NORTHERN BUSINESS REVIEW
B-BBEE Commission to host a Women Empowerment Conference for awareness on women opportunities
The B-BBEE Commission will host its first Women Empowerment Conference, with the theme Advancing Women Economic Empowerment through the B-BBEE Act, on 24 August 2018 at Velmore Hotel, Erasmia, Pretoria in Gauteng, from 08:00-14:00, which will be addressed by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry Ms Joan Fubbs, and the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe as main speakers, and will cover opportunities available for black women, eradicating barriers to economic participation and increasing women participation on boards and ownership structures of companies and government entities.
One of the objectives of the B-BBEE Act is to increase the extent to which black women own and manage existing and new enterprises, and increasing their access to economic activities, infrastructure and skills training. To achieve this, black women must have access to financial and non-financial assistance to acquire stakes in companies or to start their own businesses, and be able to sustain them. According to the B-BBEE Commission recently released report, black women ownership on Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) sits at 9%, which has regressed compared to 10.32% in 2016.
Further, the target set in the Codes of Good Practice for black women representation on boards is at 25%, but the report released by the B-BBEE Commission indicates that black women representation is only at 18% for companies listed on the JSE, which figure includes foreign nationals, despite women being in the majority in South Africa. White males continue to occupy 58% of the board positions, with black males accounting for 20% of board positions.
The conference aims to raise awareness during this women’s month and will focus on ways to eradicate barriers but also how to take advantage of the opportunities provided in the B-BBEE Act to develop women and grow women-owned businesses. The target audience for the conference includes women organisations, women-owned businesses, women in government, NGO’s, associations, tertiary and Grade 12 students, people with disabilities and women at large, including the youth, as they have been identified as people who are lagging behind in accessing economic opportunities.
Information on the conference is available on the website www.bbbeecommission.co.za.
The B-BBEE Commission was established in terms of section 13B of the B-BBEE Act 53 of 2003 as amended by Act No 46 of 2013 with powers effective from 6 June 2016. The B-BBEE Commission’s mandate, amongst others, is to supervise and encourage adherence to the B-BBEE Act in the interest of the public, conduct reactive and proactive investigations and promote good governance and accountability by creating an effective and efficient environment for the promotion and implementation of the objectives of broad-based black economic empowerment.
Sidwell Medupe – Departmental Spokesperson
Department of Trade and Industry
Tel: +27 12 394 1650
Mobile : +27 79 492 1774
E-mail : MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Follow us on Twitter: @the_dti
About Us
The Northern Business Review is a business community newspaper that provides a platform for businesses to market their products and services, as well as build their brand, but equally important the publication provides information, advice and topics of interest, including business, entrepreneurial, economic reviews and simple ideas to grow your business. The publication has a primary objective to “uniquely” represent businesses to a wide audience across the community as well as provide a media platform of business articles and information that affect, influence and uplift the business environment within our defined geographical and cultural community.