Closing the funding gap for women entrepreneurs
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| Gugu Mjadu |
According to the African Development Bank, in Sub-Saharan Africa, the financing gap for women is estimated at over $20 billion. Mjadu explains that this amount is made up by gender-specific challenges that women face, including lower access to quality business training and education, lesser funding opportunities for women-owned small businesses, and cultural beliefs discouraging women from participating in business.
“Since our economic growth as a country largely depends on the success of entrepreneurship – it is crucial to ensure that both male and female, existing and aspiring, entrepreneurs have equal opportunities when it comes to accessing funding, training and business opportunities,” she says.
Mjadu says that despite these limitations there are many women doing extraordinarily well in business. Pointing to the Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS, she says that each year the organisers aim to build on the entrepreneurial successes celebrated for the last 30 years by encouraging and rewarding women making waves in their communities through business.
“Over the last five years, for example, we have seen 35 female entrepreneurs named finalists in the annual competition which accounts for 47 percent of all finalists, and 13 named winners accounting for 43 percent of all winners. We remain encouraged by the increasing number of female entrepreneurs entering the competition– and we are enthusiastic to uncover and celebrate many more women who to a large extent remain unsung heroes of their communities through such business competitions.”
Emphasising the need to empower more women entrepreneurs, Mjadu lists a few practical steps women can take to proactively close the finance gap for themselves and increase their access to growth opportunities:
1. Invest in knowing your industry
“One of the general rules of thumb when it comes to entrepreneurship is to know more than what directly impacts your own business.” Mjadu says it is important for entrepreneurs to be aware of the economic macro and micro environments affecting their businesses, and also the political and legislative landscape within which they operate. Mjadu adds that for women especially, it is also key to know the points of exclusion of a particular industry, if any. “You have to be aware of the general biases and stereotypes in your industry in order to disrupt them,” she says.
2. Collaborate with other women
Mjadu explains that the old adage of ‘two heads are better than one’ is a powerful mantra for women in business to remember. “A group of women-owned organisations standing together and calling for equal funding and business opportunities stands to make a bigger difference than any one organisation doing this work in silo.” She adds that the work done by organisations and chambers such as the Businesswomen’s Association is therefore important in facilitating this collaboration and women entrepreneurs are advised to participate in similar organisations.
3. Look for opportunities with like-minded funders
Mjadu says that there are many organisations that provide funding and who are passionate about creating equal opportunities for all – some of whom have funds specifically aimed at assisting female entrepreneurs. “It is important to find out about these financiers and align your business finance applications with their criteria”.
She adds that the 2018 edition of the Entrepreneur of the Year® competition (which is open to all South African based business owners and closes on 31 May 2018) is hoping to see the biggest number of female entrants since its launch in 1988. “We must continue to encourage women to embrace entrepreneurship and disrupt staid industries and to participate in competitions that highlight their success.”
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