Exploring challenges that affect female informal entrepreneurs in the central business district of Richards Bay and Empangeni

Abstract

Female entrepreneurs play an important part in the economies of countries across the globe, yet they are still being discriminated against because of their gender. They face a lack of education and skills, a challenging economic climate, lack of funding, lack of motivation, and insufficient resources. In terms of addressing gender stigmatisation and exclusion in the informal sector, policymakers must address historically inherited social and religious norms as well as societal expectations about women that constrain their economic lives as consumers, workers and producers. This study aimed to explore the challenges affecting female informal entrepreneurs in the central districts of Richards Bay and Empangeni, Kwa-Zulu Natal. The business world has been known as a male-dominated world, and many people think there is no room for females in the business sector. South African research reported that in 2007 the ratio of the average female to male wages for those in the sample stood at 82.2 per cent. Janet BurnsSenior Contributor at Forbes also wrote an article regarding this issue. In this article she makes the comment that: "We need awareness in women and men about what is unconscious in gender bias, and which can often be sensationalised and politicised, if you factor in the race, different ability levels, sexual orientation, you add additional layers, but gender bias is always there. Research shows that both women and men have such biases, and these are attitudes we do not control." This study looks at the challenges that the female faces in this competitive arena of entrepreneurship. It also aims to encourage and support women to make a difference in the region's economic growth. The study revealed that a large percentage of the respondents were between the ages of 31 to 50 years old who have only completed high with a senior certificate (grade 12) and thus need proper further training from the government. It was also clear that the highest challenges affecting the growth of women-owned businesses is funding and crime. Some women fail because they do not have financial backing from the government, and they are obliged to use their own funds/get loans/donations to support their operations, mainly in the food industry. The study also discovered that the challenges faced by the female entrepreneurs in Richards’s bay are different from those faced by the female entrepreneurs in Empangeni. In light of the above results, it was recommended that the working environments for these women entrepreneurs be secured. What one group of women is doing better in Richards’s bay or Empangeni should be emulated by the other. The local government must organise awareness and training on the available support and opportunities in the sector for women, and this should partner with the Local Municipalities to nurture the women in the informal sector. This will give formal recognition to the informal settlements and businesses as contributors to Local Economic Development. A mixed-methods research approach was used, and 150 respondents from the selected Municipal areas participated in this study. An interview with closed-ended and open-ended questions was used to collect data from the female informal entrepreneurs. The latest version of SPSS was used to analyse data. Pie charts and graphs were used to present descriptive data.