Motivations of Female Entrepreneurs in Housing Business and Implications for Sustainable Development of Affordable Housing in Lagos

Abstract

Despite growing belief that housing is a potent platform for alleviating poverty (SDG #1), promoting good health (SDG #3) and enhancing decent employment (SDG #8), it is worrisome that the sustainable provision of affordable housing for all remains unattainable in many cities across Nigeria, including Lagos. Consequently, entrepreneurs exploring opportunities in the housing sector are becoming more popular. Emerging evidence also affirms that female entrepreneurs are aggressively penetrating the housing market despite prevailing imbalances in gender representation. Given the humongous challenges faced by the Lagos housing market and the scarcity of studies exploring female entrepreneurship in the housing sector, this study examines motivations behind female entrepreneurial participation in the Lagos housing sector.  Adopting a mixed research methodology, the authors sought to answer the research question: What are the factors motivating the participation of female entrepreneurs in the housing sector, especially in Lagos? The adopted eclectic approach involved collecting multiple data through social media and face-to-face interactions. Between October and November 2018, female entrepreneurs in the real estate business and residents of Lagos were asked why they opted for entrepreneurship in the housing sector. The responses gathered were critically reviewed and pulled to develop a survey instrument, which was later administered among 140 female entrepreneurs in housing across the state. Following the extraction of data, the choice of the number of factors to be retained was guided by a critical component of exploratory factor analysis. The findings show that the motivations of female entrepreneurs in the housing business can be categorized into three namely family satisfaction, personal achievements, and financial satisfaction. The study recommends that stakeholders in the housing sector should consider the peculiarities and aspirations of women when formulating housing and land policies.