Triple dissonance : women-led funds. With a gender lens. In Africa

Abstract

This paper contributes to current debates in the field of entrepreneurship on the persistent gender gap in capital allocation to entrepreneurs. Drawing on recent theories of entrepreneurial belonging (Stead, V. 2017. “Belonging and Women Entrepreneurs: Women’s Navigation of Gendered Assumptions in Entrepreneurial Practice.” International Small Business Journal 35 (1): 61–77. doi:10.1177/0266242615594413; Birkner, S. 2020. “To Belong or Not to Belong, That Is the Question?! Explorative Insights on Liminal Gender States within Women’s STEMpreneurship.” International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 16: 115–136. doi:10.1007/s11365-019-00605-5), we conducted narrative research to gain rare insights into the gendered challenges faced by female fund managers in private equity in Sub-Saharan Africa during the fundraising process. We discover a triple dissonance between the feminine normative frames of womanhood and the male normative frames of entrepreneurship and private equity, compounded by intersectional stereotypes of Africa. Our research offers novel, exploratory insights into what has been a blind spot in the emerging field of gender-lens investing: how gender bias in capital allocation to entrepreneurs is reinforced by gender bias in capital allocation to fund managers. We conclude that the field must move beyond viewing African women as beneficiaries of empowerment and put them in power of investment decisions.