Roadblock - Plymouth University launches study into African transport and enterprise

The barriers that prevent women in Sub-Saharan Africa from realising their economic and entrepreneurial potential will be the focus of a transport research project between Plymouth University, international consultants Integrated Transport Planning (ITP) Ltd and partners on the continent.

The study will identify the gender, cultural, political, and financial barriers to the growth of women’s businesses created by rural transport planning and policy failures, and report on how locally-driven, female-led entrepreneurship could overcome them.

Funded by Crown Agents Ltd, on behalf of the Africa Community Access Programme, and led by Plymouth University’s Institute for Sustainability Solutions Research, it builds upon the work that the government has put into supporting jobs growth and entrepreneurial education in Nigeria, notably through the YouWiN (Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria) business plan competition.

Despite a decade of economic growth, jobs creation in Nigeria has remained low and poverty levels high, with around two-thirds of the population living on less than one US dollar per day. With youth unemployment running at nearly 40%, millions have been left disaffected, with many giving up even looking for work.

Dr Andrew Seedhouse, of Plymouth University’s Centre for Sustainable Transport, said: “Unemployment on that scale can have a destabilising effect and poses a great risk to the entire region. Within that, female entrepreneurs face numerous challenges, some of which might be classed as direct business challenges, such as the difficulty in gaining access to suppliers, distributors and markets, or employees reaching their place of work.

“But there are also those vital ‘enabling’ factors such as access to advice, support and mentoring; childcare facilities; access to finance; and personal safety when using local transport.”

The project, entitled ‘The Failure of Rural Transport Planning and Policy to Support Women’s Entrepreneurship’, will see Plymouth working in partnership with Pan-Atlantic University and leading international transport planning consultants Integrated Transport Planning (ITP) ltd.

The team will conduct interviews with a number of the female winners from the YouWiN competition, and hold in-depth focus groups, before a report and recommendations are sent to the African Community Access Programme (AFCAP), which is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID).

Dr Robert Newbery, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Development within the Faculty of Business at Plymouth, said that 60,000 women applied to the YouWiN competition last year, with 1,200 winners supported by cash and mentoring awards. He said: “This demonstrates the tremendous appetite that there is in Nigeria and surrounding countries for greater opportunities for female entrepreneurial expression.

“In the UK we take it for granted that ambitions can be realised with hard work and the right skills – but here the barriers are more basic. So if we can bring together our entrepreneurial and sustainable transport expertise, with the support of partners on the ground, perhaps we can begin build infrastructure that supports female entrepreneurship rather than hinders it.”