The success of Ghanaian women entrepreneurs: human and cash capital factors

This paper examines the human and financial resources available to women entrepreneurs in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana and how these resources relate to their success. Being one of the first studies to explore the attributes and credit facilities available to women entrepreneurs in Ghana, hypotheses were tested to examine the influence of human and financial capital on success as measured by personal and financial achievements as well as contributions to the development of their country. Data was obtained from a survey of 216 Ghanaian women entrepreneurs and interviews with 20 of these women. Results revealed that although the majority of the women entrepreneurs had limited access to finance, did not have higher educational background and had little working experience, they possessed diverse business skills which are positively related to their success. The study found that while Ghanaian women entrepreneurs tend to derive their human capital mainly from their entrepreneurial family backgrounds, and by learning business skills from relatives who are entrepreneurs, their counterparts from developed countries tend to derive their knowledge and skills from high level education and work experience. In addition it was found that while limited financial capital is seen to inhibit successful entrepreneurship in the developed world this was not the case in this study. This paper therefore suggests that research findings regarding women entrepreneurs in developed countries need to be carefully examined before being applied to developing countries.