Times Of Swaziland: 53 per cent of Swazi women are unemployed

53 per cent of Swazi women are unemployed
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BY TSAKASILE DLAMINI  on 21/08/2013 02:12:00


MBABANE – Research conducted by SARFED has revealed that 53 per cent of Swazi
women have no stable source of income.
SARFED, which stands for Sothern African Research Foundation for Economic
Development, is focused on entrepreneurship, women and child development as well
as public health matters.
It was also revealed that globally, only 38 per cent of registered companies
were owned by women.
Speaking during a press conference, George Choongwa the Regional Coordinator and
Country Organiser said the research that they had been conducting revealed that
there is a need for empowerment when it comes to participation in business.
“That is why we found it necessary to facilitate a conference that will
capacitate and empower women in the country,” he said. The COMESA
Entrepreneurship and Women Empowerment conference which will take place on
August 29 at Sibane Hotel, is one of the methods that SARFED and partners will
use to address the dwindling entrepreneurship and shortage of women in the
business sector.
Choongwa said participants during the upcoming conference will highlight the
areas that will benefit women in society and participants will learn cost
effective business methods.
Worked
He also said that since the organisation worked together with existing bodies in
the country, some of the presentations during the conference will be from
organisations such as SWEET, FSE, CANGO and their members, among others.
“We are expecting people with businesses as well as those who aspire to own
businesses to attend,” he said. He also said there would be a E300
participation fee for people interested in attending.
Speaking on behalf of SWEET (Swaziland Women Economic Empowerment Trust)
Phindile Weat-herson said they were glad to be a part of the upcoming conference
as creating employment is also one of their goals.
Weatherson also said the future plans of the organisation include becoming a
fully fledged financial institution. She also noted that one of the contributing
factors to poverty in the country is that savings are not part of the Swazi
culture.  Furthermore, she requested that the policies in the business sector
should not be too stringent such that they hinder investment and
entrepreneurship within the country.