Funding boost offers lifeline to 25 KZN women entrepreneurs

Efforts to strengthen women-owned businesses in KwaZulu-Natal received a boost on Monday when more than R1 million was injected into the Women Advancement Fund (WAF) through a partnership with Absa Bank. The funding, handed over in Durban, will support 25 women entrepreneurs across the province to expand operations, improve sustainability and position their enterprises for long-term growth. KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli said the initiative forms part of the provincial government’s broader strategy to remove structural barriers facing women in business and stimulate inclusive economic growth.

He described economic empowerment as central to addressing wider social challenges, including gender-based violence and femicide, arguing that improving women’s access to economic opportunities must go hand in hand with social interventions. Ntuli urged beneficiaries to treat the funding as a springboard rather than a once-off intervention. “The goal is not only survival of your enterprises but expansion into national and global markets,” he said.

Sindisiwe Dlamini, a business owner from Nquthu in northern KZN, said persistence had finally paid off after repeated unsuccessful applications. The payout comes amid growing interest in entrepreneurship among women and youth in the province. Last year alone, the provincial government received close to 10 000 business funding applications, highlighting both demand for capital and the scale of economic pressures facing small enterprises.