HerVenture Launches in South Africa!

Today we launch our business skills app HerVenture in South Africa for the first time, bringing crucial entrepreneurial skills to at least 1,600 of South Africa’s most promising women entrepreneurs.

This exciting new roll-out, which will support women across South Africa, is made possible thanks to the support of our partner DHL Express and will be delivered by our in-country partner AWIEF.

The HerVenture mobile learning app has been developed specifically for women who own micro, small and medium sized enterprises in low and middle income countries. South Africa is the fifth country in which HerVenture has been launched, following the app’s roll-out in Kenya in summer 2020. It has supported over 41,000 women since its launch in 2018 and is available for free to women across the country to support them with the growth of their businesses. South African women entrepreneurs can now download HerVenture through the App Store on iOS and the Google Play Store on Android. It’s also currently available in Nigeria, Kenya, Vietnam and Indonesia – and will hopefully be coming to more countries very soon.

 

 

As one user highlights, she has “learned how to improve my business through the HerVenture app”, and feels that “with the app I feel I can continue doing business, even during COVID.” This vital initiative therefore comes at a crucial time: COVID-19 has drastically changed the way women entrepreneurs everywhere live and work, pushing them further into a digital world. For their businesses to survive, women entrepreneurs must be equipped with the knowledge and resources to move online.  Because of this, we recently added new learning modules to HerVenture in digital marketing and e-commerce, supporting women to navigate the ‘new normal’.

According to a 2019 report by the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), supporting the growth of women-owned enterprises also provides South Africa with the opportunity to generate sustainable economic livelihoods, reduce poverty and grow the economy. 47% (529,000) of South African SMEs are owned by women, and HerVenture aims to reach at least 1,600 of these women entrepreneurs before the end October 2021.

The enhanced knowledge HerVenture offers means greater business success for women across South Africa, bringing huge benefits to families, local communities, the economy and beyond as the Foundation works to scale the app further across the world.

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