Traditionally dominated by men, the world of finance has some feminine icons that are branded throughout conferences. From Nezha Hyatt, president of the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC) to Nicky Newton-King, director of the powerful Business Leadership South Africa and CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the seat that weighs 80% of the African market capitalization , we can say that the woman is present in the planet finances. But beware of rapid generalization.
It must be said that women often struggle to gain access to these positions of responsibility because they have to reconcile professional and personal life, which is a brake on their rise. The main engine of the economy of the continent according to an Ipsos study published in May 2017, African women still have some way to go.
Undertaking to exist
In proportion, women represent 8% of the continent’s employees. In reality, women are more oriented towards entrepreneurship. According to a study by the Cabinet Roland Berger (September2018), on the occasion of the Women in Africa Summit, Africa has the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity (TEA) of women. They are almost 24% old enough to be employed or to be involved in business creation, compared to 17% in Latin America, 12% in North America, 11% in Southeast Asia / Pacific, 9 % in the Middle East and only 6% in Europe and Central Asia. A figure that makes African women world champions of business creation.
African women are also responsible for 65% of the continent’s wealth with the creation of $ 150 to $ 200 billion in value added. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest regional average TEA at 25.9%, which translates into many jobs for women entrepreneurs in this region, while North Africa has only 8%. According to the study, “these important disparities stem from different socio-economic and cultural realities of the regions”.
In Kenya, the highest rate of female participation
In the particular case of East Africa, Kenya has the highest rate of female participation in business ownership, at 48.7%. Women own almost half of the 1.3 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), 85% of which are informal sector SMEs (data from Kenya’s National Bureau of Statistics). A boon not to be minimized by policy makers and other financiers because, according to the study, when African women move into positions of high responsibility, they invent a more equitable and supportive management model, and more profitable because “a company directed by a woman achieves a 34% higher return “.
In addition, African entrepreneurs have quickly incorporated the challenge of the digital revolution. The continent today has 700 million internet users and mobile users. The opportunities are colossal in the face of such a large market. The stakes are just as important. This is reflected in the interest of women in the creation of startups even if on the continent only 9% of start-ups have women leaders, according to a study conducted in 2016 by Venture Capital for Africa, an organization based in the Netherlands . Nevertheless, young women entrepreneurs distinguished themselves from others, such as Nthabiseng Mosia from South Africa, Rahma Bajun from Tanzania and Ronke Bamisedun from Nigeria, which earned them a ranking among the 30 best young entrepreneurs in Africa for 2018 by the American economic magazine Forbes.
A craze curbed by lack of funding
However, it is important to note that this craze, even if it coincides with the awareness of many policy makers, does not often meet with financial support from banks and other funding institutions, which is main obstacle to the development of women’s entrepreneurship. So, unfortunately, women-led businesses are less likely than male-run businesses to grow because of a greater fear of bankruptcy. In addition, the reason is not to look for mismanagement of the latter but rather because they often start from a lower base.
They have less seed and investment capital, and little or no collateral, which limits access to credit and loans. Also, access to credit tends to become more complex when associated with gender-related factors. Also note that globally, men represent 92% of the partners of the top 100 venture capital companies, and start-ups created by women receive only 2% of the investments of these companies. For example, if we look at the case by case, African agriculture, the main source of employment on the continent, is largely dominated by women. In some countries, such as Rwanda or Burkina Faso, the agricultural labor force is almost exclusively female with percentages exceeding 90%. Nevertheless, this does not translate into greater control of the sector. Indeed, while women’s entrepreneurship is very dynamic on the continent, women entrepreneurs are very quickly faced with many difficulties including that of financing, especially growth capital.
In East Africa, for example, women borrow 13% less money than men for activities related to agriculture. This results in low agricultural productivity which is well below world averages. Women-led African SMEs are the most affected by the funding gap, estimated at $ 42 billion for all value chains, including $ 15.6 billion for the agriculture sector alone. So for these women, self-financing, informal and formal savings and credit associations, such as micro-credit agencies, remain their main sources of financing. Yet, today’s key economic challenges could, at least in part, be addressed by greater integration of women and thus moving them beyond the primary “right” part of the economy to play a key role in the economy. financial industry.