Entrepreneurs blossom at women's expo

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Monday June 21, 2010 00:00

Madira Mondira of Gaterena Investment was speaking at a media briefing ahead of the 11th exposition, which commences today until June 26. 

'I started attending this exhibition in 2008, which was the ninth and it has been quite invaluable to my business,' Mondira said.

She said the exposition has had quite an impact because through networking she has been able to get ideas that helped her expand her business.

She said it came in handy in that before she spent lots of money on animal feed, she got professional advice and now she produces it herself on a farm.

Early in the game she partnered with a South African and another farmer from Namibia to cultivate a good breed of goat that that would survive the local climate.

Mondira encouraged women to make proper use of the exposition as they constitute the larger percentage of the informal sector and they are more vulnerable to lack of finances which inhibits opportunities for growth.

She believes that growth provides an avenue for the women's businesses to be seen in the outside world.

She testified that from the exposure she got from the Women's Exposition, the business grew from a mere 15 goats to 400, in addition to 30 sheep.

She anticipates the herd to triple by the end of this year when she will have established a feed production centre of her own.

Vincent Rantshabeng, the deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, where the women's affairs department (WAD) is based, says there will be 200 participants at this year's event. The WAD coordinates and oversees the women's exposition.

There were 196 participants last year. He said the exposition, nationalised in 2000 is one of the strategies aimed at addressing issues of women in poverty and their inclusion as role players in the economic sphere hence their empowerment economically.

'The main aim of the exposition is to address disparities that exist between women in the trade and economic sphere, a strategy deemed effective in driving women from the private to the public sphere which paves a way for their work to be appreciated, acknowledged and documented,' he said.

In 2008, about 20 women entrepreneurs are said to have graduated from doing business for survival into commercial projects, after participating in this programme.

This year's event will be held under the theme, 'Women Entrepreneurs in the Informal Sector: Pillars in Economic Diversification'.

A 2007 Informal Sector Survey (ISS) published by the Central Statistics Office reveals that the majority of businesses operating in the informal sector are managed by women, accounting for 67.6 percent, with most of them operating from owner's homes or along the roads.

About 54.2 percent of the businesswomen have a secondary school education.

It further reveals that the majority of informal sector businesses are in cities, towns and urban areas, adding that the major challenge facing the sector operators is non-payment for goods and services supplied to customers on credit.

Officials at the Ministry of Trade and Industry said the sector poses a challenge to policymakers in terms of improving the working conditions of the people employed in the informal sector, increasing productivity of economic activities, developing training and skills and implementing appropriate regulatory frameworks.