M Mpahlwa: Technology for Women in Business Gala Dinner Awards
Ceremony

30 August 2007

Mistress of ceremonies
Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe
Dr Anna Mokgokong, SAWEN President and her Deputy Ms Nana Ditodi
Director General of the Department of Trade and Industry, Mr Tshediso
Matona
Members of Parliament
Senior government officials
Businesswomen from all over South Africa
TWIB Awards 2007 finalists:

The interesting thing about being asked to speak in support of a programme
is that it forces one to be disciplined in approach. You ask, why is the
programme important and what has it achieved? And if it should continue, why
should it?

Let me begin by taking us back to 1953 and a newspaper report that reports
on the arrest of hundreds of black women protesting against the carrying of a
pass, it says: "in spite of the government's efforts, the black women's
campaign against carrying the hated pass seems only to be beginning" Chief
Albert Luthuli, President General of the African National Congress, called upon
men to join the resistance. 'The men of South Africa', said he, 'will not stand
by and see their women suffer the indignities that they have experienced under
the pass laws.' The words of Chief Luthuli live on as a reminder of how the
true leadership of our country never saw the struggle of women as a struggle to
be fought only by women.

So, while we celebrate as we must, the enormous economic strides we have
made as a country, we also continue to remind ourselves that we are not yet
where we want to be. Only when all our children can grow up in an environment
that will allow them the full opportunity to reach their potential; only when
the number of formal entrepreneurs more accurately reflects the demographics of
the country and only when the women of this country are no longer subject to
indignities based simply on their gender and when women take up the rightful
place as equals in all spheres of society, only then can we begin to relax just
a little. For now the important work of realising this vision continues.

Programme director, the latest statistics on representation of women in the
economy make for interesting reading. These statistics show that women make up
52 percent of the population of our country. 73 percent of black women
participate in the labour force yet they have the lowest formal employment
rates and earnings. Despite this, over one million black South African women
have responded by creating their own jobs, thereby becoming the largest
self-employed group of the population. Most entrepreneurial enterprises are on
a micro scale, employing up to four people. Currently, the typical South
African women entrepreneur is black, with no tertiary education, and earns an
income from crafts, hawking, personal services or retail. However, there are
also increasingly, encouraging stories of women who are moving away from
traditional hawking into more value-adding business opportunities, such as
franchising, furniture manufacturing, printing, travel agencies and property
development.

Despite this, a 2005 Fin Scope survey found that only 38 percent of black
women are formally banked, 20 percent of women use informal products such as
stokvels etc, and 42 percent of black women are entirely excluded – with no
financial products of any sort. What is more disturbing, (but indeed consistent
with the many barriers that women continue to face), is that women have better
credit repayment records than men, yet find it harder to raise finance than
men.

The inequity of this problem is further exposed if you consider the
following facts; The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is a global research
project that measures and compares entrepreneurship activities in over 42
countries worldwide. The 2007 rankings reveal that although South Africa's
female entrepreneurs are performing below average when compared to women in
other emerging economies, the position of 23rd, outperformed South Africa's
overall performance and their male counterparts.

What these statistics show is that indeed on the ground, it is women who are
taking the lead as entrepreneurs.

Programme director, as Technology for Women in Business (TWIB) aims to
facilitate the linkages between women in business and technological innovation;
it is therefore an essential programme for South Africa's women entrepreneurs
to respond effectively to both socio-economic challenges and opportunities.
Technology is a key enabler of economic growth - it contributes to product and
process development, assists in improving economic competitiveness, decreases
the cost of doing business, promotes investment and ultimately results in the
creation of more jobs. Without education and skills development, however, women
will not be able to embrace the new technologies of our information age and
compete in international markets.

We are therefore concerned that although the ratio of women to men aged 15
to 24 who completed Grade 7 is 111:100, and there are more women university
enrolments than men, women are less likely to take up careers in science and
maths and so their education does not translate into improved labour market
performance. We know that there are more girls than boys in our schools. And we
know that there are more girls than boys in our tertiary institutions. Yet
although girls do better at school in previously male-dominated subjects, such
as maths and science, proportionately fewer of them take these up to the degree
level.

This is a further reason for us to continue to support TWIB, as it,
encourages young women to take science and maths at school and follow careers
in science and technology.

In this regard I am glad to note that since its inception in 1998, TWIB has
grown steadily and established itself in a number of business sectors.
Significantly, this growth has included the launching of TWIB in the minerals
and energy sector, which has facilitated support of women and their improved
participation in sectors such as oil and gas, electricity and energy, as well
as renewable energy. TWIB has also been active in the fields of construction,
Information Technology and Information and Communication Technology,
agriculture, arts, science and technology.

Some background to National industrial Policy Framework (NiPF)

Now ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you will all agree that the success of
a programme should not be that it exists. A programme has to have an impact if
it has to have any value. I was therefore very glad to learn of some of the
success stories that have been achieved by TWIB and I felt it necessary to
share some to this with you tonight:

Firstly, the 2001 award winner, Yolisa Kashe-Mzamo, used technology to make
her clothing manufacturing company, YKM, an international player. This Eastern
Cape-based company, 90 percent staffed by women, saw real success when it moved
into manufacturing work wear and won a three-year, R6,2 million contract with
Daimler Chrysler. Using hi-tech equipment and focusing on staff training and
productivity contributed to the company's success.

Secondly, winner of the 2002 TWIB Awards, Ms Bulelwa Qupe, has continued to
develop her two operating businesses, Aqua Fish and Chips and Buntu Fishing and
Exports. In the last four years, Bulelwa doubled her staff compliment from ten
to 20 permanent staff in June 2007. Through a joint venture with the Don Marco
Fishing Vessels, Bulelwa, who owns 24 percent thereof, further employs another
24 seasonal workers. In other words, she has managed to change the lives of
many.

Winner of the 2004 TWIB Awards, Ms Isabella Roke, has become a leading
producer of quality animated television series and feature films through her
business Anamazing. Anamazing has now launched The Animation Production
Training Initiative (APTI), a first for South Africa, which seeks to train
unemployed youth within the arts community in the scarce skill of animation.
This allows for strategic opportunities in the film industry, which the
Department of Trade and Industry (dti) provides incentives for, to be taken up.
Currently, Anamazing has a number of productions in final negotiation stage
with South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). I would like to once again
congratulate these and the other winners for the inspiration they provide to
the rest of us.

All in all, since the inception of TWIB, 350 women owned enterprises have
been provided information to access sector specific technology that can be
applied in their agriculture, mining, manufacturing, beneficiation and
jewellery manufacturing businesses. 400 women have been trained in various
provinces in using technology in small, medium and micro enterprises. Ten women
have been linked up to European Union (EU) companies and more women are
attending trade missions annually, which will provide increasing opportunity
for women to expand their businesses into the global market. 468 young girls in
Grade 10 to 12 from all provinces have participated in study tours, workshops,
internships and undergone training in IT careers, and encouraged to choose
science and technology fields through the Technogirl Programme.

Madam President in conclusion, the achievements I have outlined are
impressive, congratulations. But more importantly it provides us with the
argument to increase support. It shows that it is correct in certain instances
to have targeted programmes, especially where results are being produced. So
therefore a special thanks once again to all the sponsors. To our major
sponsor, MTN, represented by Mr Nyoka, I must say that now with the thousands
of extra-shareholders through the Asonge share scheme, I hope your support will
grow from strength to strength. Thank you too Coca Cola, Old Mutual, and our
own Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) and South African
Micro-finance Apex Fund (SAMAF).

Let me end off by saying that all of you have participated in this
programme, both this year and the previous years, are indeed winners. You have
taken the worst that history has thrown at you and remain undefeated. May all
of you continue to prosper.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
30 August 2007
Source: Department of Trade and Industry (http://www.dti.gov.za)