29 Jul 2015

The deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, Ms Rose Sennanyana, says government is aware of the challenges faced by women in business.

Speaking at a business forum at the Northern Women’s Exposition in Francistown recently, Ms Sennanyana said her ministry came up with the expo to help women share ideas on how they could improve their businesses.

She said the exhibition also gave women a platform to market their products. She called on women to take the exhibition seriously because government alone could not grow their businesses without their participation.

Ms Sennanyana said women entrepreneurs should use government funding prudently.

She noted that women could curb abuse through their sustainable businesses because in most cases abused women were those who lived in poverty and depended on the abuser.

Francistown mayor, Ms Sylvia Muzila, implored women to consider growing their small businesses into big entities instead of wasting their energy on petty activities such as gossip. She encouraged the women to work together to improve their businesses.

She challenged them to always do market surveys and avoid duplicating each other’s businesses.  She said most fashion designers in the country specialised in German print, a thing that she said was not good.

Ms Muzila warned women against inflating prices, especially when they won government tenders. She encouraged them to embrace new technology.

The theme for this year’s expo is Beijing +20-Women’s Economic Empowerment: Prosperity and Progress for All. The expo started on July 27, and it will end on August 2.  Ends