Challenges Faced by Cross Border Women Entrepreneurs (CBWE) in Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Women entrepreneurship is receiving attention in the millennium with various stakeholders such as government, Non-Governmental Organisations and the public recognising the potential that entrepreneurship has to influence the economy positively. Women entrepreneurs have been regarded as the backbone of many economies because of their ability to found and develop new enterprises and in the process create more new job opportunities. However, extant literature agreed that entrepreneurial women face a myriad of challenges associated with their multifaceted livelihoods exacerbated by the fact that women had been marginalised in their history. The study was anchored in the qualitative research paradigm. A case study design was adopted to allow in depth information to be obtained from the informants. A convenient sample of six cross border women entrepreneurs was used to generate data through open-ended interviews, which allowed the informants to say more about the phenomenon under study. Results of the study were that cross border women entrepreneurs faced innumerable challenges including among others lack of adequate information about markets, lack of information on custom policies and procedures, fear of infidelity, lack of bookkeeping knowledge, lack of business decision making right and increased responsibilities for women in the family. Therefore, the study recommended that information centres must be established in each province of Zimbabwe, establish a centre for custom policies and procedures at each entry/ exit point and develop stakeholder relations approach at the borders.

Keywords

Challenges cross border entrepreneurs province women

  • Research Identity (RIN)

  • License

    Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

  • Language & Pages

    English, 41-51

  • Classification

    JEL Code: L26