The Veuve Clicquot International Bold Barometer has found that South Africa has more female entrepreneurs than their counterparts in other countries.
The Barometer, formed in 2019, sheds light on the evolution of female entrepreneurship, spotlighting the presence of businesses led by women in a male-dominated industry.
For its third edition, the Barometer surveyed more than 49 000 women and men. Its findings suggests SA women desire to become self-employed and independent.
The survey reported that 61% of women between the ages of 20 to 29 self-identified as entrepreneurs. Many of the women were better educated and had higher incomes than the opposite sex.
Also, their businesses were centred on the beauty, food and fashion industry, unlike men who were dominating the tech industry.
The rate of businesswomen in other countries was slowing because of social factors such as geopolitical crises, women having the difficulty of striking a balance between work and family and archaic patriarchal systems against women’s career growth.
The founder and CEO of Uyandiswa, Amanda Dambuza, said SA had a cemented ground for female entrepreneurs as the individuals were motivated to provide for their families amid high rates of single-mother households and unemployment.
“I am forever impressed by the spirit of South African female entrepreneurs. Despite the many challenges they face, they get up and back themselves to ‘bring home the bacon’. Next to Nigeria, we stand shoulders above the rest with high numbers of females identifying as entrepreneurs,” she said.
Dambuza was the winner of the Veuve Clicquot International Businesswoman Award in 2017.
Another 39% of women agreed that “being their own boss” was the biggest driver for branching into entrepreneurship.
Despite their strides in entrepreneurship, women continued to encounter gender bias.
Most of the women and half of the men surveyed concurred that it was more difficult for women to become entrepreneurs, citing funding as the biggest barrier in previous years.
Furthermore, 63% of women struggled to navigate a balance between work and family, unlike 56% of men, adding another deterrent to their success as businesswomen.
Additionally, half the female respondents believed that female entrepreneurship disrupted family life, compared to only 25% who felt the same about male entrepreneurship.
Although SA had thriving businesswomen, the statistics indicated that women needed a strong support system to enable them to remain at the helm of successful female entrepreneurship, said Dambuza.
“Women must know, without a shadow of a doubt, that despite cultural and family pressures, they deserve to pursue their dreams of entrepreneurship,” added Dambuza.
On a lighter note, 72% of aspiring South African female entrepreneurs could name a successful woman they admired, surpassing the global average.
This year’s Veuve Clicquot Bold Future Award winner, Refilwe Sebethoma, said it was important for girls and women to have successful women as role models to empower and inspire them to see that that amid gender inequality in the business world, their dreams were valid and attainable.
“It remains our responsibility to keep forging a way for those who come after us. In this way, success doesn’t become a too far-fetched idea but a reality which can be attained by fellow women entrepreneurs,” she said.
The Star
hope.mafu@inl.co.za