Female Entrepreneurship in Transitional

Economies:

an In-depth Comparative Study about Challenges

facing Female Entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Egypt

Dina Ayman, Egypt

Rafiu Akinpelu Olaore, Nigeria

Why Female Entrepreneurship?

• Women generate income for their families,

but they also create jobs for men and women alike.

• The GEM (2012) , an estimation of 126 million women

were starting and/or running new businesses around

the world, and these women are not only creating jobs for themselves,

employees, suppliers and their co-founders.

• Boutros (2013) mentions in her article that Egypt’s GDP would increase by

34% if Egyptian women’s participation in the labor market was that of

males.

Why study the Challenges facing Women…?

• Identify the problems they face to overcome them

and pave the way for future females to choose self-

employment as a career path………..

Research Contribution…..

• This is amongst early researches undertaken as a comparative

mode between Egypt and Nigeria….

• Early papers to Consider Egypt and Nigeria as separate

countries not within MENA/Sub-Saharan Africa context….

• Most papers undertake the quantitative research method not

the in-depth qualitative methodology….

Research Methodology….

• In-depth Interviewed 20 women; 10 Nigerian vs 10 Egyptian women

• Why Qualitative?

1) Scarcity of the literature reviewed

on topic in Egypt and/or Nigeria….

2) Undertake this “inquisitive”

methodology when dealing with humanities, and social sciences, unlike the sureness of mathematics which require the “descriptive” approach between two ascertained variables….

Research Findings…….

Challenges facing women entrepreneurs:

Gender-Specificchallenges only confined to

women and not found amongst

male entrepreneurs

Country-Specific challenges that are found in

Nigeria and Egypt and are

applicable to both male and

female entrepreneurs

Gender-Specific challenges:

1) Psychological pressure: Lack of an

understanding and/or supportive partner…..“does not encourage me at all”

“limits my ambitions”

“yes wish could not have married”

‘”an un-needed emotional burden”

• Lack of freedom of mobility for women

“girls don’t travel alone”

What if I wanted to

travel to

China to get cheap

supplies

Specific challenges:-Gender

2) Societal pressure: family and friends;

being a housewife is the prime role of women…..• 30% of the random

sample

interviewed

were married while

others singles or divorced…..

• Why? Women should be submissive and

inferior to the man……….and the business woman

is successful so he is afraid of her success

Gender-Specific challenges:

3) Work-Life Imbalance:

• Lack of concept of co-operation; and prevalence of

role-division in house chores performance…..

Men are “bread-winners” and Women are responsible

domestically………..

Specific challenges:-Gender

• Absence of widespread child-care nurseries in

both countries….

EX: Poland

2011 law allows greater flexibility

• set up nurseries

• provide a state-funded

insurance program that

pays for baby sitters…..

Specific challenges:-Gender

Why the culture challenge is mainly African?

• We lag behind westerns in their feminist movements

• Egypt gained freedom 1952….

• Nigeria gained freedom 1960…

• Started in US in 1920s,

we were colonized attempting

to free the whole country not a certain sector of the

society….

Country-Specific Challenges….

Weak

entrepreneurial

framework

Challenge

of social

capital

prevalence

For women

Difficulty access to

Funding

for women

Lack of

business

incubators

Country-Specific Challenges….(cont’d)

1) Difficulty of Access to funding:• Cumbersome and lengthy

procedures

“hardly to be met”…….

• High collateral….

EX: banks require 3000 monthly income?

Bank refused her apartment for its size…

Upper Egypt no land ownership for women!.

• Compared to concept of “Grameen

bank”

Micro-credit concept?

Country-Specific Challenges….(cont’d)

2) Lack of business incubators:

• Provide technical assistance (well trained labor,

suppliers, or business consultancy)

• Create entrepreneurial ecosystem

• A respondent said…”I wish!”

“never heard of such a thing”

• Egypt: Lazy employees &

lack of vocational education

Country-Specific Challenges….(cont’d)

3) No informal Social Capital:

• No informal relationships allowed outside

business boundaries…..

• Only virtual networks not face-to-face meetings…..

• Absence of Silicon valley girls

who meet weekly for yoga and piano

and sharing personal life…….

• This can nurture

business relationships…..

Country-Specific Challenges….(cont’d)

4) Weak Entrepreneurial Framework:

• Nigeria: weak transportation

system

• Corruption and bribery is the norm in both countries

• Ex: “have a civil servant back up”

“pay to get basic facilities,

such as water, electricity”

• the absence of industrial zones,

• the absence of enforced legislation to protect competition (IPR)

Public Policy recommendations…

1) Long-Term solutions:

Change “mind-set” that women are

inferior…

• Entrepreneurship can be a career path by allowing successful women to go to schools as role models to youngsters….

• TV programs & shows present successful women

• Competition among girls best business plan in return for 5000$ as a business star-up….

• Eliminate fairy tale stories that teach girls that she is weak waiting for her prince charming to rescue her….

Recommendations……

2) Short-Term:• Encourage wide spread nurseries;

land free of charge land for certain period of

time…

• Grameen bank concept of micro-credit

especially in rural areas

• Facilitate bank requirements; collateral

• Social capital online;

a website with names of suppliers in the area

• Business consultancy incubators for women;

land free of charge and tax

• THANK You!