Economic Empowerment
Botswana is working hard to diversify its economy, which has historically been based on the production and sale of diamonds. The World Bank's Doing Business Report shows that the country has the highest new business density in Africa with 13.11 new businesses registered per 1 000 adults.
Education and entrepreneurship are key drivers of this growth, playing an integral part in reducing Botswana's 29.4 percent youth unemployment rate - and women are at the leading edge.
Botswana's women entrepreneurs are on the rise. The 2017 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs tracked the number of female business owners, as a percentage of total business owners, across 54 high-, middle- and lower-income countries. Botswana, classed as an upper middle-income economy, was ranked second in the world at 34.6 percent. By comparison, Uganda scored highest at 34.8 percent and Saudi Arabia lowest at 1.5 percent. The latest data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor also ranks female entrepreneurship in Botswana as the third highest in the region.
And it is not only the number of female entrepreneurs that is increasing - Botswana women are making headway in formal employment too. According to a 2017 report by Grant Thornton, Botswana has improved significantly in terms of the percentage of senior roles held by women, increasing by eight percent from 23 percent in 2016 to 31 percent in 2017. Globally, the proportion of senior leadership roles held by women has moved by just one percent, from 24 percent in 2016 to 25 percent in 2017. Botswana has also shown a six percent reduction in the percentage of businesses with no women in senior leadership.
According to Nicky Fisher, president of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), the organisation has seen steady growth in the number of women enrolling on its courses in Botswana, which she believes is helping to feed the growth and diversification of the local economy. Worldwide, AAT, a leading UK-based qualification and professional body for technical accountants and bookkeepers which has been operating in Botswana for 26 years, boasts a female membership of 70 percent.
"It stands to reason that if we are to build a bright economic future in Botswana, there will be an enormous demand for skills in the field of finance and accounting. It is only through a solid body of qualified finance professionals both in corporates and in entrepreneurial ventures, that growth can truly be supported in all other areas," Fisher says.
In a 2013 report, the OECD organisation noted that women even more than men need to be sufficiently financially literate in order to effectively participate in economic activities and to take appropriate financial decisions for themselves, their children, and their families. Unfortunately, barriers to women's financial empowerment abound, including more limited access to education, employment, entrepreneurship and formal financial markets, as well as different social norms and legal treatment in many countries. Fisher says overcoming such barriers is a key motivator for AAT. Globally, AAT is committed to advancing the important role that women play, and has signed the Women in Finance Charter, which commits signatory firms to support the progression of women into senior roles and to report on their progress. Women without qualifications other than the ability to write and count can take AAT courses, you can start with no qualifications.
"My dream" she says, "has always been to become an accountant - my father had a taxi business and I longed to do his accounts one day."
Dube became a qualified beauty therapist and owned a beauty parlour. She then joined AAT and moved closer to achieving her life-long dream.