Women account for less than 1 in 5 business owners in South Africa. While more than half of our population are women, the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) found that women make up only 19.4% of business owners in South Africa, ranking us 45th in the world when it comes to woman-run companies. That’s a long way behind other African nations like Uganda (39.6%), Botswana (38.5%), and Ghana (36.5%).
Historically, Women’s Month celebrates the strength and resilience of women and their contributions to our country and society. However, it is also an opportunity to draw attention to many critical issues women in South Africa still face. This August, Faithful to Nature will partner with its women-founded suppliers, entrepreneur ed-tech platform HeavyChef, clean skincare brand lelive, and global women’s organisation SheSays, to increase the representation of women entrepreneurs.
Heavy Chef, a learning platform for entrepreneurs, will be gifting 249 women-founded Faithful to Nature suppliers a year-long membership with Heavy Chef to help them build their businesses. Says Fred Roed, CEO & founder of Heavy Chef, “The Heavy Chef education team is incredibly excited to support the women entrepreneurs on the Faithful-to-Nature platform. By collaborating, we aim to tackle the obvious inequality in the South African business landscape. This is important work, and we are privileged to be part of it.”
Faithful to Nature has also partnered with clean skincare brand lelive, founded by local actress Amanda du-Pont. “It’s long overdue for women to be celebrated in business, and I love working with other businesses that share the same vision and drive to uplift and inspire other women to do the same,” says du-Pont.
SheSays and Faithful to Nature will end Women’s Month with a free event at Workshop17 in Cape Town on 25 August. The event will form a panel discussion with five dynamic women supporting female entrepreneurship in South Africa (including Faithful to Nature founder Robyn Smith), offering advice to other women on how to start their enterprises.
“It’s time for us to encourage, inspire, uplift women, and support them in their business ventures. This Women’s Month, we want to show South Africa that it is time to see women for who they are - strong, resilient and most importantly, extremely capable. Supporting women-run businesses is not only good for women but all of us. McKinsey & Company estimates that if women and men could start and grow businesses at an equal rate, the global GDP would likely increase by $28 trillion by 2025. Doesn’t that say it all?” says Smith.
About Faithful to Nature:
Faithful to Nature is an online retailer of natural and sustainable products, founded in 2006 by Robyn Smith. Faithful to Nature offers over 7,000 natural & sustainable products across health & supplements, food, beauty & personal care, home & lifestyle, and baby & kids. Faithful to Nature’s purpose is to make shopping more sustainably and ethically as easy as possible. Their vision is to build a future where more consumers shop conscious, from supporting local businesses to sourcing products that do not harm consumers, their communities, or our planet.
About Heavy Chef:
Heavy Chef is a learning platform for entrepreneurs, offering learning bites from successful entrepreneurs to a community of 35,000+ entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. Heavy Chef hosts the world’s leading technologists, leaders, and creatives and then shares their recipes of success with their members. Their membership service offers unlimited access to thousands of entrepreneur micro-courses and free access to monthly entrepreneur events. Heavy Chef believes that entrepreneurs can change the world for the better, and their purpose is to inspire entrepreneurs on their journey and empower them to succeed.
About lelive:
lelive (pronounced leh-lee-veh) was created in 2020 by Amanda du-Pont. lelive’s mission is to make clean, simple, effective and affordable skincare while celebrating what makes Africa unique. The range was developed by expert formulators alongside lelive’s dedicated online community, with sustainability in mind – their ingredients (95% natural and up to 5% plant-identical) are sourced responsibly, with local African ingredients as the heroes. Their packaging (mostly aluminium due to its recyclability) avoids using plastic wherever possible. The range is also vegan, cruelty-free, and reef safe.
About SheSays:
SheSays is a global movement and community that supports women in the creative industry through mentorship, networking, and content aimed at powering their careers forward. SheSays has chapters in over 55 cities across the globe, including Cape Town and Johannesburg. Founded in 2007, it is the first and largest global network for creative women, with an estimated 70,000 members, giving a voice to over 1,600 speakers worldwide. The Cape Town chapter is led by Anelde Greeff (co-founder and Chief Content Officer of 2Stories), veteran marketer and brand architect Pride Maunatlala, and product strategist Cassidy Nydahl.
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