Ejemplos de mundos virtuales

From the secondary research in the three countries (and from selected research from other developing regions) it would seem that the use of “women” as a prefix of the word “entrepreneur” is associated with informal and part-time operations. This is where the owner is not a “real” entrepreneur but “pushed into” business as a “no choice” option for escaping from poverty (see especially UDEC, 2002, and Zewde & Associates, 2002). This category of entrepreneurs is also referred to as “lifestyle” entrepreneurs (OECD, 2003 and Hall, 2003). Much of the evidence supports the view that the majority of women in business are seen to be engaged in the informal economy as micro-entrepreneurs, and consequently this has become the de facto profile or stereotype of women entrepreneurs as a whole in regions such as Africa.

Figure 2: Women and their assets for business

2.2.1 As a result of much of what has already been written, the phrase “African Women Entrepreneur” conjures up a number of images. These women are seen as:

a)

label is not surprising as women make up the majority of poor people in many African countries, and are certainly the poorest in all of the three study countries – which are among the poorest in the world.11 _{In Zambia for example, 60.4 per cent of female-headed} households in 2001 were classified as extremely poor, as compared to 51.5 per cent of male-headed households (JUDAI, 2002). Similar profiles exist in both Ethiopia and Tanzania, especially in rural areas. Women entrepreneurs would appear to start enterprises with minimal assets – be they social, human, financial, physical or natural.

b)

no formal education, to be illiterate and in general have limited human assets (GRZ

2001; World Bank, 1992; Hanna-Andesson, 1995). Generally women’s levels of education are lower than men’s (Zewde & Associates, 2002). In Zambia nearly twice as many males complete “Grade 10 plus” education (15.6 per cent) as compared to females (8.5 per cent) (JUDAI, 2002). In addition, as the Tanzanian research noted, girls who are educated tend to be steered towards subjects preparing them for reproductive roles rather than employment or business ownership (UDEC, 2002). The statistics also show that the number of women engaged in further and higher education is low (Mpango and Mushi, 2000). All of these factors are taken to show and imply that many women do not have the basic competence to successfully manage a business,

11 _{In the most recent report Ethiopia came 6}th_{, Zambia 21}st_{, and Tanzania 23}rd _{of the 25 “Least Liveable” countries in the}

world (UNDP, 2002). Idea with a Market Resources Abilities, skills and experience Women H S N P F Motivation & Determination Idea with a Market Resources Abilities, skills and experience Women H S N P F Motivation & Determination Idea with a Market Resources Abilities, skills and experience Women H S N P F Motivation & Determination Idea with a Market Resources Abilities, skills and experience Women H S N P F Motivation & Determination

Plan and Manage Idea with a Market Resources Abilities, skills and experience Women H S N P F Motivation & Determination Idea with a Market Resources Abilities, skills and experience Women H S N P F Motivation & Determination Idea with a Market Resources Abilities, skills and experience Women H S N P F Motivation & Determination Idea with a Market Resources Abilities, skills and experience Women H S N P F Motivation & Determination

Plan and Manage Index:

H – Human Assets N –Natural Assets S – Social Assets P – Physical Assets F – Financial Assets

employees, marketing and resources, and this picture is often applied across all women in business.

c)

literature shows women in enterprise as having limited business and managerial experience prior to start-up. This is derived from the fact that they are concentrated in lower paid, lower status employment (both formal and informal) that does not support and enable them to build skills through experience. For example, in 1996 only 12 per cent of jobs in the formal sector in Zambia were held by women (JUDAI, 2002) and similar profiles were also reported for Tanzania (Bol, 1995) and Ethiopia (Zewde & Associates, 2002). This lack of experience further limits women’s human assets and their ability to access other assets.

d)

women lack networks outside of their family and close community is closely associated with their lack of formal employment and business experience, together with constraints placed on their mobility and ability to interact with other business people (mostly men) arising from their domestic roles and responsibilities. Both personal and business networks are critical for business success. Women’s limited networks and networking reinforce women’s isolation as entrepreneurs and reduces their scope and opportunities for building personal and business know-how and accessing other physical and financial assets (UDEC, 2002). Furthermore, evidence from elsewhere demonstrates that women members of employers’ organizations in the Asia-Pacific region comprise approximately 20 per cent of the membership (Barwa, 2002). (However, it should be noted that it is “enterprises” that are members of employers’ organizations.) In addition, in some countries chambers of commerce and employers’ organizations are perceived – rightly or wrongly – to be male dominated.

e)

explanation commonly given for this negative attitude is that women have generally gone into business by default. They have started enterprises when no other options were available to them in order to overcome or alleviate their poverty, rather than purposively pursing business ownership by choice. As the Tanzanian research noted:

It has been reported several times that women in the MSE sector detest their experiences because they are forced into entrepreneurial activities by external factors (UDEC, 2002, p. xv).

Similar pictures are presented in Ethiopia (Zewde & Associates, 2002).

However, it is interesting to note that the African Development Bank at its Annual Meetings, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (June 2003), held its first workshop on African Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), and placed the emphasis clearly on growth-oriented women entrepreneurs, thus helping to shake off the less entrepreneurial images.

2.2.2 In summary, the above profiles tend to be the dominant pictures or stereotypes of women entrepreneurs that emerges from the secondary research, based largely on information from Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia. Whilst these characteristics do typify many women entrepreneurs, in the three study countries, heretofore there has been little examination of the prevalence of this profile, the extent to which it is used to portray all women entrepreneurs in Africa, and the issues and problems associated with such profiles. Consequently, an important task for the later primary research element of the WED Study was to re-examine this commonly held profile in order to develop a better understanding of women in business in these three countries.

2.3

Women’s enterprises and their experiences of