The City of Johannesburg might be experiencing a few challenges but there are notable areas where it is making a mark globally. And one of them is being ranked amongst the top 25 cities in the world which nurture potential women entrepreneurs, according to the latest 2016 Women Entrepreneur Cities Index (WE Cities).
The index looks at a city’s ability to attract and foster growth in firms founded by women entrepreneurs. The findings from WE Cities index are used as a springboard for conversation and change at the seventh annual Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network Summit (DWEN) taking place in Cape Town this week.
Doug Woolley, general manager of Dell in South Africa, attributes progress which has been made to the use of information technology, which has enabled women entrepreneurs to use opportunities to start businesses. He believes women in South Africa are well placed exploit entrepreneurial opportunities due to empowerment codes and flexible policies.
However, Woolley acknowledges that the main barriers women entrepreneurs face is lack of access to venture capital and markets.
“South Africans are actually very entrepreneurial by nature. We must not underestimate ourselves,” says Woolley, adding that having the DWEN in Cape Town – the first time it takes place in Africa – brings excellent exposure to the country.
The DWEN is a global gathering of 200 of the top female entrepreneurs, business leaders, media and Dell partners and the theme for this year’s summit is “Innovate for a Future-Ready World”.
“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, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Dell.
According to Quintos, the top five challenges facing women entrepreneurs are being able to obtain venture capital, government policies, cultural bias, access to capital and needing success stories of other women entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation of young women.
Information credits: Adapted for Transform SA Online from a report which was published on New24 Online
