THE EMERGENCE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN THE WAKE OF ECONOMIC CRISIS IN CAMEROON (1990S)
THE EMERGENCE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN THE WAKE OF ECONOMIC CRISIS IN CAMEROON (1990S)

Summary/Abstract: The employment crisis in Cameroon in the 1990s, itself generated by the economic crisis more important, led to many social upheavals. One of his results was the reconfiguration of socioeconomic relations, particularly the renegotiation of power relations between men and women as managers in private and private than in public spaces. In this context, the emergence of the informal economy, and especially of the popular urban economy, contributed to the emergence of new dynamic in the field of entrepreneurship. These new forms of entrepreneuriats, moreover informal, were mostly initiated by women. Their involvement in the shaping of new business practices contributed to the evolution of discourse about women's role in the production of wealth and its impact on development in Cameroon. This study resorted to the use of empirical data that were collected as part of a study commissioned by the Institute for Governance in Central Africa (IGAC). These data, primarily collected from life stories of women entrepreneurs in Yaounde, allow us to conduct a socio-historical analysis of women's entrepreneurship in the context of the popular urban economy in Cameroon. The proposed presentation provides an overview of the role of women entrepreneurs often marginalized. In addition, it will use the dichotomy "endogenous / exogenous" to identify what results from the transition of a trading system preloaded and little connection with reality and local business practices endogenéisées.

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