Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive picture of the situation of women entrepreneurs in the MENA region. The study is based on an original survey conducted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in six countries—Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia, between 2015 and 2016. The main results of the study are as follows. First, there exists a discriminatory environment for women entrepreneurs in MENA regions. They encounter difficulties in accessing finance, which constitutes their principal obstacle to entrepreneurship. They feel that the existence of stereotypes and preconceptions about the role and abilities of women are important barriers to entrepreneurship. Secondly, their primary need in terms of their activities is entrepreneurial education—they must learn how to manage others successfully and to maximise their entrepreneurial skills. Thirdly, the socio-economic characteristics of women entrepreneurs are important determinants of business growth and dedication. Specifically, we observe that education, networks, and experience in business are important drivers of firms’ size and export potential, whilst governance, structure and marital status are factors influencing the percentage of women employed in women’s businesses. Finally, we note that married women who have their own premises to house their entrepreneurial activities, as well as less educated single women, are more engaged in the pursuit of their entrepreneurial activities.
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Notes
- 1.
The World Bank conducted a survey of 5887 enterprises in 10 countries in the MENA region between 2003 and 2010. The findings showed that only 15% of the enterprises belonged to women.
- 2.
- 3.
The implementation of the project is based on a strong partnership with six local, national associations in the countries concerned: Association for Women’s Total Advancement and Development (AWTAD, Egypt), Business & Professional Women Amman (BPWA, Jordan), The Lebanese Association for Development, Al Majmoua (Lebanon), Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises du Maroc (AFEM, Morocco), Business Women Forum (BWF, Palestine), Femmes et Leadership (F&L, Tunisia), and their respective ministries of industry.
- 4.
UNIDO (2017): A study on women entrepreneurship development in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia—Technical Report—to be published
- 5.
LAVOIE, D. 1988. Women entrepreneurs: Building a stronger Canadian Economy. Ottawa: Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, 64 p.
- 6.
In all sub-samples, the average number of children is significantly lower than the average number of children across the population (source: World Bank), except Lebanon (2.77 vs. 1.7).
- 7.
This finding is also due to the specifics of the Lebanese sample.
- 8.
The more modest aims of the Lebanese women entrepreneurs in the sample are probably due to the fact that the women surveyed benefited from micro-credit, in contrast with other respondents.
- 9.
The percentages reflect the average percentage of respondents across the whole of the sample.
- 10.
Married women have also a larger number of employees compared to single women entrepreneurs. This difference is not observed in Morocco, a country in which single women with lower levels of education have a larger number of employees than educated single women. This Moroccan specificity is probably due to the fact that there are more women with lower levels of education heading family-owned companies (37.04% of less educated women, as opposed to 20.33% of educated women). These companies, in turn, have a significantly higher number of employees compared to newly founded businesses. The average number of employees hired by less educated women managing family-owned businesses is 17.52, compared to only 6.21 for less educated women heading businesses which they founded themselves.
- 11.
20.7% of women aged 25 and over have been educated to secondary level, as compared to 30.2% of men (source: United Nations, Human Development Reports).
- 12.
It should be noted, however, that the number of less-educated women observed in Egypt is particularly low.
- 13.
The surrounding communications campaigns were not assessed in order to “measure” their direct effects, however. The question of programme, measure or policy assessment remains complex and should be made the focus of specific studies.
- 14.
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Laffineur, C., Tavakoli, M., Fayolle, A., Amara, N., Carco, M. (2018). Insights from Female Entrepreneurs in MENA Countries: Barriers and Success Factors. In: Faghih, N., Zali, M. (eds) Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Contributions to Management Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75913-5_12
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