The stakeholder ecosystem of women entrepreneurs in South African townships

Abstract

The literature on women entrepreneurs indicates that they have a positive influence on national economic growth and employment levels, yet the lived experience of women business owners in the highly constrained setting of South African townships has not been reported in academic literature. This study thus explored the role of the various stakeholders by conducting semi-structured interviews with 40 women entrepreneurs in eight townships, as well as leaders of five small business support organisations. The research provides a unique insight into the contextual complexities faced by these female business owners, offers a model of their stakeholder relationships, and identifies inhibiting and enabling factors in these relationships.