University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Social Impact Research Experience (SIRE) Wharton School 2015 Marriage, Markets, and Mentorship: An Ethnography on the Ambitions of and Obstacles Facing Nigerian Women Micro-Entrprenuers Adebisi Ogunrinde Wharton, UPenn Follow this and additional works at:http://repository.upenn.edu/sire Part of theBusiness Commons Ogunrinde, Adebisi, "Marriage, Markets, and Mentorship: An Ethnography on the Ambitions of and Obstacles Facing Nigerian Women Micro-Entrprenuers" (2015).Social Impact Research Experience (SIRE).Paper 39. http://repository.upenn.edu/sire/39 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons.http://repository.upenn.edu/sire/39 For more information, please [email protected]. Marriage, Markets, and Mentorship: An Ethnography on the Ambitions of and Obstacles Facing Nigerian Women Micro-Entrprenuers Abstract This paper explores the challenges facing women micro-entrepreneurs in Lagos, Nigeria by way of a case study of Peace Akpotu, a salon-owner operating in Ajegunle. Research entailed the use of participant observation and ethnography to uncover several difficulties faced by women entrepreneurs, including the burdens of relocation, domestic duties, and childbirth upon marriage. Additional obstacles, such as a less economically resourced customer base, poor mechanisms to determine customer preferences, and steep competition compound with limited access to business education for women entrepreneurs and a volatile market, further complicating business operations. Moreover, a reframing of what constitutes a successful business allows for the value of positive externalities irrespective of profit from women-owned business to be considered, including mentorship, the creation of a safe social space for women, and women’s empowerment. Opportunities to enhance these positive externalities and mitigate challenges are explored. Keywords women, micro-enterprise, Nigeria, Lagos, ethnography Disciplines Business This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons:http://repository.upenn.edu/sire/39 Marriage, Markets, and Mentorship: An Ethnography on the Ambitions of and Obstacles Facing Nigerian Women Micro-Entrepreneurs Author: Adebisi Ogunrinde University of Pennsylvania [email protected] Advisor: Dr. Robert Jensen University of Pennsylvania [email protected] Anthropology Social Impact Research Experience ABSTRACT This paper explores the challenges facing women micro-entrepreneurs in Lagos, Nigeria by way of a case study of Peace Akpotu, a salon-owner operating in Ajegunle. Research entailed the use of participant observation and ethnography to uncover several difficulties faced by women entrepreneurs, including the burdens of relocation, domestic duties, and childbirth upon marriage. Additional obstacles, such as a less economically resourced customer base, poor mechanisms to determine customer preferences, and steep competition compound with limited access to business education for women entrepreneurs and a volatile market, further complicating business operations. Moreover, a reframing of what constitutes a successful business allows for the value of positive externalities irrespective of profit from women-owned business to be considered, including mentorship, the creation of a safe social space for women, and women’s empowerment. Opportunities to enhance these positive externalities and mitigate challenges are explored. Keywords: women, micro-enterprise, Nigeria, Lagos, ethnography INTRODUCTION This paper explores the challenges faced by women micro-entrepreneurs in Lagos, Nigeria based on preliminary ethnographic research. After three weeks of close observations of Peace Akpotu, a salon owner in Ajegunle, one of Lagos’ most dangerous and notorious slums, as well as her customers, competitor salons in the region, and her staff of paid and unpaid apprentices, it was possible to identify several obstacles that seem to characterize the experience of many Nigerian women attempting to start a business. Moreover, re-conceptualizing what constitutes a “successful” micro-enterprise allows for an improved understanding of whether or not women entrepreneurs whose businesses do not necessarily maximize profits nor scale are worthwhile ventures in particular cultural and economic contexts. CONTEXT OF CASE STUDY The research for this paper centers on the business operations of Peace Akpotu, a thirty- two year old female salon owner from Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria. Peace got married to her husband in January of 2015, but had not yet been pregnant or had children. Prior to marriage, Peace lived with her mother and sister in the household in which she grew up. Peace’s business had been in operation for several years prior. Ajegunle is the most populous slum in Lagos state, in which most business takes place in the informal sector and 12.8% of all blighted land in Lagos can be found.1 It is the most notorious and one of the poorest of all of Lagos’ slums.2 Her                                                              1 Oluwafemi Olajide, "Urban Poverty and Environmental Conditions in Informal Settlements of Ajegunle, Lagos Nigeria," Department of Geography and Planning, Lagos State University (2010): 827. 