Influence of Women Economic Empowerment Practices on Performance of Business Incubator for African Women Entrepreneurs Project in Kenya

Abstract

In contemporary corporate world, women enterprises are increasingly becoming the significant contributors of economic growth in the industry. Women economic empowerment practices are gaining more prominence among development organizations with the focus on increasing growth and performance of women-owned enterprises. Over the years, women-owned enterprises have faced numerous challenges leading to declining growth and even total failure of others. This study sought to assess the influence of women economic empowerment practices on performance of Business Incubator for African Women Entrepreneurs (BIAWE) project in Kenya. The specific research objectives of this study were to determine the influence of capacity building of women entrepreneurs, credit and savings, start-up tools on performance of Business Incubator for African Women Entrepreneurs project in Kenya. This study was guided by the Feminist Theory and Institutional Theory which were linked to the various study variables. The study adopted descriptive survey design method to select a sample of 30 participants. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 16 participants for in-depth interview and 4 key informants’ interviews while convenient sampling was utilized to select 10 women focus group. The qualitative data will be analyzed by use of content analysis to get useful insights. Thematic analysis assisted in identifying patterns of meaning across a dataset that provided an answer to the research question. The study revealed gender disparity in entrepreneurship in Kenya; with the industry being male-dominated with notably fewer females than males due to cultural bias caused by patriarchal social authority structures and financial exclusion of female gender from socio-economic affairs of the society. BIAWE project played a significant role in women economic empowerment and growth of women-owned businesses in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study found capacity building including targeted training, innovation and effective mentorship programs to have significantly contributed to the performance of BIAWE program. It was noted that financial support services including capital, funding and credit services provided by the organization promoted financial inclusion of women entrepreneurs resulting in enhanced performance of BIAWE project. Furthermore, start-up tools and equipment including hairdressing equipment, sewing machine and handcrafted furniture enhanced the capacity of women entrepreneurs to perform, create employment opportunities and improve the performance of BIAWE projects. Therefore, the study recommends that: training and mentorship programs of entrepreneurs should be aligned with their desires, needs and the passion; moreover, the financial institutions should have all inclusive system of financial services in terms of credit options and savings services in order to increase access to financial services to women and provision of efficient and adequate start-up tools and equipment to women entrepreneurs for enhanced effective organizational performance.