Exploring financial knowledge influences on the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

The contributions of entrepreneurs to wellbeing have been recognised in both industrialised and non-industrialised nations for engaging in solving socio-economic issues. In both economies, financial knowledge seems to be a significant instrument for assisting entrepreneurs, especially women, and other latent entrepreneurs to attain access to finance and reinforce money management skills. However, there is a lack of commitment to understand challenges affecting women’s economic activities. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of financial knowledge on the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study utilised a quantitative research design rooted in positivism philosophy. The study focused on surveying 500 women entrepreneurs including refugees and migrants, ultimately receiving responses from 400 participants. Respondents were selected using convenience quota sampling technique who are operating in the Durban Metropolitan areas. A Likert Scale model has been used in the quantitative questions and respondents had to select answers to the close-ended questions. With the help of 10% of the participants who served as pilot respondents and research professionals in the area of entrepreneurship, the instrument was updated and modified. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0 was used to cross-check, clean, code, and analyze data collected from the target population. The findings show that entrepreneurial activities empower women economically, poor business skills such as insufficient financial literacy skills, access to finance, education and training hinder their economic development. Recognising the valuable contribution of women entrepreneurs to socioeconomic growth, it is essential to implement policies that promote financial literacy among female business owners. This contributes to the sustainability of women-led small and medium-sized enterprises, enhances their empowerment, and promotes economic growth.