Women entrepreneurship and village savings: a developing world perspective

Siwale, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6315-0896, Simba, A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0276-8211, Frost, D and Henry, P, 2025. Women entrepreneurship and village savings: a developing world perspective. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research. ISSN 1355-2554

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Abstract

Purpose: This exploratory study draws upon a phenomenon–theory interface of women entrepreneurship and the concept of village savings to develop a continuum of the financial intermediation banking theory. It foregrounds this theoretical extension at the intersection of women’s entrepreneurship financing processes, using a developing world setup, and retrospective narratives of women entrepreneurs.

Design/methodology/approach: The research utilises data generated from in–depth interviews involving forty (40) women entrepreneurs in a developing world setup. A research guide comprising semi–structured questions was used to allow participants to recount, as fully as possible, their lived experiences in social settings featuring village saving schemes. The Gioia methodology was adopted for data analysis. Unlike basic thematic analysis, Gioia’s data structure, comprising first–order codes, second–order codes, and aggregated dimensions, enhanced the rigour in analysing, synthesising, and interpreting the stories told by the participants.

Findings: The findings reveal how women entrepreneurs, involuntarily excluded from participating in modern economics due to gender biases about their societal roles and responsibilities, reconfigured the very mechanisms that constrained their economic and social freedoms to establish village saving schemes as a solution to their financial access challenges. Furthermore, they show how these entrepreneurs coalesced, self–organised, and self– managed to enable their saving schemes to function. The relationships they establish were influenced by prosocial acts of solidarity, belonging, and togetherness with affiliation to these schemes based on family connections, kinship ties, and long–standing personal friendships.

Originality/value: The originality of this study lies in the contextualised theoretical perspectives and explanations it develops to decipher the subtle social and economic interactions interwoven in the complex local, cultural, and social systems of a classical village savings model. Its contextually–grounded approach has value. It transcends empirical methods that scholars use to look beyond sample–wide averages to explore the nuances hidden beneath the surface of economic and social interactions in women’s entrepreneurship in the developing world.

Plain English: A universal intermediation banking ideology emphasizing bank–manager relationships is less applicable to women's entrepreneurship in the developing world. Instead, a village savings model embedded in local, cultural, and social systems provides a genuine pathway towards access to startup capital and everyday entrepreneurship investments in women’s entrepreneurship. Village savings cannot be dismissed as a remnant of past experiences that will come to pass as economies modernise, but must be considered equally effective as formal banking services within their respective contexts

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research
Creators:	Siwale, J., Simba, A., Frost, D. and Henry, P.
Publisher:	Emerald
Date:	27 October 2025
ISSN:	1355-2554
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1108/IJEBR-03-2025-0362 DOI 2520574 Other
Rights:	© Emerald Publishing Limited. This AAM is provided for your own personal use only. It may not be used for resale, reprinting, systematic distribution, emailing, or for any other commercial purpose without the permission of the publisher
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	11 Nov 2025 10:23
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2025 10:23
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54703

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