Businesswomen believe in girl power
Another major benefit for the members is to compete for in the national business woman of the year award under the national body of the council.
Ms Anneke Pienaar, Ms Estelle Roe and Ms Sarah Koster.
MBOMBELA – The members of the Mbombela South African Council of Business Women (SACBW) met to discuss issues pertaining to female empowerment on recently.
The SACBW is a forum that enables females to meet and empower one another. It creates entrepreneurial opportunities for those who want to emerge as businesswomen.
According to the council’s chairman Ms Lasea Swift, it creates an enabling environment for women who own enterprises to network and form partnerships. “Women-owned enterprises experience some challenges in accessing information and support is needed to flourish and sustain them,” she said.
For that reason, Swift said SACBW was relevant as it gives them an opportunity to enter the entrepreneurial sector.
One of the council members who testified that she gained a lot of exposure from SACBW was Ms Carol Nake, who runs an accommodation establishment. She attested that she found opportunities among the members of the council and that helped her business grow.
“Because we exchange contacts we get to do referrals among ourselves and grow our client base,” she said. Swift added that they had recruited young females who have knowledge in advanced technology and modern marketing methods to join them so they can impart the knowledge to the older members.
“We have assembled a group of young females and have taken them under our wing. We offer them guidance since we boast a good number of experienced businesswomen, and they help us to market our businesses using new trends.”
Another major benefit for the members is to compete for in the national business woman of the year award under the national body of the council. According to Swift, participants receive a lot of diverse training on how to develop themselves as successful businesswomen.
Mbombela’s SACBW has also won four awards out of the five categories in the 2015’s instalment of the awards. Swift added that the success of the council depended heavily on the media coverage and sponsorship it receives time and again from media institutions such as Lowveld Media, SABC and Radio Laeveld.
