Social capital in the performance of Malawian women SMEs

This study investigates the contribution of social capital to the performance of Small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It was conducted in Blantyre urban among women who own small and Medium Enterprises. The study findings, based on literature review and field interviews, demonstrate that women are able to build and use social capital to access financial capital, market opportunities and business related information. However, while literature present formal social capital in form of formal business institutions as important in the performance of SMEs as they get established, this study has found that informal social capital continues to play an important role in the performance of both new and established WOEs. In particular, the study has found that over 50% of WOEs depend on informal social capital to access investment capital, market opportunities, labor and business information. These findings point to the need to incorporate informal business related institutions in policy making related to improvement of SMEs and WOEs in Malawi.