Standard Bank, DTPS announces Women in ICT entrepreneur winner for this year

The Financial service provider Standard Bank in partnership with the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS), hosted the Women in ICT event at the Standard Bank Playroom in Rosebank. Ensuring that they get the opportunities, Standard Bank and the (DTPS) whose “Women in ICT” competition and event, was mainly to open doors and grow future women entrepreneurs.

It was proudly said that, women are increasingly making inroads into the ICT arena – an area where access to markets is a “make or break” activity.

Hence, the Bank ran a competition where women running their own ICT companies stood a chance to win development and funding support to the tune of R 300,000, access to international and local markets, and an opportunity to break into the corporate world and win contracts with the potential to boost their businesses’ development and growth. The Top Five finalists were selected and pitched their businesses at the event. Simangele Mphahlele from Ejoobi  won R 300,000 towards her business.

Meanwhile, the objective of the Women in ICT event was to help women ICT entrepreneurs who need assistance in breaking through the glass ceiling that is preventing their businesses from growing into substantial enterprises.  Inevitably, the major problem of achieving this breakthrough is that of meeting and developing partnerships with the country’s major buyers of ICT services and specialist expertise.

The ‘Top Five’ were then provided with 10 minutes to pitch their operational businesses to a judging panel with a chance to win R 300,000 plus a brand-new Samsung SNote 10. Runner ups received goodie bags from Standard Bank and Samsung.

Great personalities were at the event which were the Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Pinky Kekana as well as, representatives of major corporations, leaders from the ICT industry and financial services sector who listened to business pitches from the Top five finalists.