2 Oluwafemi Olajide, "Urban Poverty and Environmental Conditions in Informal Settlements of Ajegunle, Lagos Nigeria," 827. business, Bubbles, is operated out of a small rented property in Ajegunle consisting of two rooms powered by a generator, which is connected to the property outside (Figure 1, 2). METHODS AND LIMITATIONS Data was gathered using participant observation and included numerous informal and formal discussions with Peace, her staff of seventeen unpaid apprentices and one paid worker, ten customers who were receiving a variety of services at the salon, and three women working in neighboring competitor salons. Many of these conversations transpired through semi-structured ethnographic interviews with all aforementioned individuals, which included both standard questions asked to all others in similar positions (i.e. all customers or all staff) and individualized questions conjured in response to individual characteristics or responses. In addition, qualitative observations were made of the overarching economic structure and environment. Data also included figures pertaining to costs, prices, and revenues associated with her business or personal expenditures and income from Peace’s estimates. Due to unreliable bookkeeping and significant daily variation, precise numbers could not be verified in all cases. This ethnographic project took place from occurred from May 14th to June 6th, 2015. PAST AND PRESENT LANDSCAPE FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN LAGOS Historically, women have played a significant role in business and income generation in Lagos. Prior to colonization, women entrepreneurship was common, and women played a vital role in earning supplemental income for their families.3 Under British rule, women dominated small-scale business in terms of participation, but underperformed in terms of profit when compared to men entrepreneurs.4 It is possible that European traditions of male-centered economies cemented and exacerbated inequalities in Nigeria; “[some] inequality has its roots in the colonial system of education which was primarily geared towards meeting the manpower need of the colonial government…[that] alienated women from educational and economic opportunities.”5 The proportion of women involved in commercial activities dropped near the end of colonial rule. 6 Women’s underrepresentation and underperformance could be attributed to legal and cultural barriers that emerged during colonial rule and outlived it.7 In 1940s Nigeria, women faced significant obstacles, illustrated by the following example: “The labour code then prescribed a lower salary for single women than men, and women had to resign their appointment on marriage. In some cases, the husband had to give his permission to allow his wife to continue in paid employment.”8 Culturally informed gender roles were both enshrined in law and pervasive in other societal structures that persist today. There is little expectation for women to become business owners; consequently, little infrastructure exists to promote their success in commerce. On their own, “women have limited access to critical resources like education, land, technology, and credit.”9 According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), “In many                                                              3 Daphne Halkias et al., “Challenges Facing Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria,” Management Research Review 34 (2011): 222. 4 Halkias et al., “Challenges Facing Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria,” 222. 5 Godiya Allanana Makama, "Patriarchy and Gender Inequality in Nigeria: The Way Forward," European Scientific Journal 9.17 (2013): 120. 6 Halkias et al., “Challenges Facing Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria,” 222. 7 Halkias et al., “Challenges Facing Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria,” 222. 8 Tinuke. M. Fapohunda, “Women and the Informal Sector in Nigeria: Implications for Development,” British Journal of Arts and Social Sciences 4 (2012): 39. 