{"id":214905,"date":"2019-08-17T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-17T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/214905\/pitch-polish-celebrates-female-entrepreneurs\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T14:20:57","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T12:20:57","slug":"pitch-polish-celebrates-female-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2019\/08\/17\/pitch-polish-celebrates-female-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Pitch & Polish celebrates female entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Female entrepreneurs celebrated the beginning of Women’s Month at the Engen Pitch & Polish workshop and competition in Woodmead.<\/p>\n

The competition takes place across the country and sees entrepreneurs from each region pitching their business to the audience, using the skills they learn on the day.<\/p>

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In a special workshop hosted on August 10 to celebrate Women\u2019s Day, women had the opportunity to learn important steps to better pitch their business ideas to potential investors.<\/p>\n

Five entrepreneurs also had the opportunity to pitch their business and stand a chance of winning over R80 000 in prizes.<\/p>

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Unathi Njokweni-Magida, the head of transformation for Engen, said that through entrepreneurship, women can be empowered to not only take care of themselves but their families and communities too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to help you create sustainable business models that will help you change the narrative of South Africa. We are not going to get jobs from government, we are going to create our own jobs,\u201d Njokweni-Magida said.<\/p>\n

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Ayanda Mvimbi, a programme specialist for United Nations Women, said they have found through their research that women make up the majority of people who are underpaid or unemployed.<\/p>\n

Mvimbi said they had found that in 2017, only eight per cent of government tenders were awarded to women.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to do more, government and businesses, to create access to business opportunities for women,\u201d said Mvimbi.<\/p>\n

She added that equality is one of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals and through this goal they hope to create sustainable partnerships with businesses, such as Engen, to promote equality.<\/p>\n

Mvimbi said one of the biggest challenges for small businesses is access the market.<\/p>\n

She said that as United Nations women, they work to influence policies and practices that make the market more accessible.<\/p>\n

During the workshop, the women had the opportunity to network with each other and brainstorm about how to best answer vital questions about their businesses.<\/p>\n

About 300 women attended the workshop and were excited to put their new skills to use.<\/p>\n