While women are yet to break the glass ceiling in the business arena, a recent trend is encouraging.
According to FNB Business, there has been an increase in the number of women owned businesses and women entrepreneurs over the past two years.
FNB says it has observed that the average growth rate in women owned businesses within its customer base is approximately 11%.
Sanjeev Orie, CEO of FNB Business Value-Adds says that the growth in the number of women entrepreneurs is a positive development for South Africa, because women make up over 50% of the national population.
“The main challenge is ensuring that women who have started businesses get the necessary support to not only survive, but thrive.”
He added: “Within our client base, we have observed that businesses, which have been operating for less than two years, tend to succumb to tough economic or operating conditions. Therefore, our objective is to offer increased support and cost-effective solutions to enable the businesses to be sustainable.”