Oshakati welcomes dialogues that spark change
MT Events hosted its second ‘Harmonious Queens Event’ in Oshakati last week to bring change through powerful dialogues and networking with women of influence.
At the event, Minister of Trade and Industrialisation and Patron of the event, Lucia Ipumbu started by analyzing the growth of women over the years. “Women used to belong in the kitchen, but our women are everywhere and taking ownership in all spaces,” she started the keynote address.
She further mentioned that it took several ladies to start and pave the way and now it is becoming easier for others to follow.
“All of us started somewhere and I am because of you, as Ubuntu beautifully phrases it,” she smiled.
As the first female minister of trade and industrialization, after 25 years of independence, she attests that it’s still a male-dominated ministry.
“May I add that we are only 6 female ministers at the ministry of trade and industrialization among the 54 African countries? We still need to prove ourselves 3 times more than our male counterparts.” she attested.
Teamwork, collaboration, and women empowerment are so critical to allow skills to complement each
other and to allow more companies to succeed at opening and staying in business.
“Why do we not collaborate more as women and use each other’s skills to ensure that businesses are established on a much larger scale? We can not only sell 5 dresses, we need to be able to think big, scale up, and manufacture in bulk to even start exporting to the rest of the world,” she encouraged.
She proudly compares how her industry started in terms of women in trade using one example whereby the export industry started with only 4 exporters now they have 35 certified exporters which started at 400k in value and now stand at over 60 million.
This event was proudly hosted by MT Events Management through its Founder M. Tukwatha Shaanika who aimed to gather powerful women to plant that seed through engaging dialogues to spread that motivation to those women who are on their way to greatness.
“This event was nothing short of our expectations and we appreciate all of our speakers and women that invested in themselves to attend at the Oshakati Guest House,” she excitedly said.
The director of ceremonies Ilke Platt, Founder of Poiyah Media applauded such platforms mentioning that such vehicles must be embraced and executed. “It’s wonderful for women to dress up, leave their homes for a while and feel inspired but it will all go to waste if they do not apply the tools given to them, to spark change,” she added.
Inspector Beverley Nawases, Unit Commander of Oshana Nampol Women’s Network and Regional
Coordinator of Oshana Nampol Women’s Net shared her journey in life highlighting her academics which includes being a certified teacher by profession. “I ensured to study as much as I can and expand my versatility. I have seen much and my current job requires strength and bravery. I have seen so much and have surrendered my life to better serve my community,” as she recollects her placement in South Sudan years ago.
Furthermore, the evening was graced by the presence of Pst. Paul who led the opening prayer, Skills
Development Coach Charlotte Mwanakatwe, Dr. Tenashe, a dermatologist from Ondangwa Private Hospital as well as a performing act Lowkey.
This is an annual event and MT Events plans on expanding these engaging dialogues to the rest of the country and ultimately targeting men at these conferences.
