Female entrepreneurship in Africa: exploring a new methodological frontier of SWT in a (P-A) paradigm

This paper builds upon the conceptual work of Nziku and Struthers, (2018) which developed an innovative taxonomy for analysing the Strength of Weak Ties (SWT) concept, first developed by Granovetter, (1973) within a Principal-Agent (P-A) paradigm (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). In developing countries, particularly in Africa, there is an emerging literature which highlights the unique obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs who start and develop their own businesses (De Vita, et al, 2014; Minniti and Naude, 2010; Jamali, 2009; and Naude and Havenga, 2005). The role of social networks in facilitating female entrepreneurial activities has gained attention in the literature as well as creating potential sources of social capital (Brixiova and Kangoye, 2016; Agholor et al, 2015; and Birley, 1985). The gender lens is an important element in this exploration of the SWT concept and the P-A paradigm due to its validity in explaining the contribution of entrepreneurial activities of women and network utilisation (Williams and Patterson, 2018; Rouse, Treanor, and Fleck, 2013; and Marlow and Martinez Dy, 2018).This will be highlighted in this paper by developing a new methodological approach which further develops the taxonomy with the ultimate aim to apply it empirically in selected African countries.

The aim of the paper is to take to the next stage the taxonomy of SWT developed in Nziku and Struthers (2018) as a tool for mitigating P-A conflicts as they are experienced by female entrepreneurs in Africa. The taxonomy highlights the mechanisms through which African women can overcome some of the obstacles they face when setting up and developing their entrepreneurial ventures. The authors provide further elaboration of the taxonomy in the context of female entrepreneurs across diverse economic sectors in Africa. Key objectives will be: firstly to explore how a P-A paradigm can elucidate the SWT using indicators from the paradigm; secondly to examine the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in Africa; and thirdly to design a new methodological framework for integrating the SWT concept with the P-A paradigm.