Initiated by the United Nations (UN) Women’s South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO), in partnership with the National Women Advancement Establishment (NAMA), the aim of the flagship programme is to stimulate equal opportunities for women entrepreneurs through affirmative procurement, investment and supply chain policies.

Local female black-owned consulting company Sincpoint has been selected as the implementation arm of this project. Lebo Letsoalo, founder of Sincpoint explains: “We are excited at the opportunities this project offers. It will provide women-owned businesses in the transport sector with much-needed, tailor-made technical support, in addition to coaching and mentorship. The support will focus on strengthening their capacity to sustain their businesses, access new opportunities and grow their businesses.”

Sincpoint will be working closely with local membership-based association The African Women in Supply Chain Association (AWISCA) in the roll-out of the programme to ensure long-term support for the women.

The work to empower and celebrate women in Africa continues beyond the month of August. In South Africa, August is Women’s Month – and each year August 9th is celebrated as Women’s Day. Women’s month celebrates the strength and resilience of women and their contribution to society and country. There is a specific need, however, to continuously celebrate and empower women even beyond the month, and to achieve gender equality across the economy.

It is for this reason that the African Women in Supply Chain Association (AWISCA) in partnership with its global partners is announcing the launch of the Top 100 Women In Africa Supply Chain to highlight their achievements in a predominately male-dominated industry. The Association has launched this in partnership with Sincpoint with the specific goal of celebrating and awarding these women for their tenacity leading the cause for transformation in these industries through their professional careers and entrepreneurial ventures.

The Top 100 Women In Africa Supply Chain identifies women who are leading change and making a difference in the supply chain profession and in business, according to Lebo Letsoalo, who is the Supply Chain Coach, Founder of AWISCA and CEO of Sincpoint, saying: “These women are not just employees or businesswomen, they have identified the need to bring many more women along with them in their journey of achieving economic emancipation. They have thus taken up the role of mentors and coaches for women such as themselves and girls who are aspiring for careers in this industry.”

“We have also seen them acting on matters of procurement and logistics, to combat pertinent issues of corruption and unethical business practices, as well as enabling an environment that is conducive for female drivers, for instance, in logistics.”

“The list also honours and includes women who have retired in the profession and were previously never recognized. They have previously become the torchbearers especially in the logistics sector which is still predominately male-dominated”, adds Letsoalo.

The Top 100 Women In Africa Supply Chain is the continental version of the Top Global 100 Women and was founded by Lebo Letsoalo who was nominated amongst Top Global 100 Women in 2018 and Top 100 Influential Women In Supply Chain (No. 20 globally) in 2020. Letsoalo was the only woman in Africa recognised by the global awards.

“I saw the need to do the same for Africa. Being the woman from the continent being recognised and celebrated got me thinking that we should absolutely bring this home and celebrate many more women that are doing incredible things for other women in the industry”, she added.

The Top 100 Women In Africa Supply celebrate women from various African countries that have used various platforms to impact the industry in a positive way. The women are in entrepreneurship, professional careers and labour intensive subsectors of the industry. They’re from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Botswana, Uganda, Egypt, DRC and will soon expand across the continent to include the other remaining countries.

See the detailed list of the women here https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lebogang_here-is-the-remainder-of-the-list-you-have-activity-6839212130860855296-dtEB and https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lebogang_finally-the-list-is-outwe-have-an-honour-activity-6838853236296830976-zBOv . For more information contact mentorship@awisca.org

The survey by Sincpoint, a black female-owned supply chain management and advisory company, found 64.4 percent of supply chain professionals agreed corruption was enabled by unethical conduct and practices within their sector, which they said was highly prone to corruption pressure. According to Sincpoint, about 11.4 percent said they had been forced to resort to bribes to keep their businesses afloat.
“This is especially rife in the public sector, but also exists in the private sector,” Sincpoint chief executive Lebo Letsoalo said. Of the supply chain professionals surveyed, 88.4 percent said they would report corruption if the accused would be taken to account – either through the legal system or the industry’s regulatory body. The respondents said that a whistle-blower programme should be established.

Fifty-nine percent suggested that an anti-corruption policy framework should be developed to guide the sector, while 41 percent said they were already actively reporting corrupt activities in their sector.

Covid-19 has revealed grave levels of corruption in South Africa, with reports of gross fraud to take advantage of the emergency measures put in place to combat the pandemic.

Evidence at the state capture commission last year also showed that almost every area of government was corrupt. Transparency International’s corruption index ranks South Africa among the most corrupt countries in the world.

Letsoalo, who is also a supply chain coach, said there was an urgent need to professionalise and regulate the sector, as a first step towards mitigating corruption.

“At least 60 percent of respondents agree the industry requires regulation and professionalisation, in the form of licensing to operate within guidelines and an ethical framework. To begin this, we have all agreed we require a skills audit of the entire industry, as well as a fitness test, and then enforce an oath system to ensure allegiance and compliance,” she said. Corruption in South Africa is largely caused by greed within a politically monopolised environment, low levels of political transparency, bureaucracy and inefficient administrative structures, and lastly, low economic freedoms. “People in general want to stop corruption and are willing to report corrupt activities in the sector, but from both the professionals point of view and that of the service providers, they fear for their lives, especially when the law does not protect them, and of course, the fear of not being able to secure any more business on the side of service providers, thus limiting their willingness to report corruption,” said Letsoalo.

BUSINESS REPORT

It is this industry, and others dubbed as a non-traditional career and employment pathways for women, that if transformed, may spark a transformative revolution across the entire South African economy