Janet Sape

Janet Kaki Sape (1959 - 28 July 2017) was a business leader and international netball player, coach and administrator from Papua New Guinea. She was active in promoting women's empowerment issues in the country, and received a number of awards for her work.

Netball In the 1980s, Sape founded the Lae-based netball club DSA Sisters. The club got its name because most of the players were sisters.

Sape represented her country in the 1987 World Netball Championships in Scotland, and also in a number of tournaments in Oceania. During her time as a member of the national team, she also served as the captain. She was at the helm for the 1995 South Pacific Games, when Papua New Guinea took home a silver medal. These sorts of comments were ones she had made repeatedly, including to the media the night before the 2012 PNG Netball Federation's Annual Fundraising Ball.

Sape continued to support women becoming involved in sports administration, serving as part of the 2016 Women in Sports Leadership in Port Moseby.

Business Sape was initially trained as a teacher before moving into business advising for women. She mentored women to start up and manage small businesses and later started Women in Business in 2005 as a network to support and connect women entrepreneurs in Papua New Guinea. The group began with a small number of women totalling around 50 and grew to have more than 15,000 by 2015, and 20,000 members by 2017. She served as the organization's President and Executive Director.

Sape believed that events like the Pacific Games were an opportunity for women entrepreneurs to provide an international platform for their goods and services. When her country hosted the Games, she was involved in encouraging many women to set up stands to sell their goods at.

Sape also founded a microfinance institution, Women's Microbank in 2014, the first bank of its kind in the South Pacific region, and the fourth in the world. NCD Governor Powes Parkop commended her for her efforts in creating the microbank. She ran for the same seat in the 2012 elections, finishing third.

Background Sape was born and raised in Wabag, the capital of Enga Province and initially trained as a teacher before moving into business advising for women.

Awards In 2015, Sape was named by APEC as the first winner of Papua New Guinea's Iconic Women Award. In the same year, she was named Westpac's Outstanding Woman of the Year.