Promoting effective entry and participation of women entrepreneurs in the South African economy : pro-competitive principles for government and non-government stakeholders
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Date
2023-06
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Publisher
Competition Commission South Africa
Abstract
Competitive markets allow consumers to benefit from low prices, better quality of goods and services, innovation and more choice. For markets to be competitive they need to be accessible to all players that wish to participate in the markets. Barriers to entry and expansion are a significant hinderance to competitive markets. Barriers can arise from systematic issues, inequality, regulatory requirements, anticompetitive conduct and lack of access to key resources and markets to support firms seeking to enter markets and compete. These barriers ultimately result in reduced competition in markets, which in turn adversely impacts consumers. For women entrepreneurs, these barriers are further compounded by gender inequality. Women entrepreneurs face gender-based barriers that hinder their ability to enter and effectively compete in high income generating markets. Women entrepreneurs often find themselves operating businesses in low value generating sectors or informal sectors due to these gender-based barriers. Studies on entrepreneurship shows that women are starting businesses at a faster rate than men, especially in emerging economies. These studies show that women entrepreneurs play a critical role in job creation, income generation and revenue growth in many economies and that their entrepreneurial ventures also contribute to the reduction of the existing wealth inequalities between women and men. Although more women are taking the entrepreneurial plunge, research shows that there are existing gender-based barriers which restrict the ability of women entrepreneurs to start-up, enter markets and sustain successful businesses, especially in high value generating sectors of the economy. This is specially the case in South Africa, where women entrepreneurs are largely concentrated in areas of crafts, hawking, personal services and retail. The South African context is further complicated by issues relating to the intersectionality between gender and racial inequality, which compounds the barriers that are faced by black women entrepreneurs.6 These barriers affect the ability of women entrepreneurs to participate effectively and meaningfully in the economy and consequently have significant adverse effects for competitiveness of markets and inclusive economic growth.
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Keywords
Entrepreneurship, Businesswomen, Minority business enterprises, Women-owned business enterprises