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Refugee women entrepreneurship has been played a crucial role in economic development and poverty alleviation in both sending and receiving countries. Although their contribution to socioeconomic development in South Africa, they face various challenges including proper identity documents from the Department of Home Affairs, financial resources, and services to enter the labor market in SA. The purpose of this study is to explore the entrepreneurial skills of DR Congolese refugee women in Durban. This study used qualitative research methodology including both explanatory and descriptive theories during data collection. The study used in-depth interviews and questionnaires where ten Congolese refugee women informal traders between the age of 24 and 41 years were selected through snowball techniques from Congolese community in Durban. The results revealed that entrepreneurial activity has been considered as an approach of empowering refugee women and poverty alleviation in their receiving countries. The findings show that refugees are the most unlikely entrepreneurs as they lacked the resources to launch a new enterprise with no history of credit and lack of assets or security to bank loan. The study revealed the needs of UNHCR, NGOs and government’s support in terms of sponsoring refugees’ projects, especially business training and appropriate identity documents from the department of Home Affairs. The economic contributions of female refugee entrepreneurs from the Congo in South Africa could be substantial if supported by gender-responsive policies and the provision of formal identification documents, along with access to business training opportunities. This would enhance their well-being and contribute to the economic growth of Durban.

This research offers a comprehensive examination of immigrant entrepreneurship within Eastern Cape Province towns, with a specific focus on Sterkspruit and Aliwal-North The purpose of this was to investigate the opportunities and challenges faced by immigrant entrepreneurs within towns in the Eastern Cape Province. The qualitative research approach which followed a phenomenological research philosophy was adopted. The non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select 10 immigrant entrepreneurs. Thereafter, in-depth interviews were employed in gathering primary data from the selected sample which is African and Asian immigrant entrepreneurs operating in the selected towns (Aliwal-North and Sterkspruit) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The results of the study indicate that immigrant entrepreneurs enjoy some opportunities and also are faced with challenges in doing business in these towns. The results furthermore indicate that immigrant entrepreneurs know the causes of their challenges as they explain them. The results also indicate the possible ways the challenges can be managed or overcome. The study, therefore, concluded that some of the opportunities and challenges identified by the interviewed participants were of South African government policies and regulations. It was therefore recommended that as a way of improving the handling of business engagement, immigrant entrepreneurs attend business workshops and exposes.