9 Fapohunda, “Women and the Informal Sector in Nigeria,” 37. instances, women are unable to benefit from available services, and must struggle to overcome or circumvent discrimination in business circles.”10 Moreover, there are still significant familial and societal expectations of women to fulfill traditional motherly and wifely duties that limit their ability to pursue business opportunities: …women face greater vulnerabilities in the labour market because of their relative lack of education and training, the tendency to channel women into certain occupations, and the continuous heavy burdens of unpaid domestic work, child-bearing and child-care, which restrict the time and energy available for income-earning activities.11 Decades of precedent against women entrepreneurship in Nigeria offer context for an exploration into the difficulties faced by their modern-day counterparts. Today, the persistence of traditions that run counter to women successfully pursuing their own business ventures is grappled with in conjunction with new industry- and economy-specific challenges. CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS Studying the business operations and experience of Peace Akpotu allowed for several distinct and impactful challenges to be identified that not only influence Peace, but likely face other women entrepreneurs in Lagos. Peace’s records of her revenues and costs were not reliable enough to determine an exact expected monthly profit figure. However, is it certain that Peace’s business fluctuated greatly from positive to negative profits weekly and monthly, and that her profitability demonstrated a general negative trend in 2015.                                                              10 Mohamed A. Ramady, The GCC Economies: Stepping up to Future Challenges (New York: Springer, 2012), 218. 11 Fapohunda, “Women and the Informal Sector in Nigeria,” 39. Marriage As Peace shared in numerous conversations, marriage is an important rite of passage and custom in Nigerian culture. It is expected that all women get married and afterwards bear children with their spouses. From my observations, it also appeared that marriage entailed assuming substantial burdens that interfered with her business pursuits. Firstly, marriage entailed a change in Peace’s permanent residence as a result of relocation. As is traditionally the case for many Nigerian women, Peace lived with her mother and her sister until marriage, and did not possess her own home. In anticipation of marriage, she did not pursue housing, and thus had never planned for it financially or considered it as a viable option. Conversely, her husband acquired a home with the goal of permanently living there with his future wife and children; thus, he had an adequately sized home in advance of their marriage. As a technician, he possessed a stable income and sufficient financial means to purchase a house of higher quality than Peace would have been able to afford. As a result, after marriage, Peace immediately took residence with her spouse. Peace relocated from her home in Ajegunle to another neighborhood in Lagos called Igando. Having already established her business in Ajegunle with a significant local customer base and local staff, she was required to either run her business from a distance or sacrifice her previously established business and customer base to start over in Igando, navigating a new terrain in a community with which she had no previously established relationships or reputation. In Peace’s case, she opted to maintain her previous business. She expressed that her primary motivation was an emotional attachment to the community in which she previously lived as well as to her friends, family, staff, and regular customers. It is worth noting that Peace’s situation was lose-lose; either she sacrifice her business and social network or suffer the inconveniences of a long commute. By moving to Igando, she incurred significantly increased transportation costs and trouble reaching her place of work. From her previous residence, Peace was able to walk to work within ten minutes, transporting herself free of cost. From her new residence, Peace required public transportation, which due to high traffic and unreliable service required a thirty to sixty minute commute on average costing 350-400 naira per ride, or 700-800 naira per daily round- trip. Considering that this cost would total 4900-5600 naira weekly, and that her weekly revenues averaged roughly 15,000 naira, her new transportation costs required a non-negligible estimated one third of her revenues. In addition, revenues varied dramatically by week; in weeks of low business, Peace’s weekly transportation costs could total more than her revenues. This predicament required Peace to hedge her bets on whether or not any given day would be worth the cost of her transporting herself to her place of work. In addition to cost concerns, Peace now had to consider the significant increase in time required to go to her salon. As a result, she attended her salon less frequently. Without Peace present, there was less oversight of apprentice’s work, which Peace reported harmed her business due to their insufficient training to complete certain styles. In addition, bookkeeping and keen oversight over payments made to the business were delegated to apprentices, the diligence of whom Peace could not be certain. Her relocation thus necessitated that she engage in a trade-off between being physically present to build and oversee her business – both a necessary and fulfilling activity for her – and keeping her costs below her revenues. Secondly, marriage imposed upon Peace various additional responsibilities that previously did not exist. When living at home with her mother, Peace did very little housework