The Women Owned Business Trust (WOBT) supported by ESG Network Zimbabwe will be hosting a Supplier Diversity and ESG Summit on 31 March, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Harare.
Under the theme ‘Give & Gain: Driving Inclusive Growth through Supplier Diversity and ESG Goals,‘ the summit focuses on strengthening gender-responsive procurement and building collaborative and strategic partnerships across all sectors of Zimbabwe’s economy.
The summit will be a platform for WOBT stakeholders to reconfigure partnerships beyond buyer-supplier, donor- beneficiary, and membership organization-member relationships and instead create shared vision, value, co-investment and systemic change that will expand procurement opportunities and shape practical and scalable growth strategies for Zimbabwean women-owned businesses.
Globally, women owned businesses account for the majority of economic activity, with Africa boasting of the highest growth rate of female run businesses in the world. In Zimbabwe, women account for 53% of local businesses. Additionally women make or influence 70% to 80% of all consumer purchasing decisions globally, but hold a strikingly low share of corporate and government procurement contracts, which is estimated to be less than 1%.
The UN Women note several key findings regarding procurement from women-owned businesses (WOBs) in Zimbabwe. These include:
Underrepresentation in Procurement: While women-owned micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) make up a significant portion of the economy, they face substantial barriers in accessing corporate and public supply chains.
Perceived and Real Discrimination: Studies in Harare have revealed that 26 out of 30 surveyed women entrepreneurs (roughly 86%) felt discriminated against, noting that procurement entities tend to prefer large, established businesses, which are often owned by men.
Sectoral Disparities: Women-owned enterprises are more commonly found in financial services (50%), hospitality (45%), and education (38%) but are significantly underrepresented in key sectors like agriculture (13%) and mining (16%).
Obstacles to Access: Women-owned businesses in Zimbabwe face challenges in procurement due to lack of information, complex tender processes, inadequate collateral for financial resources, and limited access to technical training.
While some large private companies in Zimbabwe are taking steps to increase the number of women-owned businesses in their supply chains, the overall market remains heavily tilted toward male-owned, larger, and established businesses.
The global shift from voluntary corporate social responsibility to mandatory regulations driven by demands for accountability in ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) reporting in Zimbabwe, presents WOBT with several opportunities for gender-responsive procurement (GRP) as the ESG frameworks compel companies to audit their supply chains, enabling the integration of women-owned businesses to meet social sustainability targets. By linking supplier diversity to ESG, firms can boost economic empowerment, enhancing credibility and compliance with local regulatory frameworks.
Specifically, ESG reporting for gender responsive procurement in Zimbabwe offers the following opportunities for public and private supply chains:
Increased Supplier Diversity and Compliance: As firms map their supply chains for ESG disclosures, they are actively looking to include women-owned enterprises, addressing the current, low participation of women in key sectors like mining and agriculture.
Strengthening Local Procurement Policies: Organizations can align their procurement with the Zimbabwe government’s focus on gender-responsive budgeting and the Local Authorities Blueprint, which promotes empowering women through public and private procurement.
Enhanced Economic Empowerment: Companies can track and report on their spending with women-led businesses, directly creating economic opportunities, fostering financial inclusion, and building the capacity of women owned businesses thereby promoting women’s entrepreneurship.
Alignment with Social Goals: ESG reporting compels companies to demonstrate a positive social impact, and incorporating gender-responsive criteria in tenders allows them to meet these social, economic, and ethical requirements simultaneously.
Following the summit, WOBT will make follow ups with stakeholders to commit and sign up as Supplier Diversity Inclusion partners (SDI partners), collaborative or strategic partners. These partnerships will be monitored and evaluated across five key dimensions: access, capacity, performance, impact and systems change.
Hilda Muzuva-Makamure is the WOBT Programme Coordinator. WOBT can be contacted on info@wobt or ++263 0787 768 350
