Women-and youth-owned Eastern Cape businesses must be helped to move beyond survival and become sustainable employers capable of competing in global markets, economic development MEC Nonkqubela Pieters said on Tuesday.
Pieters was speaking at the Women and Youth in Trade: Unlocking Inclusive Trade business breakfast at the East London Golf Club in KuGompo City.
The Eastern Cape Development Corporation initiative, held in partnership with the British High Commission, focused on accelerating women- and youth-owned enterprises’ access to global markets.
African Women in Business president and co-founder Shipra Chisha joined Pieters as a key speaker.
The event brought together representatives of the government, business, development institutions and trade-support organisations to examine ways of helping women and young entrepreneurs secure access to markets, finance, technology, commercial partnerships and international buyers.
Participating organisations included the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency, National Youth Development Agency, National Empowerment Fund and Eastern Cape Investment Corporation.
“We need to move beyond counting the number of women and youth-owned businesses. We need to move to the next phase of our developmental agenda: sustainability, employment creation, participation in value chains and export readiness,” Pieters said.
She said businesses required support throughout their development, from product design and regulatory compliance to securing finance, managing logistics and reaching international buyers.
This would require co-operation among the government, private sector, financial and development finance institutions, universities and trade-support organisations.
Pieters said markets also had to be created for youth-owned businesses, particularly those operating in emerging sectors such as digital services, artificial intelligence, financial technology, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing and the creative economy.
“We must not only focus on creating jobs for young people, but also on creating markets for young businesses,” she said.
The event took place against the backdrop of worsening unemployment in the province.
According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey figures cited by the department, employment increased by 13,000 to 1.3-million, but the number of unemployed people rose by about 147,000. The provincial unemployment rate climbed from 44.6% to 47.5%.
Pieters said inclusive trade had to form part of the Eastern Cape’s broader economic development and investment strategy.
The province should aim to create businesses that were rooted locally but capable of competing in regional, continental and international markets, she said.
The breakfast formed part of the programme surrounding the 2026 Eastern Cape Economic Summit and Expo, which focuses on investment, enterprise development, market access and job creation.