3,500 Women Entrepreneurs to Benefit from App-Based and Online Training from GIBS, Cherie Blair Foundation
3,500 Women Entrepreneurs to Benefit from App-Based and Online Training from GIBS, Cherie Blair Foundation
Press Release updated 2 years ago

3,500 Women Entrepreneurs to Benefit from App-Based and Online Training from GIBS, Cherie Blair Foundation

The GIBS Entrepreneurship Development Academy, DHL Express and the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust are collaborating to bring the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women’s award-winning programmes to 3,500 women entrepreneurs to help boost their businesses!

In ongoing efforts to unlock business skills for women, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women has partnered with the Gordon Institute of Business Science’s (GIBS) Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA) and DHL Express. Together, they will deliver the Foundation’s award-winning mobile learning app HerVenture and flagship business skills training programme Road to Growth to over 3,500 women business owners in South Africa. This in turn spells incredible benefits to families, communities and the economy.

 

HerVenture provides women entrepreneurs of micro and small enterprises with the knowledge and skills required to successfully advance their businesses. It has reached more than 50,000 women across the globe to date. Available in South Africa thanks to funding from DHL Express and the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust, the GIBS EDA has been tasked with engaging at least 3,500 more women entrepreneurs as users by the end of 2022.

 

HerVenture has been specifically created, crafted, and curated using a gender lens approach to help women claim their rightful space as equal and skilled entrepreneurs. Access to markets remains a key challenge for women entrepreneurs who are often constrained by heteronormative gender norms such as being solely responsible for childcare and household responsibilities beyond their career ventures. The app consequently promotes women’s agency and facilitates access to markets by allowing users to find, connect, and collaborate with other women entrepreneurs, and can also be used to learn about local business events.

 

Road to Growth, the Foundation’s intensive, seven-week investment readiness training programme, will be brought to South Africa for the first time, building on the 2,800 women it has supported so far worldwide. Delivered by the GIBS EDA, the programme will offer a select group of 50 women entrepreneurs the opportunity to progress in their entrepreneurial journey, building business skills, financial literacy, networks and confidence via online learning and coaching.

 

The partnership builds on the successes of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and DHL Express’ ongoing collaboration. This has included piloting HerVenture in South Africa in 2021. The app was met with a target-breaking uptake and wide praise as over 2,000 women entrepreneurs used it to achieve growth and resilience, with the majority of users reporting improved business performance.

 

Now, thanks to the partnership’s addition of the GIBS EDA and the project’s inclusion of Road to Growth, this impact is set to scale. Over 2022, HerVenture will support women to bridge the alarming digital gender divide by offering crucial and accessible digital skills, with 94% of existing users saying they will apply the app’s teachings when running their business. With the addition of Road to Growth, offering women a “next step” in their entrepreneurial journey, 50 more women-owned businesses will boom across South Africa. This, in turn, will spell huge benefits to families, local communities and the economy as women invest in their children’s health and education, create jobs, innovate, provide essential services and challenge gender stereotypes as leaders.

 

“Supporting the growth of women-owned enterprises provides South Africa with the opportunity to generate sustainable economic livelihoods, reduce poverty and grow the economy. Since 2021 our HerVenture app has supported over 2,000 women in South Africa to overcome barriers and grow their businesses, in turn contributing to their families, communities and the economy. We’re delighted to build on this work in 2022 and support thousands more women entrepreneurs through HerVenture and Road to Growth, together with our partners DHL Express, the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust, and Gordon Institute of Business Science.” said Helen McEachern, CEO at the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.

 

Hennie Heymans, CEO at DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, adds, “We are delighted to be a part of this incredible programme, aimed at empowering and upskilling women entrepreneurs in South Africa. The partnership with GIBS EDA will help accelerate the reach dramatically and positively impact even more families and communities. Supporting women’s economic empowerment increases diversity and boosts income equality, which directly drives economic growth for all.”

 

Miranda Hosking, Managing Executive for Social Education at GIBS added, “Women’s economic empowerment is essential to inclusive economic growth. We are passionate about creating and contributing to a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem that will enable women entrepreneurs to flourish so that they are ultimately able to build sustainable businesses and generate much needed jobs. We are proud to be partnering with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women to capacitate women entrepreneurs with the necessary skills to effectively run and optimise their businesses.”

 

For media enquiries, contact the GIBS EDA’s Marketing Manager, Faiza Mallick at mallickf@gibs.co.za

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