International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) award winners announced

The South African International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) award winners for 2021 were of the usual high standard, entrepreneurs attracted by the opportunity to join this prestigious international business network.

This was the comment of Derryn Brigg, Deputy President of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry when the winners were announced in Cape Town.  The awards are jointly supported by the IWEC Foundation and the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“The two chosen women will now access a global business network for successful women business owners, helping them to gain and expand their market base, “Brigg said.

“Now in its second decade, the IWEC annual conference, which takes place in a different country every November, will this year be held virtually with delegates connecting on line via the Internet. It will be held in Bahrain.

The South African winners had to meet the turnover, shareholding, and designation requirements as well as the community work and mentoring criteria particular to the Cape Chamber requirements, “Brigg said.

Ms Janine Myburgh, former president of the Cape Chamber and IWEC Board Member, commented that ‘’winning this award opens up opportunities for successful female entrepreneurs to access a global network of chambers of commerce, women’s business groups and successful women business owners. These range from business consultants, financial and accounting services to agribusiness, oil wells, and manufacturing.

“We hope it will empower them with potential partners to enter new markets globally.

“Helping them will be past IWEC Awardees who will provide constant outreach and introductions to peers in their respective countries, “Ms Myburgh said.

The awardees are:

Ipeleng Nonkululeko Mkhari, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Motseng Investment Holdings (MIH) 

Ipeleng is the CEO of MIH a diversified investment holdings group with investments spanning property investment, property management, infrastructure investing, telecommunications and engineering services. A pioneering entrepreneur, she established the first black woman owned CCTV business and subsequently founded MIH) a diversified investment holdings group in 1998.

In November 2012, she was a promoter of Delta Property Fund, a leading black managed and substantially black owned property loan stock company which listed on the JSE with an asset value of R2bn, today the asset value is circa R11bn.

In 2018/19 she served as the South African Property Owners Association President, which is the voice of commercial property in South Africa.  Ipeleng has served on various boards of unlisted and listed businesses, public sector agencies and non-profit organisations.  She is currently a non-executive director of Attacq, KAP Industrial, Revego and iBuild. She is also a trustee of the Women’s Property Network Education Trust.

AND

Andra Greyling, Chief Executive Officer of Southchester Investment Managers (Pty) Ltd 

Southchester Investment Managers describes itself as a boutique asset manager that is nimble and flexible. Its planning scenario can be very closely compared to The Mind of a Fox written by Clem Sunter.

It plans scenarios and looks at long-term trends. These can be broken down into financial governance/legislative adherence and compliance; Intern programme management, Mandate compliance; new fund ideas; and constant new structured fixed income products to enhance the uniqueness of the company.

What makes Southchester excellent at planning is the daily involvement and active management of portfolios and the studying of various parameters in the financial markets.