A Training Program Was Organized for Female Entrepreneurs in South Africa in Partnership with MIKTA

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and the Turkish Embassy in Pretoria organized an advanced entrepreneurship training program for young female entrepreneurs in the Republic of South Africa.

MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Australia), an intercontinental informal consultation and coordination platform, provided entrepreneurship training to 20 South African women as part of its Young Business Women's Empowerment Project (YBWEP), implemented in the Republic of South Africa.

Implemented in cooperation with the Turkish Embassy in Pretoria and TİKA, YBWEP aims to help South African female entrepreneurs develop professional skills in digital marketing, the use of social media, and business model development.

“For the first time, 5 embassies implemented a joint project”

The closing and certificate presentation ceremony held at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Pretoria was attended by the representatives of South Africa’s Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), as well as the ambassadors of the members of MIKTA.

The ceremony began with a traditional Indonesian dance show, which was followed by the speeches of Ayşegül Kandaş, Türkiye’s Ambassador to Pretoria, and other ambassadors and the presentation of certificates to South African female entrepreneurs.

Ambassador Kandaş noted that the program was the result of the collaborative work of the members of MIKTA on several matters, such as instructors, training venue, and accommodation. She added that the project was implemented under the leadership of Türkiye, which is the term president.

Kandaş said, “There are nearly 200 embassies in Pretoria. For the first time, 5 embassies implemented a joint project. The collaboration of 5 countries is a rare occurrence in diplomatic corps.”

20 trainees were given the opportunity to expand into different regions

Abdülkadir Abukan, TİKA’s Coordinator in Pretoria, stressed that they implemented such projects to improve the commercial awareness of South African female entrepreneurs, most of whom are owners of small enterprises making and selling homemade products. He said, “Both last year and this year, we realized that most women are not fully aware of the price mechanism. They sometimes severely underprice their products.”

Abukan stated that this year, YBWEP added a global perspective to the existing women’s entrepreneurship program, thus giving 20 trainees were the opportunity to expand into different regions.

The project, which was developed with the theme of women’s empowerment in employment and development, the permanent priorities of the members of MIKTA, contributed to developing entrepreneurial skills, accessing new markets, and improving quality management.

The advanced entrepreneurship program aims to help South African entrepreneurs with innovative ideas develop themselves and strengthen them in business.