Mohohlo to open Women Expo 2011

GOTHATAONE MOENG
Staff Writer | Tuesday June 28, 2011 00:00

 

According to the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, Kelebogile Kgabi, the official opening will be on July 7.

Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, Kgabi said the 200 women entrepreneurs participating this year will also attend a Business Investment Forum that has been organised to equip them with business enhancement information. She said the high number of exhibitors participating this year demonstrates the significant growth the expo has experienced over the last 11 years.  This year's 200 is a tremendous from the 70 who exhibited in 2000.

The theme for this year's show is 'Women Entrepreneurs in the Informal Sector: Pillars in Economic Diversification.' The National Women Expo is an annual show that aims to, among others, offer women entrepreneurs an opportunity to share skills, ideas and experiences as well as offer national exposure to women's businesses.

Kgabi said previous participants have benefited from the expo. 'The benefits are visible and can be attested to by (the fact) that some entrepreneurs graduated from micro-levels across a range of businesses to international standards and have participated at global exposition levels,' she said.

Kgabi, who called the expo an important landmark in her ministry's calendar, said the show is one of the strategies adopted to reduce poverty among women in Botswana and 'to address disparities that exist between women and men in the trade and economic sphere'.

Gates to the expo will open to the public on July 8. Entrance is free.