Determinants of Growth of Clean Energy Entrepreneurship by Women in Kiambu County, Kenya: Case of Wpower Funded Project.

Abstract

In Kenya, women make great contributions to the economy that account for about 47% of all micro, small, and medium sized enterprises contributing about 21% to Kenya's GDP. Clean energy entrepreneurship in this aspect includes finding a market opportunity for clean cooking and lighting technologies and developing a viable business model to exploit. A direct relationship between energy access and poverty has been documented, as needs by women for clean energy have a productive and practical impact on our lives and to the society. This study seeks to assess the influence growth of clean energy entrepreneurship by women in Kiambu County supported by the wPOWER project. The specific objectives will be to: i) To investigate if access to finance influences growth of clean energy entrepreneurship, ii) To establish whether the legal and regulatory environment influence growth of clean energy entrepreneurship by women, iii) To investigate if demographic factors influence growth of clean energy entrepreneurship by women, and iv) To explore if social networks influence growth of clean energy entrepreneurship by women in Kiambu county. This study adopted financial capital theory, economic theory of regulation, human capital theory and social networks theory as the theoretical framework. The study adopted descriptive research design to achieve the objectives. This study targeted businesswomen in the clean energy entrepreneurship sector in Kiambu County working in Karura Market, Wangige Market and Munyaka. Data collection involved the use of structured questionaires. A pilot study was conducted independently before the primary study where 10 randomly sampled respondents were involved. This was used to evaluate and improve the questionnaires appropriately. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics which include mean, frequency and percentage through use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Presentation of the findings were done using tables and figures. The study concluded that access to finance and strong social networks are the key socio-economic factors affecting the growth of clean energy entrepreneurship by women in Kiambu County. Cultural believes, practices and norms do not hinder the success of their enterprise. It is very easy to combine family responsibility and the clean energy enterprise. It is also very easy to find the right contacts and networks while in clean energy entrepreneurship. Gender discrimination pose a challenge in their clean energy enterprises. The other key factors that were found to affect businesses positively are: favourable government policies and regulations. The study found out that the national government and county government policies, standards enforcement and regulations has a moderating effect on the growth of clean energy entrepreneurship in Kiambu County. The study therefore recommends that the government should move in quickly to create policies that favor the growth and expansion of entrepreneurship.