Property Point and The Black Management Forum (BMF) have joined forces through a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at driving the meaningful participation of women in the SME environment through development initiatives.
A lot has been made about the conspicuously small number of black-owned businesses in the country’s lucrative property sector 27 years into the country’s democracy. While, relatively speaking, black men have made strides, participating in various levels of the supply chain, the situation for women is different. Just as it has been extensively documented in other sectors, black women face barriers to enter, let alone progress in the property business.
This is what a cooperation between Property Point and The Black Management Forum (BMF) is aimed at tackling. The two have joined forces through a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at driving the meaningful participation of women in the SME environment through development initiatives. The partnership is anchored on the core objective shared by both parties to pursue socio-economic transformation as an imperative.s
One of the first action items is the launch of a women-only cohort of 15 women in the property sector, in partnership with Growthpoint Properties. This first cohort will consist of Johannesburg-based women-owned businesses that are members of the BMF. The qualifying businesses will be taken through a two-year small business support programme to scale and grow their already existing operations, the programme will later be extended to other regions across the country.
The partnership between Property Point and the BMF also seeks to empower a wider audience of women-owned businesses through content and information sharing and mentorship initiatives. We look forward to the impact that this partnership will have for women-owned businesses.