South Africa opened 2026 Women’s Month with action rather than words. On Saturday in Durban, the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, launched the EmpowerHer Market Trade Fair — a partnership between government and ABSA designed to move women-owned businesses from the margins of the economy into its main value chains, SAnews reports.
The fair gives women entrepreneurs a platform to showcase products and services, access new markets, strike business partnerships and engage directly with investors and customers.
More Than an Exhibition
Chikunga was emphatic that the initiative is designed to produce transactions, not just visibility. “This Trade Fair is not merely an exhibition — it is an economic empowerment and market access intervention. It seeks to achieve visibility, market access, business deals, procurement, investment, enterprise growth, job creation, and economic empowerment,” the Minister said.
On the exhibition floor, entrepreneurs had access to business pitch sessions, finance and development finance desks, procurement and buyer discussions, and support clinics — practical stations aimed at converting interest into orders, funding and long-term market linkages.
Breaking Down the Barriers
The Minister spoke frankly about the structural hurdles that hold women entrepreneurs back: limited access to markets and procurement, finance and investment, business development support, technology, information, networks and supply-chain opportunities. Many women-owned enterprises, she noted, operate in informal or small-scale markets and struggle to grow into sustainable, commercially viable businesses.
“Too often, women-owned enterprises are visible in policy language, but invisible in actual value chains. They are invited to events but not linked to buyers. They are encouraged to formalise but not supported through the compliance burden. We are here to insist that this must change.”
The programme deliberately includes women-owned enterprises, youth-owned enterprises and businesses owned by or inclusive of persons with disabilities. For persons with disabilities, Chikunga said, inclusion means accessibility, reasonable accommodation and real economic opportunity; for young women, it means support to enter markets early and participate in emerging sectors; and for women in rural and township economies, it means bringing support closer to where economic activity actually happens.
When Women-Owned Businesses Grow, Everyone Wins
Chikunga underlined the ripple effect of supporting women in business: households, communities, local economies and the country all benefit. She called for coordinated support between the state and its partners — “fragmented support will only produce fragmented outcomes” — and for a shift from once-off showcases to structured, ongoing economic participation.
As Women’s Month gets under way across the country, the EmpowerHer Market Trade Fair sets an encouraging tone: a month that starts with pitch sessions, procurement conversations and investor meetings is a month pointed firmly at lasting change.
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
_(6156349529).jpg){kind=link}
Leave a Reply