Vol. 1 No. 1 (2021)
Decolonising Business Praxis in Gabon: An African Feminist Reappraisal, 2010–2024
Abstract
This paper addresses the persistent colonial paradigms within Gabonese business praxis, which systematically marginalise indigenous knowledge and reinforce gendered economic hierarchies. It argues that decolonisation, reappraised through an African feminist lens, must centre the agency of Gabonese women entrepreneurs. The study employs a rigorous qualitative methodology, comprising semi-structured interviews conducted between 2022 and 2024 with thirty women business leaders across Libreville and Port-Gentil. This primary data is triangulated with a critical discursive analysis of national business policies from 2010 onwards to enhance analytical depth. The findings demonstrate that, despite reduced formal barriers, neo-colonial mentalities and androcentric networks persistently constrain women’s economic participation. Crucially, the analysis identifies how respondents enact everyday decolonisation by integrating communal *ubuntu* principles, matrilineal resource management models, and circular economic practices into their enterprises. The paper contends that these indigenous, feminist-informed strategies constitute a vital counter-praxis to extractive, imported business models. Its significance lies in proposing a reconceptualised framework for sustainable business leadership in Gabon—one that is epistemologically liberated and gender-inclusive. This contributes directly to African feminist scholarship by demonstrating how decolonisation is materially enacted through lived praxis, offering tangible alternatives for policy and business education oriented towards endogenous development.
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