ZANIS COPY-Charlotte Scott asks women to be innovative in business matters

Wife of Vice President, Charlotte Scott has challenged women in the country to be innovative by sharpening their entrepreneurial skills if they were to survive the competitive business environment.

ZANIS reports that Mrs. Scott said women need to be supported financially if they were to be competitive like their male counterparts.

Mrs. Scott, who is also Ministers’ Spouses Association chairperson, noted that women were instrumental in contributing to the social and economic development of the country.

She has since advised women not to feel intimidated by their male counterparts but should to continue contributing meaningfully to national development.

Mrs. Scott said time has come for women to partner with government in its efforts of alleviating poverty in the country.

She implored leading financial institutions and other stakeholders to adopt high quality programmes that can encourage the womenfolk to liberate themselves from shackles of poverty.

Mrs. Scott explained that this was so because women were better placed in business activities as evidenced by their numbers in the informal sector.

She said the informal sector’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) was yet to be appreciated.

She stressed that women have proved to be effective entrepreneurs but were merely lacking entrepreneurship skills that are required to survive in a competitive business environment that is dominated by the men.

Mrs. Scott has since urged the business community to consider rendering financial assistance to women groups that were engaged in various businesses and other income generating ventures.

She said there was need for stakeholders to supplement government efforts that were aimed at realising women’s full potential.

Mrs. Scott also called on the Zambian public to change their mindset on Zambian produced goods saying buying locally produced products was the only way Zambians will create wealth and job opportunities for young people.

She observed that buying locally produced goods will also make the country to be self-reliant.

She noted that currently, locally produced goods were ignored because Zambians think foreign products were of high quality.