ABSTRACT
The important role that entrepreneurship plays to combat unemployment, disparities in wealth distribution and alleviation of poverty should not be underestimated.Women entrepreneurship is faced by many challenges. This study sought to determine challenges that women entrepreneurs are facing in the running of their businesses in Douala, Cameroon. The objectives of this study were; to analyze the key factors affecting the performance of women entrepreneurs, the types of industries they are likely to engage in and recommendations on how to promote the women entrepreneurs. The study was guided by Pearson’s ‘Gender Theory’. Descriptive research was used to generalize characteristic of the study population and to show the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The target population was 536 women owning MSEs enterprises located in Douala, Cameroon using random and stratified sampling. These were; construction, textile, food and beverages and beauty enterprises. A sample of 30% was drawn from each stratum to get a sample size of 160 respondents. Primary data were collected using questionnaires and interview guide. Questionnaires were selfadministered through drop and pick to sample members of the women enterprises for findings from the respondents. The data were then analyzed using descriptive methods particularly frequencies and percentages. Data presentation was done by the use of pie charts, bar graphs, percentages and frequency tables. For qualitative data, which were mainly gathered from open-ended questions, a qualitative data checklist was developed. The study revealed that shortages of assets (human, social and financial) and multifarious socialization trends contribute to negative performance of women entrepreneurs in MSEs. Practical recommendations are suggested to Government and women entrepreneurs to overcome these obstacles and to ensure that women entrepreneurs can sufficiently contribute to the economy and empower themselves economically.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The important role that micro-enterprises and small enterprises play in stimulating economic activity, creating jobs, alleviating poverty and uplifting the living standards of the entrepreneurs, has been recognized internationally as well as in Africa (Van Vuuren & Groenewald, 2007:269). Women have not been left behind in this field. The last half-century has witnessed monumental changes for women as income earners (Smith-Hunter, 2006:1). Smith-Hunter (2006:1) cited Bragger (1996) and Buttner and Moore (1997) who emphasised that these changes include an influx of women into the mainstream of labour market; the revolution of the women and the civil rights movements, which propelled women into nontraditional roles; and the explosion in the number of women entrepreneurs particularly over the last two decades.
Women entrepreneurs around the world are now making a difference in the sector of entrepreneurship. They contribute both pragmatic and feasible ideas. Besides, they inject great a deal of energy and capital resources to their communities’ hence creating massive job opportunities (Commonwealth secretariat 2002). Ziwadi and Mhangami (2011) add that women entrepreneurs are the major actors in that sector and contributors on the economic development in their areas of residence and that they are becoming increasingly visible in the local economies of the developing countries. According to Maas and Herrington (2006:38), the growth in total number of female entrepreneurs outnumbers male entrepreneurs. This has led to the renewed focus on gender entrepreneurship and the development of appropriate entrepreneurship interventions for gender-specific groups internationally.
Similarly, Maas and Herrington (2006:30) indicate that according to the International Trade Centre (2004), Canada has experienced a 200% growth in the number of women entrepreneurs over the last 20 years. Within the African context, taking Cameroon as an example, women entrepreneurs comprise 57% of small and micro-businesses, while in Uganda, women entrepreneurs form the majority of the country’s business people, specifically in the areas of farming and small to medium-sized enterprises. However, women who owned businesses could contribute more to the economic development than they are today. Research shows that countries which fail to address gender-related barriers are losing out on significant economic growth.
Although there are differences among those women who are in self-employment, consistent findings relating to this field reveals that in general, the performance of women-owned firms in terms of turnover, profit realization and job creation is weaker than that found in men-owned enterprises ( Cater et al,. 2001). Collectively, these studies suggest bimodal profile of female-owned firms being at a lower level of performance in direct, indirect and proxy measures.
