WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION: MORE PROGRESS NEEDED

Entrepreneurial women are making their mark in
construction, but more needs to be done. Doing so will have benefits. 

By: Boitumelo Thipe, Marketing and
Business Development Manager, Master Builders Association North

Construction remains a male-dominated industry but there are signs that
women are starting to become better represented in this sector – to its great
potential benefit. Unsurprisingly, given the nature of the work itself, women
are primarily making their mark in managerial and administrative roles, and a
growing number of smaller construction companies are headed by women.

Figures from the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) show
that 48% of the country’s construction enterprises are owned by women. However,
the vast majority of these are very small companies – 95% fall within grades
1-3 (able to handle low-value contracts only), while there are only eight
woman-owned enterprises at grade 8 (the highest value contracts).^[1]

What these figures say is that while women are entering the industry in
greater numbers, they are finding it hard to scale their businesses. Ahead of
Women’s Month I spoke to two of these standard-bearers for women in
construction to find out what drives them.

Bana Afrika established her business, Ampersands
Investments, in 2014, having studied construction at tertiary level. She found
being an employee intensely frustrating, and realised that opening her own
company was the only option. She took the franchise route, buying a roofing and
waterproofing franchise. “We understood that, as a start-up, it would take too
long to create processes and to build a reputation,” she points out. “Through
the franchise, we were able to build good relationships with corporate clients
and it opened up big opportunities for us.”

Omega Mashaba founded her company, Mash n Go
Renovations a year later. For her, a key impetus was to create employment by
helping previously disadvantaged individuals acquire experience and skills. “We
believe in equal opportunities, so we give opportunities to both men and
women,” she says. “By sharing skills and expertise, we don’t just help them, we
also grow the business itself.”

Both Afrika and Mashaba testify to the power of
networks. Afrika says that building a network is critical because people do
business with people they know. In Mashaba’s opinion, while the old boy’s
network is still very much in place in corporate boardrooms, the growing
numbers of women entering the industry with the skills and ambition to be good
employers is changing the status quo.

One of the damaging stereotypes about women in
business is that they compete with each other. Afrika says that women have to
become “stepladders”, helping other women to make their own ascents.

Mashaba pays tribute to the power of ambitious
women. “Female entrepreneurs are go-getters, they don’t wait for things to
happen – they make them happen,” she enthuses. “One thing the media could do is
promote stories about successful women, and provide information about how
female entrepreneurs can access capital.”

Afrika adds: “We need to unteach the notion that
employment is the only answer. We need to teach innovation and creativity so
that the unemployed see their situation as an opportunity. Instead of just
creating employees we should also create entrepreneurs.”

Despite its current challenges, a healthy construction industry is
essential for an economically successful country. Women can make a huge
contribution especially in the administrative, managerial and leadership areas
– and successful women tend to invest in their families, creating a multiplier
effect that benefits society as a whole.

What can we do to help? The Master Builders Association North is
partnering with one of its members, JDP Roof Cover, to create a training
academy to train women and youth – we are actively looking for other partners
in the industry to pursue similar initiatives. Maximising the value that women,
and especially female entrepreneurs, can bring to the industry is in all our
interests.

About the Master Builders Association North “Celebrating 115 Years”

The Master Builders Association North is the amalgamation of the former
Master Builders Associations of Johannesburg (founded in 1894) and Pretoria
(founded in 1903). The organisations merged to form the Gauteng Mast
Builders Association in 1996, and was renamed Master Builders Association
North, representing four regions: Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
It is a chapter of the Master Builders Association South Africa.

Based in Halfway House, the Master Builders Association North represents
the interests of employers in the building and allied trade industries in the
above mentioned four regions. It aims to serve its members by facilitating best
practice within its membership and the building industry as a whole.

More information from Boitumelo Thipe, Tel: 011 805 6611

Email: boitumelo@mbanorth.co.za