THE Greater Giyani Municipality and international audit firm PwC launched a training programme in Giyani on Friday.
The Faranani training programme that kicked off in South Africa in 2006, is a skills development programme aimed at educating and training rural women who own small businesses or run community projects.
Nasreen Mosam, senior manager at PwC South Africa, attended the launch of the Faranani programme in Giyani and said 30 women would be trained as part of PwC’s social responsibility programme.
“Trained professionals will help these women learn skills like financial management, marketing and branding. With this initiative PwC wants to uplift and develop women in poverty stricken, rural areas. These women run businesses, but do not have the necessary skills to sustain their businesses,” she said.
According to Mosam, PwC South Africa trained more than 20 000 South African women through the Faranani programme every year.
“The training lasts for five days, after which the women are given certificate of attendance. We also offer after training assistance where we assist those that need further clarification on how to write business proposals or draft their financial statements,” she added.
Speaking on behalf of Greater Giyani mayor Pat Hlungwani, the speaker for the municipality, Sasavona Mathebula, welcomed the initiative, saying the programme would help sustain much-needed projects in the area.
“We have no doubt that this programme will help resolve some of the challenges that we face when it comes to projects where sustainability is an important factor,” Mathebula said.
“We have many projects that are dying because the owners do not have the business skills to run them. We hope this programme will help resolve that problem,” she continued, urging those who would be trained to empower others who could not be part of the training.