In Sub-Saharan Africa; despite women’s contribution in business, they are not considered as entrepreneurs. In Mozambique for instance, 95% of the citizens work in informal economy and 59% of informal workers are female but the Mozambique’s gender-related index runs the 149th of the 156 countries for which the data were available (ILO –WEDGE Southern Africa, 2011).
Another distinct characteristic of female enterprises is the limited growth potential of the many women-managed micro-enterprises. Studies have shown that enterprises managed by women and men have different growth rate, those operating in the same sub-sector inclusive. A study (Downing & Daniels, 1992) conducted in four southern African countries has shown that in Swaziland, women’s businesses in retail, textiles and wood-based production grew at an annual rate of 7 per cent, 3 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. In the same subsectors, men’s enterprises grew at 11 per cent, 4 per cent and 26 per cent annually.
Similar patterns were documented in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Lesotho.
The Cameroonn government has come to realize that fostering the development of women entrepreneurship in the country is crucial for the achievement of Cameroon’s broader development objectives, including economic development and growth. Cameroon is one of the very few countries which established the Ministry of Gender in 2002 and Women Enterprise Fund in 2007. Together, these two oversee the growth and development of existing and potential women entrepreneurs in the country. Various government grants and funds are made available to the women entrepreneurs through many of its agencies such as Youth Enterprise Fund and Women Enterprise Fund and now the uwezo fund. In its effort to turn Cameroon into an “Information Society” as part of the efforts to become a knowledge-based economy, the government has pledged to see that all segments of the society, women entrepreneurs in urban and rural areas have access to new information technology (IT), particularly computers and Internet facilities. However the government has not yet managed to addressed the challenges facing women. (Athanne, 2011). According to the 1999 National MSEs Baseline Survey, there were 612,848 women in MSEs in Cameroon, accounting for 47.4 per cent of all those in MSEs. According to the Department of Micro and Small Enterprise Development in the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development, there were about 2.8 million MSEs in Cameroon in 2002, employing about 5.1 million people. In 2003 there were 5.5 million people in MSEs and, in 2004, there were about 6 million (5.97) employed in MSEs in Cameroon (GoK Economic Survey ). In general, women tended to operate smaller enterprises than men, with the average number of employees in a women-owner managed MSEs being 1.54 versus 2.1 in men-owner-managed MSEs. In women-owner managed MSEs, about 86 per cent of the workers were women-owner managers themselves, 4 per cent were hired workers, with the remainder made up of unpaid family members and/or apprentices. Whereas, in men-owner managed MSEs, only 68 per cent of the workers were men-owner managers themselves, 17 per cent hired workers while the rest are made up of family members and/or apprentices who need no little pay if any. The survey also revealed that women tended to operate smaller MSEs than men, making least income averaging to a gross income of Kshs 4, 344 per month compared to Kshs 7, 627 for men. This compared to the national employment statistics of 2003 and 2004 which indicated that only 30 per cent of the total workforce was made up of women. The MSEs sector, therefore, holds more promise for women in providing and accessing employment opportunities. Despite the efforts that the government has made to ensure that women play an active role in the economy, most women in Douala, Cameroon still experience low returns in their businesses.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) play an important role not only in Douala, Cameroon’s economy but also in Cameroon in entirety. Despite their significance, past statistics indicate that three out of five businesses fail within the first few months of operation (Cameroon National Bureau of Statistics, 2007). Several interventions have been put in place by a number of stakeholders to salvage this turmoil. The government, private sectors and the NGOs are engaged in various strategies to empower women though their efforts have not had much fruits. For example, new act for micro and small enterprises 2012 main purpose is to promote, regulate and develop the MSEs and for the first time, a State corporation the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority has been formed to serve the interests of the sector. Implementation of the plan has; however, been slow. It has not had any positive impact on the women who are involved in MSE in Douala, Cameroon.
Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) owned by women within Douala, Cameroon have not been able to achieve optimum growth. They have continued to show very limited trend in growth if not retardation. The women entrepreneur’s poverty level is still high in this constituency (Rachuonyo District Strategic Plan 2005-2010).
