China-Backed Program Empowers 61 South African Women Entrepreneurs

A China-backed entrepreneurship program is assisting South African women entrepreneurs to enhance their business strategies, tackle operational challenges and discover new opportunities for growth. Through practical business education and connections with Chinese enterprises, the initiative aims to equip women with the skills to build sustainable businesses, create employment and expand their entrepreneurial ambitions.

South African beauty entrepreneur Sonny Bee is one of 61 females who attended the 2-week workshop on Global Female Entrepreneurship Empowerment (GFEEP) in Johannesburg. The program, led by Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), aims to enhance the entrepreneurial capabilities of women by providing practical training and business education.

Sonny described the experience as a “14-day MBA” during the workshop's closing ceremony on October 12, 2026. Despite her years of professional experience and several work-related visits to China, she said the program encouraged her to reassess her approach to business management.

Sonny said that “they believed their businesses were well-known, but the training brought new tools to light, like the Business Model Canvas, which enabled them to pinpoint areas that were weak and used to strengthen the sustainability of their businesses”.

Key Highlights

• 61 South African women entrepreneurs completed the two-week training program
• Practical business tools help women strengthen operations and identify weaknesses
• Chinese business connections create opportunities for innovation, collaboration and employment

For other participants, the program addressed challenges arising from business expansion. Naomi Mashigo makes a living for her and her husband in the rural community of South Africa by running a small store. The business is now a supermarket, with 14 employees.

Expansion, though, created new duties, especially in the area of finance and employees. The training provided real-life insights, and the assignments had participants look inward and come up with solutions to their business challenges, Naomi said.

On 8 October, South African First Lady, Tshepo Motsepe participated in a workshop-related activity where she thanked China for training opportunities. She emphasized the importance of small businesses in economic development and urged participants to expand their businesses and create employment opportunities, while also supporting their communities.

The workshop was led by program leader and instructor Gui Bo and was centered around business model analysis and innovation, in which the participants analyzed their weaknesses and looked for clues on how to improve their business model.

Beyond classroom learning, the program connected participants with Chinese businesses operating in South Africa. According to Gui, more than a dozen entrepreneurs had been connected with Chinese business resources or introduced to potential technical solutions and products.

Beverly Matoro, 46, founder of Bev's Kids Transport in Johannesburg, hopes to use these connections to explore technology-driven opportunities. She operates three vehicles transporting more than 60 school children daily and hopes to collaborate with Chinese technology companies to develop an application under her own brand.

Her ambition is to offer the application to other school transport operators, creating an additional business opportunity.

“I would love to sell it to other people who are doing the very same business that I'm doing,” Beverly said.

“The program is designed to link the educational component of entrepreneurship with the demand of business, and to enhance mutual ties between Chinese and African communities," said Jia Wenjian, president of the BFSU. The University will seek to strengthen ties with the business world to turn training into business expansion and employment creation, he added.

For Sonny, the program offers an opportunity to build on existing business relationships with China and explore further cooperation. “The relationship is not ending today,” she said, expressing hope for continued support from Chinese partners.