Businesswomen hold first summit

THE first Namibian Businesswomen’s Summit kicked off yesterday, with the theme ‘Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Growth’.

The three-day summit at the Safari court was initiated by businesswomen from around the country who saw the need to draw motivation and inspiration from their own communities. The summit is aimed at tackling issues of imbalance in the business sector, has introduced a round table for businesswomen to share information and discuss the challenges they encounter.Women were urged to unite and support each other, to overcome challenges of gender discrimination, and to integrate into the traditional male business sector.Women who are running businesses in male-dominated arenas such as construction face discrimination, as society does not accept that a woman can do man’s work, said Tuwilika Hamwele of the Joint Consultative Council, an umbrella organisation for service providers to SMEs.Keynote speaker Marlene Mungunda said even though the percentage of female-owned businesses is on the increase, access to finance for enterprise development is a huge barrier for many women.Her views were shared by businesswoman Anne Thandeka Gebhardt, who said: “Women have been given a fair share in tough political arenas, so now it is time for women to venture into economic leadership roles.”The summit is aimed at tackling issues of imbalance in the business sector, has introduced a round table for businesswomen to share information and discuss the challenges they encounter.Women were urged to unite and support each other, to overcome challenges of gender discrimination, and to integrate into the traditional male business sector.Women who are running businesses in male-dominated arenas such as construction face discrimination, as society does not accept that a woman can do man’s work, said Tuwilika Hamwele of the Joint Consultative Council, an umbrella organisation for service providers to SMEs.Keynote speaker Marlene Mungunda said even though the percentage of female-owned businesses is on the increase, access to finance for enterprise development is a huge barrier for many women. Her views were shared by businesswoman Anne Thandeka Gebhardt, who said: “Women have been given a fair share in tough political arenas, so now it is time for women to venture into economic leadership roles.”