Economic Development Department and Nedbank empowers women entrepreneurs in North West
The development of small, medium-sized and micro enterprise (SMME) sector is not only a vital driver and supporter of South Africa’s sustainable economic development, but is also essential for the creation of much-needed employment opportunities.
It is for this reason that the Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism in partnership with Nedbank conducted training to twenty-five (25) women led enterprises to capacitate them with relevant business skills that would see their businesses thriving and contributing to the growth and development of the economy of North West. The 5-days training focused on financial management, marketing and selling, and business planning.
Welcoming participants at the training, Ms Happy Mokone; Director for Enterprise Development within the department explained that training is one of the strategic initiatives the department came up to ensure economic transformation, this is realised by establishing and maintaining effective support to small businesses across all the sectors.
Mokone added that SMMEs are an engine for economic growth as they play an important role in creating employment to local communities. “It is on this note that as a department we engage with various stakeholders both public and private as we believe in the advancement of small business and want to empower for sustainability of their businesses.”
Daniel Makinita: Nedbank Regional Manager added that the role of SMMEs in the growth of the economy is very critical. As such, Nedbank offers various programs which promote economic upliftment, business development, job creation and social transformation. We have become innovative and developed programmes aimed at empowering small businesses on financial management through Nedbank money App.
Training facilitator, Eberhard Niklaus said the training is very essential in the development of our small businesses since many of them fail due to lack of basic business skills such as business planning, financial management and marketing.
“The idea is to make small businesses to change the way they have been operating and move with the new trend of the fourth industrial revolution where individuals using connected technology to be able to manage their businesses,” said Eberhard.
Appreciating the efforts, Wendy Atahwo said the training was very informative and has learned new ideas that she will use to promote and grow her business. According to Wendy, she was able to network with other entrepreneurs and learn new marketing trends, such as, social media, and the importance of book-keeping as she will be able to balance records and verify reports submitted by her book keeper.
Wendy is the owner of Cherry Home Holdings Pty Ltd, an events management company operating in Mahikeng and Kuruman which specialises in hiring of equipments such as tables, chairs, artificial grass and tents.
The training forms part of the department’s initiatives of supporting the small business sector as one of trajectories of economic growth, and further represents a comprehensive package of skills that every businessperson needs.
