Female entrepreneurship in Africa: A review, trends, and future research directions

Women entrepreneurship in developing economies: A gender-based growth model

“…primary responsibility of caring for their family members and children (Lincoln, 2012;Ojong et al, 2021). These institutional voids and uniqueness in West African sociocultural values indicate that women entrepreneurship in this context may likely play out differently from women entrepreneurship in developed countries, where business operating environments are more potent and effective.…”

Women in business in Africa: (Re)claiming our agency

“…Whilst the phrase 'Women in Business in Africa' implies a universal African way of doing things, this is far from the reality. Africa is a complex continent that consists of 54 countries and diverse populations that are divided along political, economic, cultural, linguistic and ethnic lines, all with different realities (Muchiri, 2011;Ojong et al, 2021). Therefore, any scholarly quest for a distinctive way of depicting women in business in Africa should be essentialist in nature.…”

“…Whilst people in Africa are not a homogenous group, and sensitivity to the diversity of cultures and contexts is required in interrogating the place of women in business in Africa, research is beginning to show that there might be broad underlying elements and commonalities across African cultures that could inform our thinking of women in business in Africa. These include similar patterns of gender discrimination, traditional domestic role division, structures of patriarchy and patrilineal wealth distribution that restrict female property ownership and land tenure, as well as their access to education, financing and social welfare services (Akanle & Nwaobiala, 2019;Lauwo, 2018;Ojong et al, 2021;Tavenner & Crane, 2018). Images of the continent express various stories about women's social and economic (dis) placement, to a greater or lesser extent.…”

“…Furthermore, the pervasive underlying social market mechanisms, forged through socially-embedded masculine gender norms and gendered power dynamics, cause inequitable gender participation in formal markets (Ojong et al, 2021;Tavenner & Crane, 2018). In addition, over the years, these patterns were exacerbated by persistent interaction of racialised and sexist colonial influences in ways that marginalised women and privileged men, 'and strengthened male control over female labor and productivity', whilst marginalising black women differently from white women by 'maintaining and reproducing relationships of power in postcolonial societies' (Gouws, 2017, p. 26).…”

“…Whilst scholarly articles on women in the workplace in African populations, focusing either on workplaces created by women entrepreneurs or women employees, have been published in other South African and international journals, this still constitutes a negligible slice of the global research on women at work and in business (e.g. Adisa, Mordi, & Akanji, 2021;Adisa, Mordi, Simpson, & Iwovo, 2021;Adom, 2014;Adom & Anambane, 2020;Adom & Asare-Yeboa, 2016;Adom, Asare-Yeboa, Quaye, & Ampomah, 2018;Akanle & Nwaobiala, 2019;Bako & Syed, 2018;Booysen, 1999;Booysen & Nkomo, 2010Bosch & Barit, 2020;Botha, 2016Botha, , 2017Bowden, Govender, Edwards, & Cattell, 2018;Carrim, 2016Carrim, , 2018Carrim & Nkomo, 2016;Dawa & Namatovu, 2014Du Plessis, Rothmann & Botha, 2018;Hoobler, 2016;Geldenhuys, Bosch, Jeewa, & Koutris, 2019;Grover, 2019;Hoobler, Gericke, & Koekemoer, 2021;Jaga, Arabandi, Bagraim, & Mdlongwa, 2018;Kasseeah & Tandaryen-Ragoobur, 2016;Koekemoer & Olckers (2019);Lauwo, 2018;Littrell & Nkomo, 2005;Mangaroo-Pillay & Botha, 2020;Neneh, 2017Neneh, , 2019Ojong, Simba, & Dana, 2021;Palmer & Bosch, 2017;Phume & Bosch, 2018;Ribeiro, Bosch, & Becker, 2016;Viviers, Mans-Kemp & Fawcett, 2017;...…”