Forging a path to
entrepreneurship BY NICOLE FORREST
As the only region where more women than men are engaged in entrepreneurial activities, Africa could become the most enterprising continent in the world.
With roughly 50% of Africa’s burgeoning population being female, it should go without saying that empowering women is essential to unlocking the potential of the continent. Governmental organisations have taken notice of this, with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prioritising gender equality and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 prioritising the empowerment of women and girls. However, the number of unemployed women outweighs that of men in almost every African country. Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2018 indicated that the rate of unemployment among women was 7.5% higher than among men. Adding to
this, women earn less than men and are relegated to lowerranking roles in a majority of companies. This, according to Allan Gray Orbis Foundation CEO Yogavelli Nambiar, is not due to a lack of research pointing to the significant socio-economic impact of women. “We find ourselves continuously pushing up against a narrative that requires the female to justify her contribution, to argue her value, to demand her right or to plead her case. This continued paradigm forces women into fight or flight, often having to revisit the same gender-related biases in everyday workplace situations – irrespective of what she has achieved.”
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