The Effectiveness of Local Business Service Centres in Disseminating Information to Woman Entrepreneurs in Gauteng, South Africa

The commitment of government to eradicate poverty amongst women and to promote gender balance is a priority to empower women. The Small Business Act No. 106 of 1996 as amended now by National Small Business Amendment Act of 2003, was introduced in order to enable a conducive, environment for small, medium and microenterprise. This article focuses on an investigation of the effectiveness of the Local Business Service Centre that aimed at disseminating information about government policies and programmes to empower women aspiring to start and grow businesses. Three hundred black women entrepreneurs in Tshwane formed the sample, and the response rate was 86 %. The results indicated that black women entrepreneurs are not aware of services provided by LBSC about government policies and programmes. It is recommended that the City of Tshwane should extend its outreach effort and create awareness about LBSC to townships where a majority of women entrepreneurs are based.