepreneurship
THIS IS “great news for women in business in Africa”, and “more proof that they are among the best in the world”, said Geoff Jacobs, president of the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Jacobs praised the four Chamber members who will travel to New Delhi in India next week to receive awards from the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) for their success in building socially responsible multimillion-rand businesses.
The main award winners are Donna Duggan of Maasai Wanderings & Nasikia Camps, based in Tanzania, and Audrey McMillan of the South African Products International (Sapro) based in Johannesburg. Both are members of the Cape Chamber.
The two other Cape Town-based businesswomen, Zakira Palekar of Doggobone and Mandy Tinkler of Habits Boutique, will also travel to Delhi. They’ve been chosen for the Dreams Beyond Borders programme to develop their business skills to take them to the next level and win future awards.
Leading the delegation will be the international board member of the IWEC and past president of the Cape Chamber, Janine Myburgh, who will be a speaker at the conference.
The award ceremony and conference gives women who own and run businesses an introduction to an international gathering of entrepreneurs and opportunities to network and develop global connections for their companies.
“The IWEC’s global business network has left an indelible legacy on world trade,” Myburgh said.
“Women provide a previously neglected source of talent, skills, knowledge and insight and we can make a huge contribution to the world economy. This makes IWEC and its work very important.”
Duggan is from Brisbane, Australia. She was a volunteer nurse based in Arusha, Tanzania, in 2005 when she met and married a local. Together the couple established Maasai Wanderings – a tour operation and Nasikia Tented Camps – an under-canvas accommodation portfolio and some profits towards making sure that many benefited from tourism.
They have built and extended schools in many Maasai communities, adding porridge programmes, supplementing teacher salaries, paying for pupil uniforms and school fees, helping in some way almost 4 000 local pupils. Although based in Tanzania, Duggan’s business is a member of the Chamber. McMillan joined Sapro in 1998 and manages the day-to-day operations of the business, as managing director. The company specialises in exporting high-quality, uniquely South African goods.
Beginning by supplying exclusively to the UK market, whose service extends into Scotland and Wales, Sapro now exports also to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Taiwan, Austria, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Dubai, Chile and most recently, Malawi and Kenya.
The range of South African goods exported is now more than 8 500. The company now exports wines from 20 of the top South African wine farms, as well as popular KWV wines and brandies, hence Sapro’s membership of the Cape Chamber.
Palekar started Doggobone Active Raw Foods from scratch. Her success as an entrepreneur was recognised by her winning the Business Woman Entrepreneur 2018.
Tinkler is the managing director of Habits Boutique in Cape Town, which was among the first South African clothing companies to expand into online shopping at a time when few South African companies were then brave enough to try.
“We are particularly impressed by this year’s awardees. Donna Duggan runs an outstanding photographic safari business which concentrates on the preservation of culture and wildlife, while Audrey McMillan exports favourite South African products, from chutney to wine, to the expatriate communities in 16 countries,” says Jacobs.
“New Delhi is a perfect venue for these entrepreneurial awards, as India has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies with many opportunities for expanding trade.”