Difficulties encountered by black women entrepreneurs in accessing training from the small enterprise development agency in South Africa

Abstract

The long period of colonialism and apartheid, imposed oppression and exploitation on women especially black African women, meant that they could not own property in their own rights or enter into a contract. The dawn of democracy brought about changes in the role played by women. They have emerged significantly and influence the policy spheres as well as their role of representation in the political spectrum. The article examines to what extent do potential entrepreneurs access training information on starting and growing their business offered by the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) in Gauteng. It is argued that SEDA aims to provide training to potential entrepreneurs with an aim of empowering them to utilise business opportunities provided through government policies. The data of the survey are analyzed using the quantitative approach. The findings indicate that SEDA provides only limited training in assisting potential entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses.

Key words: black women entrepreneurs, SEDA training, information dissemination and policy programmes