Date: 29/04/2003
Source: Deputy Ministry of Trade and Industry
Title: Hendricks: JSE - SAWEN MOU signing


SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY, LINDIWE HENDRICKS, AT THE JSE - SAWEN MOU SIGNING, JSE Auditorium, 29 April 2003

Programme Director, Ladies and Gentlemen, there are a number of challenges facing women entrepreneurs in South Africa today. Amongst such challenges are, education opportunities, cultural biases, societal perceptions, the regulatory environment, management opportunities, and family responsibilities. The impact of these challenges results in women entrepreneurs finding it more difficult to get adequate finance, having inadequate skills to start and manage a business, finding challenges in breaking into the marketplace for their products or services, as well as the risks of crime and violence, lack of access to information, and often poor use and understanding of technology.

In meeting these challenges and constraints facing women enterprises the dti and its family of institutions have over the past few years developed a number of support measures to assist women entrepreneurs. One such intervention is the South African Women Entrepreneurs Network (SAWEN). For those of you present tonight and are not aware of SAWEN, it is a network that has been established to assist aspiring and existing women in business to find solutions to these gender related obstacles that have an adverse impact on their businesses. The network will address these constraints by advocating appropriate policy changes, building capacity and facilitating the access of women to business resources and information.

SAWEN has been established as an organisation that is independent from the dti but is receiving support from us at a number of different levels. Two weeks ago in my presentation of the dti budget to the National Assembly in Parliament I announced that this year SAWEN would be receiving R2 million from the dti to kickstart its operations. This is an important step in our efforts to support women entrepreneurs.

I am pleased that tonight we are taking another step in support of women entrepreneurs by signing this MOU between SAWEN and the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE).

In speaking to and listening to the concerns of many women entrepreneurs over the past few years I have found that one of the gaps in their knowledge is an understanding of how stock markets, commodity markets and bond markets work. I have also found that there is also a lack of understanding about how ordinary businesswomen can get involved in these markets as investors, being listed or even becoming traders or stockbrokers.

Such a gap is the result of our unfortunate Apartheid history and the patriarchal society that we come from where women and black women in particular were excluded from such institutions and not encouraged to participate in this area. It is therefore very necessary to bridge this gap so that women entrepreneurs can start to involve themselves in these mechanisms of investment, finance and business opportunities.

I believe that equality in South African business will never be fully achieved if women do not understand the workings of stock, commodity and bond markets, the operations of the Johannesburg Security Exchange and how to engage with these markets and institutions. The signing of the MOU between SAWEN, which represents thousands of businesswomen across the country and the JSE, which manages these markets is therefore significant. The MOU outlines the need for women entrepreneurs to receive training in these areas and commits the JSE to offering such training. It will be incumbent on the leadership of SAWEN to ensure that women entrepreneurs are informed about such training and that is co-ordinated with the education unit of the JSE so that it takes place regularly.

Also tabled in the MOU is the JSE's offer of their facilities for SAWEN meetings. I would like to thank the JSE for their support in this area.

The relationship between the two institutions which has been formalised by the signing of this MOU tonight and the role played by the dti in facilitating this agreement is an excellent example of Community Public Private partnership and one in which all players are set to benefit. I hope that the impact of this venture will see an increasing number of women owned enterprises being listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, women owned stock broking firms being established and many more businesswomen investing in shares.

Thank you, goodnight.

Issued by the Office of the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry