Government has acknowledged that women-owned businesses still remain excluded from meaningful economic opportunities.
It argues that the time for symbolic commitments has passed and that women’s empowerment must now translate into access to markets, finance and procurement.
Launching Women’s Month and the ‘EMPOWER HER Women’ in Trade Fair in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday, Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga said women entrepreneurs continued to face structural barriers despite decades of policy commitments aimed at advancing gender equality.
“The economic empowerment programme of action has long passed sloganeering. It must now be visible — visible in markets, in finance, in procurement, in enterprise support, in digital inclusion, in policy reform, and in measurable follow-through,” Chikunga said.
She said government was using the ‘EMPOWER HER’ Trade Fair as a practical intervention to connect women-owned businesses with buyers, investors, financial institutions, government departments and corporate supply chains, with the aim of creating lasting commercial opportunities rather than once-off exhibitions.
According to Chikunga, many women-owned enterprises continue to struggle with limited access to finance, investment, procurement opportunities, business development support, technology and formal markets, making it difficult for them to expand into sustainable and commercially viable businesses.
She said women remained underrepresented in government and corporate supply chains and often found themselves confined to low-growth sectors with limited participation in high-value industries.
“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,” she said.
Chikunga said the trade fair sought to move beyond showcasing products by facilitating commercial transactions, investment opportunities, procurement agreements, business partnerships and long-term market linkages.
She said the platform was intended to ensure that women-owned businesses became active participants in building domestic and regional economies rather than remaining on the margins of economic activity.
“This is a working platform. It is a space where we as government, the private sector, financial institutions, buyers, development partners, and women-owned enterprises must move from feel-good intentions to holding each other accountable,” she said.
The minister said government could not address the challenges facing women entrepreneurs on its own, arguing that financial institutions, retailers, large businesses and development partners all had a responsibility to create practical pathways for women to participate in supply chains and access finance.
She called on private companies to make supplier requirements clearer, expand procurement opportunities and assist women-owned businesses to enter formal markets.
Financial institutions, she said, should also focus on making finance more accessible by providing greater clarity on funding requirements, business readiness and support mechanisms.
Addressing women entrepreneurs, Chikunga encouraged them to use the platform to engage buyers, financial institutions and government agencies while building partnerships capable of growing their businesses.
“We need not wait for anyone’s permission, nor for anyone’s endorsement. That time has long passed,” she said.
Chikunga said the success of the initiative would not be measured by attendance figures but by the number of businesses linked to buyers, finance, procurement opportunities and long-term enterprise support after the event.
She said women-owned businesses did not require sympathy but fair access to markets, investment, procurement opportunities and accountable partnerships.
The Women’s Month launch coincides with South Africa’s commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Women’s March under the theme “Empowered Women, Empower Nations.”
