Entrepreneurial Masculinities in Nairobi’s Low-Income Neighbourhoods: The Case of Mathare Valley

The general perspective of roles by gender in traditional settings of many African communities determines what should be done by men and women, separately. Indeed, the patriarchal nature of many African cultures dictated that men became the household heads and final decisionmakers in such a setting (Akinola 2018; Oduol 2003). In effect, the man would have to provide for all the needs of the household and any failure to do this would entail the man is weak and incapable; a tag that men would not like to be associated with. Society expects a man to use whatever means available to become a source of hope whose income would usual be adequate for the survival of the household. The entrepreneurial skills of the household head would therefore be important in achieving these ends. This state of affair is more prevalent in the informal settlements/slums such as Mathare in Nairobi, Kenya, where most dwellers may have much lower education and who are strongly attached to traditions owing to their more recent movement to the urban environment.