Staff reporter
Windhoek-The Northern Economist Businesswomen – an initiative of businesswoman Sara Elago – will host their 18th conference in August this year at Ongwediva.
Elago is a former Namibian Economist Businesswoman of the Year who won the award in 1999, and has been a patron of the northern businesswomen’s conference since its inception.
Chairperson of the Economist businesswomen project Desere Lundon-Muller outlined some of the aims of the conference.
“[It aims] to create an opportunity for women to share their expertise and skills, make new contacts, support one another and to create worthwhile business relationships whereby they can be held accountable for their regions,” she explained.
Lundon-Muller said the conference was tailored to all women who want to increase their professionalism, job satisfaction, add value to their organisation and encourage women entrepreneurs.
The presentations at the conference will be in English and Oshiwambo with simultaneous translation in each module to facilitate easier communication for participants at the conference.
Funds generated by the club will go towards the Economist Businesswomen’s Bursary Fund, which makes financial assistance available to female students who wish to study business related fields, Lundon-Muller said.
Standard Bank gave a sponsorship of N$85,000 towards the 2017 Economist Businesswomen’s Conference.
The bank’s spokesperson Surihe Gaomas-Guchu said N$80,000 would go towards the hosting of the conference while they would allocate the remaining N$5,000 as start-up capital for the best business idea competition run by the Economist Business Club.
Gaomas-Guchu said the bank wanted to create an enabling environment in which entrepreneurs could operate and flourish, because small and medium enterprises would be best placed to make a meaningful dent in the unemployment rate and in alleviating poverty. Sure Ritz Travel has sponsored five airline tickets for the conference.