The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Features Reporter
WOMEN empowering other women is a beautiful and impactful phenomenon that is essential for creating a more inclusive and supportive society. This empowerment can take many forms, such as mentorship, advocacy and creating opportunities for one another.
As we wrap up International Women’s Month, it is important to share stories of women who have empowered and been empowered by other women, this way, we can inspire and encourage others to do the same.
One such woman, Mrs Nokuthula Ngwenya-Moyo, is on a drive to empower and uplift other women, creating successful businesses. She is the brains behind Uplift Business Ladies, an organisation that empowers and upskills women on financial management.
Her goal is to see women lifting each other up during challenges and fostering a sense of solidarity and sisterhood, for greater gender equality, increased confidence and a stronger sense of community among women.
In an interview, Mrs Ngwenya-Moyo said business financing has been a challenge among women.
Feature-Mrs Nokuthula Ngwenya-Moyo
“I observed that most women entrepreneurs were lacking funds to start or boost their businesses and this is when I decided to bring them together so that we can explore ways on how they can gain financial freedom.
“Financial freedom is a goal that many women aspire to achieve. Achieving financial freedom often involves careful budgeting, smart investing and making informed financial decisions,” she said.
Mrs Ngwenya-Moyo said they started doing crowd-funding for each other and set business goals towards money usage.
She said as Uplift Business Ladies, they become accountable to each other in order to grow in their businesses.
“I also observed that women entrepreneurs lack financial discipline and control, so during our Uplift Business Ladies gatherings, we teach each other on financial management. Before we can give a person money, we ask them about their goals and we also do follow-ups as they run the businesses,” she said.
Mrs Ngwenya-Moyo said they also host business showers to celebrate their new ventures while getting assistance in cash or kind as well as creating synergies with other businesses to grow their newly born enterprises.
As the owner of One-Stop Savers in Tsholotsho, she said her business shower last year in May assisted in putting her rural businesses in the limelight.
“As a businessperson, I capitalised on the large network I have. In our group with eight women who run various businesses, we saw the business shower concept as the best way to come together and network, grow, benefit and empower each other, just like what is done during a baby shower where mothers come together and support an expecting mother with baby preparation,” she said. “I took advantage of the business shower to increase my stock levels and renovated my two premises at Jowa and Tsholotsho Centre.”
A number of businesses in Bulawayo have embraced the business shower concept, as start-up founders are increasingly throwing business showers to mark a life-changing milestone of starting their own company. Some have received assistance in cash or kind to help grow their ventures from their social networks.
The business shower event is also characterised by exhibitions where those who will be showcasing their businesses pay for stalls at reasonable prices.
Business showers have inspired, motivated, and given support to those starting businesses. New entrepreneurs have benefited a lot in getting to understand what experiences and challenges others went through before their businesses became big.
Another woman who benefited from a business shower and the Uplift Business Ladies organisation, Ms Sibhekinkosi Sigola said she bought more sewing machines for her business.
“We are used to the traditional baby or wedding showers, so applying the same concept to business was an eye-opener for us as women. We are able to grow our businesses by supporting each other. As a woman into sewing, I took advantage of the funds that I got from my business shower to acquire more sewing machines so that I could expand my operations,” she said.
Ms Nozipho Ncube
Ms Sigola said one of the critical industrial machines she required was a buttonhole machine, as prior to acquiring it she would get services from other people, which would delay her from finishing sewing garments on time.
She said business showers were a valuable resource for them as female business owners who often face inequalities in pay and advancement opportunities among other things.
“I’m one person who believes that business showers facilitate access to essential resources for female business owners to scale up their businesses in a world where inequity otherwise limits their financial means. “My business is continuously growing, a true testament that if we work together as women, we can achieve anything we want,” she said.
Ms Nozipho Ncube who recently made a deposit for a recycling machine for plastics, said holding a business shower may seem a little strange at first, but it was more of commemorating an exciting milestone one would have achieved.
“It’s that feeling one can’t deny that this is something you have made yourself and achieved with the support of other women. A business shower also allows you to put yourself in a better position to get the resources you need to make it last.
“To grow my business through the support of other women under the Uplift Business Ladies organisation, I’m expanding my operations and I recently made a deposit for a recycling machine for plastics,” said Ms Ncube.
She said she intends to use the machine to make plastic shredders which are mostly imported from China, while at the same time, she will also be tackling the plastic waste problem chocking Bulawayo.
Ms Ncube said shredded plastic can be used to make products such as plaster, boundary markers, kerbstones, paving stones, boxes and garden fence posts among other things.
