A postcolonial and pan‐African feminist reading of Zimbabwean women entrepreneurs

Abstract

This paper challenges the Eurocentric entrepreneurship narrative from postcolonial and pan-African feminist perspectives. Based on interview research conducted with 24 Zimbabwean women entrepreneurs, we narrate their microstorias in order to expose the legacy of entrepreneurial colonialism and patriarchy in Africa. The microstorias reveal the colonial past as well as the patriarchal norms that disenfranchise women entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe. Yet, they also reveal their struggle, resilience, resistance and their ongoing fight to construct their own identities as entrepreneurs. The paper contributes to enhance and advance further postcolonial, decolonial and critical voices in entrepreneurship and organization studies by challenging the prevailing western discourse of entrepreneurship from the introduction of necroentrepreneurism; giving support to intersectional postcolonial and Pan-African feminist perspectives that voice global South women entrepreneurship and, by decolonizing and decentring the theoretical debates on entrepreneurship and organization.

A review of and future research agenda on women entrepreneurship in Africa

“…However, less is known and studied about how the African colonial history and, diverse culture and institutions affect women enterprising. So, the authors call for an indigenous African approach to study women entrepreneurship considering their history, gender, politics, race, economics and social dynamics to diligently capture the women’s lived experience, voices and narratives, agency, and creativity (Miguel Imas and Garcia-Lorenzo, 2023)…”