The Eastern Cape is strengthening efforts to position women- and youth-owned enterprises to access wider markets, participate in global value chains and contribute to inclusive economic growth, said MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Nonkqubela Pieters.
Speaking at the Women & Youth in Trade: Unlocking Inclusive Trade business breakfast at the East London Golf Club in KuGompo today, ahead of the Eastern Cape Economic Summit and Expo (ECESE2026), MEC Pieters said that inclusive trade must form part of he province’s broader economic development and investment agenda.
The engagement brought together government, business, development institutions and trade-support organisations to explore practical pathways for women and young entrepreneurs to access markets, finance, technology, partnerships and international buyers.
The discussions come against a challenging labour market backdrop in the Eastern Cape.
The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows that employment increased by 13 000 to 1.3m, while unemployment rose by approximately 147 000, pushing the provincial unemployment rate from 44.6% to 47.5%. Against this backdrop, the Women & Youth in Trade dialogue and the Eastern Cape Economic Summit and Expo (ECESE2026) form part of the province’s ongoing efforts to intensify its focus on enterprise development, investment, market access and job creation, expanding opportunities for women- and outh-owned businesses to grow, access markets and create sustainable employment.
As the provincial department responsible for economic development, DEDEAT is working with various stakeholders to strengthen the environment in which enterprises can grow, scale and participate in value chains across the priority sectors.
“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, mployment creation, participation in value chains and export readiness,” said MEC Pieters.
She said government, business, financial institutions, development finance institutions, academia and trade-support organisations must work together to take enterprises through he full journey from product development and compliance to market access, finance, logistics and international buyers.
The MEC also emphasised the importance of creating markets for young businesses, particularly in emerging sectors such as digital services, artificial intelligence, fintech 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 Women and Youth in Trade session forms part of the broader programme around
#ECESE2026, which seeks to strengthen dialogue on the province’s economic opportunities, investment potential and pathways for inclusive growth.
MEC Pieters said the province’s ambition must extend beyond producing entrepreneurs to
deliberately creating globally competitive enterprises that are locally rooted, proudly South African and able to compete in regional, continental and international markets.
