SURNAME : PHIR

NAME : PROSPER

RE NUMBER : R186098K

COURSE : BS209

ASSIGNMENT : 3

QUESTION : DISCUSS THE GENDER ISSUES THAT AFFECTE WOMEN

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN AFRICANN COUNTRIES AND

ZIMBABWE IN PARTICULAR.
Gender issues can be referred to as all aspects and concerns related to women’s and men’s lives
and situation in society, to the way they interrelate, their differences in access to and use of
resources, their activities, and how they react to changes, interventions and policies. Women
entrepreneurs can be the rock on which a freer, safer, more prosperous country and Africa at
large is built. But however in the real world ,female entrepreneurs face obstacles in their verge
to conquer the world. This obstacles may include limited access to funding, lack of education,
gender discrimination, lack of persistence and emotions ,societal factors and absence of role
models and mentors.

Lack of finance or funding is one of the major constraints that hinders woman entrepreneurs. The
society at large hesitate to invest money in the business venture initiated by women
entrepreneurs. . The lack of financial support is among the greatest obstacles for individuals
looking to start or take female-owned businesses to the next level in Africa. According to the
2014 Findex report, only 30% of women in Saharan Africa have access to bank accounts. For
example, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw ( Chairperson of Biocon ) initially faced many problems
regarding funds for her business .Banks were hesitant to give loan to her as biotechnology was a
totally new field at that point of time and she was a woman entrepreneur, which was a rare
phenomenon. However in Zimbabwe the government has started empowerment schemes such as
Empowerment of Zimbabwean Women through Entrepreneurship and Economic and Social
Perspective in order to promote women entrepreneurship in the country.

Another obstacles that women entrepreneurs are lack of education and training . It is
acknowledged that the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunity depends on the entrepreneur’s
level of education, skills or knowledge acquired through work experience, social network and
credit (Shane, 2003). Many women entrepreneurs lack training and education both in developed
and developing countries (Ibru,2009) and hence the need for training especially in developing
economies must be highlighted. Hadary (2004:4) argues that women also tend not to have the
relevant education and experience in starting and managing a business and this in most cases
leads to less potential for success. Acquiring the relevant skills and knowledge about managing a
business venture can also be more difficult for women, since they then often have a double work
burden and childcare responsibilities. Resultantly, women are educationally less well-equipped
to manage some kinds of businesses. However, Women entrepreneurs must be given training to
operate and run a business successfully. Training has to be given to women who are still
reluctant to take up the entrepreneurial task.

Women entrepreneurs also face discrimination in a business world. Being discriminated against
in a male dominated society hinders women entrepreneurs from being successful. Discrimination
can be defined as distinguishing unfavorably; or the detection of the difference between one
thing and another. The first South African Convention for the elimination of all forms of
discrimination against women defined the issue of discrimination against women, as any
distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of gender, which has the effect of
impairing the recognition, as well as enjoyment by women (Akanji, 2006: 53). . Sinha (2005)
propounds that although women entrepreneurs operate in the same environment as men
entrepreneurs, there are gender biases embedded in society, which limit women from active
economic participation and access to business and development services. ). In Zimbabwe, gender
inequality is a big problem and Zimbabwean women are still having problems being able to have
the same rights and advantages as Zimbabwean men (Mandipaka 2014). However, the
government has introduced programs whose mandate is to empower women entrepreneurs and
laws that are against gender discrimination against the former.

Generally women are very emotional and are not persistent in nature. Alfred Marshall’s theory
of entrepreneurship (1890) pointed out that entrepreneurs must have the ability to foresee
changes in supply and demand and be willing to act on such risky forecasts in the absence of
complete information. For a woman to be a successful entrepreneur she must have the following
characteristics: thorough understanding of the industry; good leadership skills, and foresight on
demand and supply changes and the willingness to act on such risky foresights. Most women
entrepreneurs in developing nations fail, because they lack these characteristics. Thus it becomes
a challenge for them to be successful entrepreneurs. One of the short comings of this theory is
that the success of women entrepreneurs however, depends not on possession of these skills, but
on the economic situations in which they attempt their endeavors.

There is a strong connection between the presence of role models and the emergence of
entrepreneurs (Shapero & Sokol, 1982). Due to the fact that women entrepreneurs have not been
present as entrepreneurs in the past, they nowadays lack close role models. Role models are seen
as persons that by their attitudes, behaviours and actions establish the desirability and credibility
of an individual`s choice to becoming an entrepreneur. Furthermore, the influence of role models
is gender related. That is, an individual will be more influenced by another individual of the
same gender, as one’s aspirations and choices tend to be more influenced by persons of the same
gender (Deaux & Lafrance, 1998).For example in Southern Africa , we don’t have power women
entrepreneurs like Ophra Winfrey , Sindy Trims and Taylor Banks.

Furthermore family restriction , role conflicts and other societal factors may be an adverse factor
to women entrepreneurs success in the business world. Women are expected to spend more time
with their family members. They do not encourage women to travel extensively for exploiting
business opportunities. Marriage and family life are given more importance than career and
social life in African culture.

In conclusion African women entrepreneurs encounter gender issues. The greatest challenge
facing women entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe is lack of resources . There is need for government to
allocate more financial resources to women entrepreneurs especially those still at the
introductory stage. Government should allocate more funds to micro businesses operated by
women because financial problems is one of the greatest issue that is affecting women to be in
action in terms of entrepreneurship. Furthermore the government should push for business
diverse culture which will make room for women entrepreneurs. However , all the outlined
remedies may fail to work because the world is dynamic , there are individual needs and the
solutions are not one size fits all.
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