Inyene Nkanta – Empowering female entrepreneurs for sustainable economic development in Sub-Sahara Africa – Challenges and prospects within the Nigerian economy

Inyene Nkanta – Empowering female entrepreneurs for sustainable economic development in Sub-Sahara Africa – Challenges and prospects within the Nigerian economy

Wednesday 8 February 2023, 1-2pm

Event Summary

Africa has the highest rate of women entrepreneurs worldwide, and Nigeria has one of the highest female entrepreneurs in Sub Sahara Africa. However, their contribution to economic growth is not as much compared to the male entrepreneurs because of the lack of human capital and barriers that restrict their business growth and hinder opportunities for sustaining profitable businesses.

In this seminar, Inyene explores and investigates the prospects and challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in Nigeria and how they can be empowered to contribute more to economic growth and development. The focus is to understand why many female entrepreneurs in Nigeria are mostly concentrated in the informal sector compared to their male counterparts who are dominating the formal sector and how these women can be empowered to engage more in business enterprises in the formal sector which is believed to generate more income. Hence, women being able to contribute more to the economic growth and development of Nigeria.

Speaker Bio

Inyene Nkanta is a Lecturer of Business and Management in the School of Business and Creative Industries in the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). Prior to joining UWS, she was an Associate Lecturer with the University of Wolverhampton where she is currently undertaking her PhD study. Inyene received her Bachelor’s degree in Finance from University of Uyo, Nigeria and a Master’s degree in Human Resources and Industrial Management from Coventry University, United Kingdom. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom. Inyene is also a member of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Inyene has taught various modules within the School of Business and Creative Industries. She has been a module coordinator and has designed several learning and teaching materials for her students.

Her primary research interests are in the field of entrepreneurship, sustainability, innovation, human capital development and theory. Specifically, she is interested in female entrepreneurship development through human capital development and sustainability in Africa. Inyene has been awarded two GRCF grants for projects in Africa. This also involved her travelling to Canada and Indonesia to present papers on her evolving research on female entrepreneurs in Sub-Sahara Africa.