Networks, start-up capital and women's entrepreneurial performance in Africa: Evidence from Eswatini

Zuzana Brixiová Schwidrowski and Thierry Kangoye
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Thierry Kangoye: African Development Bank

No 257, SALDRU Working Papers from Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town

Abstract: This paper analyzes the role of networks in the access of female entrepreneurs to start-up capital and firm performance in Eswatini, a country with one of the highest female unemployment rates in Africa. The paper first shows that higher initial capital is associated with better sales performance for both men and women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs start their firms with smaller start-up capital than men and are more likely to fund it from their own sources, which reduces the size of their firm and sales level. However, women with higher education start their firms with more capital than their less educated counterparts. Moreover, women who receive support from professional networks have higher initial capital, while those trained in financial literacy more often access external funding sources, including through their networks.

Keywords: Networks; start-up capital; women's entrepreneurship; multivariate analysis; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-cse, nep-ent, nep-fle and nep-sbm
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https://opensaldru.uct.ac.za/handle/11090/973 Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Networks, Start-Up Capital and Women's Entrepreneurial Performance in Africa: Evidence from Eswatini (2019)
Working Paper: Networks, Start-up Capital and Women’s Entrepreneurial Performance in Africa: Evidence from Eswatini (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ldr:wpaper:257

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