Funding women entrepreneurs in Africa: A systematic literature review

Abstract

A systematic literature review was performed to analyze the current state of the literature regarding women entrepreneurs’ access to business funding in Africa. The findings revealed that most studies focused on informal forms (e.g. family funding or personal savings) and debt-based formal forms (e.g. traditional bank loans and microfinance loans) of entrepreneurial finance, whereas fewer studies focused on equity-based forms of funding. The education level and marital status of women entrepreneurs had an impact on their decision to apply for and attain formal funding, leading them to utilize informal sources of funding. Furthermore, the findings highlighted institutional impediments to funding female entrepreneurs, including gender bias, religious precepts, and government policies. Overall, this review points to promising directions for future theorizing on and empirical investigations into funding for women entrepreneurs in Africa.