Lizl Budhram Women encouraged to make smart money moves Cardi B’s was the breakout story of 2017. She stretched her 15 minutes of fame as a social media influencer to become a rapper and reality TV phenomenon. Her hit Bodak Yellow struck a chord with millions because of her bold take on money, her in-your-face confidence and, well, the beat. Her story has also inspired many women working to build success for themselves and their families. Lizl Budhram, Head of Advice at Old Mutual Personal Finance, says that although we can’t all catapult to stardom and wealth like Cardi B, she is indeed inspiring women with her determination to explore and manage multiple income streams to support herself and her family. “Earning money from various sources is definitely a growing trend. The latest findings from Old Mutual’s Savings & Investment monitor show that already 43% of working metro South Africans have a side job over and above their formal employment, up from 37% in 2017. This ...

Gugu Mjadu Successful female entrepreneurs hone in on the importance of education this Women’s Month South Africa has low female entrepreneurial activity with female entrepreneurs accounting for only 31% of all entrepreneurs in the country. Furthermore, data from the most recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for South Africa shows that the ratio of women involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activity in 2017 compared to that of their male counterparts, was at 0.69 - a concerning but negligible 0.05 decline since 2016. Gugu Mjadu, spokesperson for the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS says that the low female entrepreneurial activity is a worrisome statistic, as the country’s economy begs for growing levels of entrepreneurship across the board. Speaking in light of Women’s Month this August, Mjadu says that there needs to be a widespread culture shift when it comes to entrepreneurship in South Africa. “In addition to boo...

Gugu Mjadu The entrepreneurial gender gap is slowly closing in many countries, and in these countries women as likely as men to start a small business. In hot pursuit of such gender parity is South Africa, where seven women are engaged in early-stage entrepreneurship for every ten male entrepreneurs, according to the recently released 2016/2017 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Speaking in light of National Women’s Month, Gugu Mjadu, spokesperson for the 2017 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition , sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS , says that it is important for both the public and private sectors to band together in order to create an environment where women entrepreneurs feel well-supported in terms of business growth and development. “According to some of the top female entrepreneurs in South Africa, and finalists of the 2017 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition, although there are highly capable and talented female entrepreneurs in the country, the landscape could be m...

Franchises can empower women in many ways and contribute to community development, but franchisors will do well to take note of the fact that women empowerment must also happen at the home of the franchise, says Richard Mukheibir, Managing Director of Cash Converters . He has seen women take on the challenge to become franchise owners in the past two decades, turning the theory that women are not tough enough to own a business in the second-hand category on its head. “Working to change the male-dominated environment to make space for women and empower them in the business world, we were also aware that our own staff, at head office, was predominantly male. If we wanted to empower women outside the business, we also had to empower them from the inside. We had to attract women to our business and help them to thrive.” And thrive they did. Various studies of women in business have found that they are loyal, conscientious, full of initiative, display a high standard of workmanship and de...

If you are a woman entrepreneur with plans to start your own business, or to grow an existing business, getting mentorship from existing entrepreneurs or membership of an entrepreneurship support group could be an important step in realising your business goals. As a first step, believe in yourself and your abilities to succeed. At GroFin , we support a number of highly successful female entrepreneurs and it is our experience that being a woman has never hindered an entrepreneur’s ability to run a profitable business. Having said that, we would also caution that women do face challenges unique to their gender which may influence their decisions when starting or growing their business. So, our GroFin Kenya investment officers spoke to two of the successful businesswomen that GroFin supports, in order to help other women entrepreneurs get their advice right from the horse’s mouth. Pamela Muyeshi, the owner of Amaica , a restaurant specialising in authentic Kenyan cuisine, and Ruth Kw...

