Businesswomen in the Financial Services Sector
Graça Machel Trust in partnership with Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority (FASSET) are excited to invite women-owned and run businesses operating in the financial services sector to apply for our Enterprise Development Programme: Women Creating Wealth (WCW).
According to a UN Women 2020 publication, the global pandemic has put 47 million women into poverty. Small and medium enterprises are critical to solving the poverty problem through employment, but women-owned businesses often face challenges in accessing finance and markets. Research also shows that women entrepreneurship is increasing faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world, but most of the businesses are small-scale and rarely developed into larger, more profitable businesses.
We believe that women-owned businesses have the potential to transform families and communities, but we recognize that many face barriers to growth including; lack of confidence, skills, technical assistance, networks, and access to markets and finance. WCW aims to address these challenges and transform womenâs businesses form income generation to wealth creation.
Our program approach and support include the following ways:
- Strengthening business skills, confidence, and personal power through inspiring goal setting and learning, business skills and confidence building, and providing peer-to-peer and master coaching.
- Convening a supportive business community to foster networking, strengthen leadership, and champion solutions to the gender lens structural gaps.
- Preparing and facilitating investor showcasing to attract more capital to women-owned businesses.
- Showcasing and increasing the visibility of women-owned businesses to increase market access and debunk the myth that “we cannot find the women.”
- Partnering, engaging, and influencing ecosystem players to strengthen interventions that increase access to markets and finance for women in business.
ELIGIBILIY CIRITERIA:
- Business must be a registered business, operating for at least 2 years
- Business must be under the financial services sector including, finance, real estate, property finance professionals and business services.
- Businessowner must have a minimum qualification of a matric certificate
- Business annual turnover threshold is R120,000 – R10 million
- Applications are welcome from South African citizens
DURATION:
The program duration is 10 months:
- 4 months of blended learning training – recommended time commitment is 4 – 6 hours a week
- 6 months Aftercare – 4 hours per month of advisory and mentorship services.
DELIVERY:
- The program is delivered primarily online through peer-to-peer learning and master coaching.
FEES:
- WCW requires a commitment fee of R1500 â this will also be waivered by FASSET for successful applicants. This fee is invested towards post-training support interventions.
IMPORTANT DATES:
- Closing date:
- The deadline for applications has been extended to 26 April 2023.Â
- Information sessions: 15 & 21 March 2023
- Course Enrolment Orientation: 18 April 2023
INFORMATION SESSIONS:
- Join our Information Session on 21 March 2023. Click here to REGISTER.Â
Apply here
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