Building women’s businesses in South African township economies a view on intersectional approaches to entrepreneurial support
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Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Value For Women
Abstract
In November 2021, ANDE published its South Africa Township Economy Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Snapshot (Ecosystem Snapshot). This publication provides an entrepreneurial ecosystem mapping of the financial and non-financial support available to township-based entrepreneurs, as at November 2021. The publication covers research on the townships of the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, and Gauteng provinces regarding, among other information, the types of support and investment instruments available, and the types of stakeholder interest. This Gender Deep Dive takes a closer look specifically at the support provided to women entrepreneurs in township economies. It is based on desktop research, data from the Ecosystem Snapshot, and 15 in-depth key informant interviews with entrepreneurial support organisations (ESOs) that intentionally seek to improve the lives of women— either as consumers, employees, business leaders, or suppliers and distributors. We asked them about their reasons for focusing on women, their approaches used in doing so, and which approaches have worked particularly well. This report finds that women entrepreneurs in township economies face a double set of intersecting— and mutually reinforcing —challenges. On the one hand, there are challenges due to them being women. This includes the multiple competing demands on women’s time, various prejudices and biases against women business owners, and the challenges inherent in women-dominated sectors, which are often less high growth than men-dominated sectors. On the other hand, there are the challenges inherent in being based in a township economy, with lower levels of infrastructure and service provision, higher levels of insecurity and crime, and the business challenges of operating in a relatively low-income context.
Description
Keywords
Women-owned business enterprises, Businesswomen, Entrepreneurship, Informal sector (Economics)
Citation
Value for women. Building women’s businesses in South African township economies: a view on intersectional approaches to entrepreneurial support. value for women, 2021.