female entrepreneurship global trends and the case of bosnia conference on enhancing women...
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Female Entrepreneurship Global Trends and the Case of Bosnia
Conference on Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship in SEE
Sarajevo, October 1 2009
Sevi Simavi, IFC
Female entrepreneurship is on the rise globally and has been recognized as an important untapped source of economic growth.
• In USA, the number of women-owned businesses has increased by 20 percent between 1997 and 2002. In 2008, women owned firms employed more than 13 million people, and generating $1.9 trillion in sales.
• In Canada, 47 % of SMEs have some degree of female ownership, with 16 % majority-owned by women. Annually, they contribute $18 billion to Canada's economy.
• In China, it is estimated that women own 30% of all small and medium-sized businesses.
• In Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the West Bank and Gaza, the share of female-owned firms that have increased their workforce recently exceeds the share of male-owned firms.
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Global Trends in Female Entrepreneurship
• Regardless of gender, entrepreneurial activity is significantly higher in both the low/middle-income countries than in the high-income countries.
• Even in mature market economies level of female entrepreneurship typically falls considerably below that of the male population.
• A systematic gender gap exists with respect to new venture creation and business ownership.
• Employment matters to entrepreneurial activity. Those women who are employed in a wage job are three to four times more likely to be involved in entrepreneurial activity than those who are not working, are retired, or are students.
• .
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Women’s Entrepreneurial Motivation
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Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2007 Report on Women and Entrepreneurship
Sectoral Distribution of Female Entrepreneurship by Country Group and
Business Stage
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Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2007 Report on Women and Entrepreneurship
Investment Climate and Female Entrepreneurship
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Networks
Role models
Access to information
Lobbying
Expensive and lengthy
procedures impact women
more
Interference and harassment from
government officials
Direct:Male consent required to
start a business
Indirect: Limited
inheritance rights
Women’s Labor Force Participation in Bosnia and Comparator Countries
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Source: IFC, Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entrepreneurship in Bosnia
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22.6%
27 % women
85 % micro/small
Source: IFC, Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Regional Comparisons
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Bosnia = around 27%
Albania = around 13%
Macedonia = around 17%
Source: IFC, Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Main Obstacles for Female Entrepreneurship
• Licenses, taxation, cost of finance and labor issues are cited as the biggest obstacles to women owned businesses.
• High level of decentralization in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with fourteen governments operating with little coordination among each other.
• Frustrations with doing business in different parts of the country and hesitation to expand to other regions, due to the unclear or varied business requirements of the different regions.
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• Lack of registered property under women’s own name becomes a problem when seeking bank financing.
• Absence of strong women’s business organizations that could provide much-needed training, networking and advocacy.
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Main Obstacles for Female Entrepreneurship
THANK YOU!
Sevi Simavi
++ 1 202 473 9395
To download the “ Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, visit
www.ifc.org/gender and click Gender Tools and Resources > Business Enabling Environment >
Bosnia and Herzegovina
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