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the study is to investigate and examine the constraints that affect women owned micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Douala, Cameroon. The study investigated the performance of women enterprises in Douala, Cameroon. The research was carried to find the causes of low entrepreneurship turnover among the women.
1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study was guided by the following objectives:
- To identify the type of industries that micro and small-scale women entrepreneurs engaged in.
- To analyze the key challenges that affects the performance of women entrepreneurs in MSEs in Douala, Cameroon.
- To identify best practices of promoting women entrepreneurship in MSEs in Douala, Cameroon.
1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study was guided by the following research questions:
- What areas of business activities do women entrepreneurs most likely to be engage in?
- What are the factors affecting the performance of women entrepreneurs in MSEs in Douala, Cameroon?
- What measures should be put in place by the government and other institutions supporting women enterprises to improve MSEs in Douala, Cameroon?
1.6 ASSUMPTION OF THE STUDY
The study was carried out on the basis of the assumption that business women in Douala, Cameroon are engaged in various small and micro enterprises and that in the process of running their businesses, they encounter challenges that affect their performance. The researcher assumed that the methods used for sampling were not biased. The instruments used were reliable and valid. The researcher also assumed that there are strategies that can be put in place to overcome these hurdles.
1.7 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
The study focuses on the ways of addressing women’s involvement in businesses by analyzing the challenges they experience in the light of the realization of vision 2030 and MDGs. The government in its 8th NDP (2007) Vision 2030 aims at achieving industrialization by 2015, economic and political stability by 2030. The government views micro and small enterprises (MSE) sector as one of the engines for faster economic growth. For Cameroon to achieve her stated goals in the Vision 2030, thus ‘equity and poverty elimination’ one of the strategic plans is to increase opportunities all around women. Specific strategies involve increasing women participation in economic, social and political decision-making processes as well as their access to business opportunities, health and education services, housing and justice by 2012 is very important. However, for these goals to be feasible ever, the growth of women-owned enterprises is fundamental. In this respect, the government has made specific allocation of funds to the MSE sector with special consideration to the women, youth and vulnerable groups. Numerous interventions have been put in place by several stakeholders. However, little positive impacts have been achieved in Douala, Cameroon. It has not been clearly established why else these enterprises could have stagnated hence need for the study. The study aimed to shade some light on understanding the reason behind the phenomena of few female entrepreneurs in Douala, Cameroon, challenges female entrepreneurs are facing and the type of industries women entrepreneurs are involved in.
1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The current research contributes to the growing body of literature on female entrepreneurship, a topic of research that is in its infancy in Douala, Cameroon and is also considered to be under-developed on a global level. To the best of this researcher’s knowledge, this research is unique as it examines four challenges in tandem with a view to determining their collective impact on the decision of females to become entrepreneurs. This study enhances our understanding of MSEs that could influence policy provision and assist in increasing the numbers of female entrepreneurs over time. Thus, this research has implications for academics, educators, policy-makers, support agencies and future female entrepreneurs.
1.9 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The study covered women operating MSE in Douala, Cameroon. The studies focused are business finances, effects of multiple roles on business among others. Due to its sensitivity, very few respondents were willing to accord adequate information on this. However, the researcher managed to convince the respondents that the information given would be used strictly for academic purpose. It was after such endeavor and reassurance that the respondents cooperated. The researcher also allowed the women to continue with their chores as they responded. Most women were engaged in their daily economic activities. They had to be reassured that it would take a little of their time to respond to the interview. Lastly, a number of MSEs in the constituency are not registered. Therefore, for the study to be objective, the researcher had to interview both the registered and the unregistered women business owners.
GENDER ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CENTRAL AFRICA EXPLORING SOCIETAL NORMS AS A CHALLENGE TO FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE CONTEXT OF CAMEROON. GET MORE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS