Brownhilder Neneh, Obey Dzomonda
Abstract
Women’s entrepreneurship plays a vital role towards economic growth. On this account, calls to support women entrepreneurship have grown over the past decade globally as a strategy to achieve inclusive, sustainable development. While women’s entrepreneurship has increased in recent years in South Africa, the number of established businesses among women entrepreneurs remains relatively low compared to their male counterparts. Women entrepreneurs face more significant gender-related and socio-cultural challenges in accessing critical business resources, such as access to finance, due to gender stereotypes and discriminatory policies rooted in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Thus, this study tested the effect of five EE elements (policy, culture, support, human capital and markets) on access to finance amongst women entrepreneurs in South Africa. Additionally, it examined the moderating role of financial literacy in these relationships. The study adopted a quantitative research method with a descriptive research design. The sample consisted of 343 women entrepreneurs from Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. Convenience and purposive sampling techniques were used to recruit the participants, and data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS and SmartPLS 4 software. The findings showed that EE elements (policy, support and human capital) positively influence access to finance among women entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, culture was found to have a negative impact on women entrepreneurs’ access to finance. Furthermore, it was established that financial literacy is a significant moderating variable in the association between policy, support, and access to finance. These findings should encourage the government to identify problems in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and adopt a Quadruple Helix model for an integrated and functional entrepreneurial ecosystem, where collaboration among academia, industry, government, and civil society is facilitated to enhance access to resources for women entrepreneurs.