世界发展银行-GIL-Top-Policy-Lessons-on-Empowering-Women-Entrepreneurs_4页_2mb

GIL Policy Lessons on Empowering Women Entrepreneurs

Core Content

The Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) highlights the critical role of women entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa and the need to address the systemic barriers they face to enhance their economic contributions and overall growth of the region. Despite comprising over 50% of entrepreneurs in Africa, women earn on average 66 cents for every dollar earned by men. This disparity is due to a combination of structural and social constraints, which limit their access to capital, skills, and more profitable sectors.

Main Points

• Women Entrepreneurs in Africa:

  • Women are more likely to be entrepreneurs than men, with 58% of self-employed individuals and 45% of employers being women.
  • Women-owned businesses, including SMEs, tend to have lower sales, fewer employees, and less profitability compared to male-owned counterparts.
  • Even within the same household and sector, women earn significantly less than men.

• Key Constraints:

  • Access to Capital: Women entrepreneurs have fewer assets, which limits their ability to secure loans. Male-owned enterprises have six times more capital than female-owned ones.
  • Collateral Requirements: Traditional lending practices require collateral, which women often lack.
  • Skill Gaps: Women generally have lower levels of education, technical skills, and financial literacy than men.
  • Sectoral Preferences: Women are more likely to operate in traditionally female-dominated sectors, which are less profitable.

What Works to Empower Women Entrepreneurs

• Access to Capital:

  • Psychometric Testing: In Ethiopia, GIL partnered with a fintech company to introduce psychometric tests as an alternative to collateral. This method increased repayment rates and enabled women to access unsecured loans up to $7,500.
  • Secure Savings Mechanisms: Providing women with secure savings options and large cash grants through business plan competitions helps reduce capital constraints.

• Financial Deepening:

  • In Malawi, simply encouraging women to register their businesses did not improve profits. However, combining registration with a low-cost information session at a bank, including the offer of a bank account, increased their use of formal financial services and profits by 20%.

• Skill Development:

  • Soft-Skills Training: GIL found that training women in personal initiative, proactivity, and perseverance significantly boosted their profits. In Togo, this led to a 40% increase in profits.
  • The program has been scaled to nine countries and is being adapted for women farmers in Mozambique.

• Sectoral Transition:

  • Women who enter male-dominated sectors tend to build more profitable and larger businesses. In Uganda, only 6% of women operate in these sectors, yet their firms are as profitable as those of men.
  • Providing information on earnings and linking women to male role models through apprenticeships can encourage them to move into more profitable sectors.

Key Findings

• Women entrepreneurs face unique challenges due to gender-specific factors that affect their business decisions and performance.
• Information asymmetry and social norms are significant reasons why women avoid male-dominated sectors.
• Policy interventions that focus on financial inclusion, skill development, and sectoral diversification can effectively bridge the gender gap in entrepreneurship.
• GIL’s research has led to real-world applications, including the introduction of psychometric tests and soft-skills training programs, which have shown promising results in several African countries.

Conclusion

Empowering women entrepreneurs is not only a matter of equity but also a strategic move for economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. By addressing the underlying constraints through targeted policies and interventions, the region can unlock the full potential of its female entrepreneurs and achieve more balanced and inclusive development.