BY CHELSEA MUSAFARE
UNITED KINGDOM-BASED Zimbabwean businesswoman Maureen Mbondiah-Mandipaza on Wednesday said it was important for women to shift their mindsets if they were to identify and effectively utilise business opportunities available in the country.
Speaking at a Press conference in Harare, the Momentors Women in Business and Empowerment Forum founder said they were empowering local women to be business minded.
“We have come to train women who are struggling, help them to think differently because everything starts in the mind,” she said.
Mbondiah-Mandipaza said it was unfortunate that a lot of foreigners where identifying and taking advantage of business opportunities in the country at the expense of locals.
“Women’s Bank is offering women money for them to start their businesses but due to lack of knowledge, we do not know how to get access to the money. By so doing, our chances of being better individuals in life are being taken by outsiders,” she said.
Momentors, which has also been in the healthcare sector for over 20 years, is also supporting women with sanitary wear through Wadzanai Trust.
“Girls miss out in school due to lack of sanitary wear. Women in prison do not have access to sanitary pads. As women, therefore, we want to help and stand up for the girl child for sanitary wear to be free like condoms so that girls do not miss the opportunity to learn and be better business individuals in life,” she said.
Speaking at the same event, Botswana-based businesswoman Caroline Mashingaidze said there was need for women to secure opportunities just like their male counterparts through transforming mindsets.
“We are trying to work with Zimbabwe to place women in a position that they can be independent. We want to shift women’s mindsets to think in terms of business,” she said.
