Strengthening support for businesswomen

ONLY a total of 21.5% of business owners in South Africa are females, according to International Labour Organization.

This emerged as women entrepreneurs gathered earlier this week at a virtual roundtable to close off Women’s Month by celebrating the achievements of businesswomen and to unpack ways to support women in charting a new path for them to do business in South Africa.

New research conducted by the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, an organisation which aims to encourage entrepreneurship and which hosted the event, found that women feel that they lack the knowledge and skill to start businesses.

Head of impact assurance at the foundation Nontobeko Mabizela, said their research found that females are worried about societal issues and ensuring that there is work-life balance in their family lives.

“The business networks that they formed are either smaller compared to males, less diverse or less effective in terms of empowering them to start a business,” said Mabizela.

Chief executive of business training company Building Block Mpho Jennifer Lebethe, said it was hard for a young female entrepreneur like herself to obtain seed funding. She is 15 months into her journey as an entrepreneur.

“I have been seeking co-founders and found it difficult to find someone who is in the tech space, who is intentionally going to be part of the start-up without wanting anything from me as a woman,” she said.

She added that she had experiences where she thought she found suitable partners, but it turns out to become harassment. “I don’t think those are issues that men face,” she said.