Jozi named a world-class city for women entrepreneurs
30 June 2016
The City of Johannesburg’s women empowerment policies are paying off.
Joburg has been named among the top 25 cities in the world where women entrepreneurs thrive.
New York tops the list, followed by the San Francisco Bay Area, London, Stockholm, Singapore, Toronto and Washington DC. Johannesburg is positioned ahead of Jakarta and Istanbul. Johannesburg's achievement is thanks largely to a host of policies and initiatives the City has put in place to advance the empowerment of women entrepreneurs.
The initiatives, which are being spearheaded by Executive Mayor Cllr Parks Tau, include Women Entrepreneurship Week, which is part of Women’s Month; the Women’s Development Strategy, which has been running since 2005; and the City’s Growth and Development Strategy 2040 (GDS 2040) and its 10 Priorities; and the Young Women’s Programme.
On Monday June 27 the 2016 Women Entrepreneur Cities Index’s findings were used as a basis for conversation at the 7th annual Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) Summit in Cape Town. DWEN is a global grouping of 200 top female entrepreneurs, business leaders, media and Dell's partners. The Women Entrepreneur Cities Index looks at a city’s ability to attract and foster growth in companies founded by women entrepreneurs.
“Innovation and job creation by women entrepreneurs is critical for a thriving global economy, yet our research shows some cities and countries are doing far more than others to encourage and support this important subset of the start-up community,” said Karen Quintos, the information technology company's Senior Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer.
“Our index provides insights to move the conversation with policymakers and city leaders from awareness to action and, in turn, to empowering women entrepreneurs to have the greatest economic impact on the world,” she said.
Quintos said women entrepreneurs still faced challenges including access to funding, government policies, cultural bias and the lack of role models to inspire the next generation. Elizabeth Gore, Dell's Entrepreneur-in-Residence, said women entrepreneurs should “learn, launch and scale” their businesses. She encouraged them to learn from each other and take the best business practices.
Gore said with a high number of elected women, South Africa and Rwanda had enabling policies.
“Policies in these countries could almost leapfrog due to women in leadership positions. When other women see this, it acts as good examples to inspire them.”
Doug Woolley, General Manager of Dell SA, said although IT had enabled women entrepreneurs to start their own businesses, the country’s empowerment codes and flexible policies provided even greater opportunities for them.