President Cyril Ramaphosa has emphasised that through stronger collaboration between government and business, along with the backing of labor and civil society, entrepreneurship can be a powerful tool to lift more women out of poverty.
Ramaphosa said this in his weekly newsletter on Monday.
“With greater collaboration between government and business, together with the support of labour and civil society, we can use entrepreneurship to lift more women out of poverty. We can create more jobs for women and help more women secure their financial freedom,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the private sector is playing an important role in guiding these entrepreneurship journeys through start-up incubators, women entrepreneurship awards and programmes such as the Youth Employment Service.
With the help of the Social Employment Fund and others, government is enabling women entrepreneurs to employ workers and provide mentorship to trainees.
Private sector can do more to empower women
“There is much more that the private sector can do. Access to financial resources, including credit lines, is vital to the viability of women-owned businesses.
“Another important area is access to tools of financial inclusion like bank accounts and mobile money and payment technologies. It will be critical to broaden the reach of financial services to include women in the informal sector and in rural areas.
“Empowering women contributes to thriving economies, spurs productivity and boosts economic growth,” said Ramaphosa.
Last week, the country commemorated the Women’s March to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956. This historic protest by more than 20 000 South African women was a response to the cruel and dehumanising practices of the apartheid regime.
Thirty years into democracy, Ramaphosa highlighted that government has made impressive strides in advancing gender equality across society, however we still have a long way to go in broadening women’s economic participation.
This is borne out by a recently published Gallup study titled ‘Gender Power in Africa’. The report analyses the disparities and imbalances that shape the lives of women in five African countries, including South Africa.
Accessing skills development programmes
South Africa ranks the highest of the countries surveyed with respect to the rate of female participation in political decision-making, low rates of child marriage, and the participation and completion rates of girls in primary and secondary education.
However, of the countries surveyed, South Africa has the highest rate of unemployed women and women not in the workforce. The percentage of South African women considered to be self-employed or entrepreneurs is the lowest, at 5%.
“In this respect, we lag behind the rest of the continent. According to the World Economic Forum, women constitute 58% of self-employed people across Africa.
“In a country such as ours, with a high unemployment rate, entrepreneurship is an important tool to empower more women and broaden their participation in the economy. This includes in the informal sector, which accounts for 18% of total employment in the country,” said Ramaphosa.
Through its various departments and entities, he highlighted that the state provides financial support to women to enable them to start their own businesses and to sustain existing businesses.
Women-owned businesses are also able to access training in business and project management, IT and other skills.
“We have set a target to allocate at least 40% of public procurement spend to women-owned businesses. In 2021, we launched a Women’s Economic Assembly to enable women-owned enterprises to participate in local industry value chains. Since its inception this programme has yielded promising results in a number of key economic sectors, notably the automotive sector,” he said.
He further highlighted that government is striving to expand women’s access to economic activity through land ownership, enabling female farmers to own land through the state’s land redistribution programme and supporting them with equipment and other agricultural inputs.
“From citrus farmers in the North West, cooperatives making affordable school furniture in KwaZulu-Natal, to cosmetics companies and tech start-ups in the Western Cape, women-owned enterprises all across the country are benefiting from an integrated approach to supporting small businesses,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za