The old story of low-skilled women entrepreneurs in the informal sector may be about to be rewritten by a fresh wave of tech-savvy and well educated women entrepreneurs. On the occasion of Women’s Month in South Africa, GroFin would like to celebrate such women and their contribution to Africa’s growth story.  If the past is any indication, women entrepreneurs have not had an easy time of it. And, African women have had it even harder. According to figures from the World Bank, while worldwide, at least 30 percent of women in the non-agricultural labour force are self-employed in the informal sector; in Africa, this figure is as high as 63 percent. But is this about to change? The World Bank study also points out that today, increasingly, women are making major strides in educational attainment at primary and secondary levels, pointing to an emerging breed of women who can become knowledge-based entrepreneurs of tomorrow. With global financial institutions like the World ...

Jeremy Lang Female entrepreneurs are playing an increasingly significant role in the South African economy, with financing figures from local small and medium enterprise (SME) risk financier, Business Partners Limited (BUSINESS/PARTNERS) , showing an encouraging cultural and empowerment shift in the country. 41% of BUSINESS/PARTNERS clients are female-owned SMEs – where at least 25% of the business is owned by women, and in which the female entrepreneur is actively involved. Further encouraging is that of the R310 million invested in female entrepreneurs in the 2016 financial year, the majority went to businesses in the traditionally male-dominated industries of manufacturing and retail. Jeremy Lang, regional general manager at BUSINESS/PARTNERS, says that recent investments also show that women are going into formerly male-dominated industries such as engineering. Additionally, sectors where female entrepreneurs have already established a sizeable presence, such as tourism, educat...

There is a longstanding misconception that investing, and the world of finance in general, is a man’s game. If you think about finance-related films - The Big Short, The Wolf of Wall Street, and the 1987 Michael Douglas classic Wall Street – could you name a female investor character? The unfortunate reality is that the investment world is generally perceived as a male dominated one. This is the view of Jenna Hartley, Investor Consultant at 10X Investments , who says that, interestingly enough, global research shows that there is a large uptake in female investors. “In a recent Blackrock survey[2], it indicated that there is almost no difference between male and female investor numbers.” Hartley believes, however, that the difference is the female approach to investing - a difference that might prove to be more effective over the long-term. Asking the right questions In her experience, Hartley says that the first thing that you notice about female investors is that they are m...

Zaza Motha As we continue to celebrate Women’s Month this August, Engel & Völkers Southern Africa had the privilege to chat to some of SA’s most influential woman, and gain some insight into their lives on both a professional and personal level by delving into their property insights and preferences. This week we focus on Zaza Motha, an Award-winning journalist & founder of POUT Q]     What impact do you think woman's right to vote had on our country? A]     I will speak from my personal experience on this issue. The impact has been tremendous. I was made aware of the right to vote in 1994. This was a few years after my mom was killed when I was seven, towards the end of apartheid. She was shot in front of her six kids and that left a lot of scars but filled me with a fire to tell the world my story…hence my decision to become a journalist. The right to vote for all women, has afforded me the opportunities that I'm enjoying today. I'm...

Rosella Dingle Engel & Völkers Southern Africa had the privilege to chat to some of SA’s most influential woman. This Woman’s month we are interested in gaining some insight into their lives on both a professional and a personal level by delving into their property insights and preferences. Today we focus on Rosella R Dingle, CEO of Rainbow Junction Development Company (Pty) Ltd Q]    What impact do you think woman's right to vote had on our country? A]    In SA the impact is naturally as big an impact as any country, where women are at least half the population, without which any decisions can surely only be half as relevant. In SA with our particular history of gender inequality, this relevance is even more meaningful. Q]    What is your motto in life? A]    These mottos are continually being updated by new and more relevant ones, but my current favourites are: “People don't remember what you said, or what you...

Gugu Mjadu As we celebrate Women’s Month, the 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition , sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS has revealed a record number of entries received from female entrepreneurs - growing by more than 38% from 2015. Gugu Mjadu, spokesperson for the 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS, says that this is extremely encouraging given the latest 2015-2016 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor South African report showed that only six women were engaged in early-stage entrepreneurship for every 10 males in 2015, down from eight women in 2014. “We are lucky to have a wealth of undiscovered talent within our country that, given the right support, will flourish,” comments Mjadu. She goes on to say that this can be done by identifying the challenges that female South African entrepreneurs are regularly faced with and creating effective ways in which they can be overcome. “One challenge which was brought to light by...