Lioness Data
The key insights from the 2nd edition of the South African Women Entrepreneurs Job Creators Report, produced by Lionesses of Africa in partnership with New York University, and in collaboration with Absa, were shared with attendees at a special Lioness Business Agility webinar on 18 November 2022. The report once again provides key insights into the pivotal role women entrepreneurs play as job creators in the country. These insights are important as the South African National Development Plan (NDP) estimates that the country will need to create an additional 11 million jobs by 2030. 90% of these are expected to come from new and expanding SMEs.
This 2nd South African Women Entrepreneurs Job Creators Report describes the experiences of South Africa’s women entrepreneurs through key insights derived from data collected from 1,340 respondents drawn from the Lionesses of Africa network in South Africa.The survey covered all 9 provinces and the data gathered reflected a range of business industries, business sizes and levels of business maturity.
The report highlights a number of interesting trends, including the timing of the ‘first hire’. Over three-quarters of the women entrepreneur respondents indicated that they hired their first employee at an early business stage, in year one or year two. Other key insights include:
The 1,340 women entrepreneur respondents employ 8,503 people
71% are employers, with average of 9 employees, and the “typical,” or median number of employees is 6
29% women entrepreneurs are solo entrepreneurs with no employees
Women entrepreneurs in the manufacturing industry had the largest number of employees, employing approximately 14 staff on average
77% of employers hired their first employee in year 1 or 2, with 55% hiring in Year 1
72% of solo entrepreneurs expect to hire full time employees at some point in the future
24% of women entrepreneurs expect overall number of jobs in their business to increase a lot over the next year
68% of women entrepreneurs reported confidence in making new hires this year
On average, women aged 45 and over have the largest number of employees
84% of women entrepreneur respondents make less than R250,000 per year
73% of women entrepreneurs defined job creation as ‘very important’ to them
Just less than half of women entrepreneurs cite lack of access to capital as a major barrier to job creation
A third of women entrepreneur respondents cite finding the right employees to grow their business a major challenge
The South African Women Entrepreneurs Job Creators Survey is a collaboration between Lionesses of Africa and researchers from New York University. The survey is funded by Absa.
This is the first in a series of articles published by Lionesses of Africa that will focus on different, interesting aspects of the 2nd South African Women Entrepreneurs Job Creators Report. Each article will provide more detailed insights on the impact of women entrepreneurs, particularly SMEs, and the vital role they play in job creation in the South African economy.