Women Entrepreneurs in Egypt: Obstacles, Potential, and Prospects

Women own an estimated 10 percent of the micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Egypt. A nationally representative survey of some 5,000 MSEs in Egypt (2003/2004) shows that women entrepreneurs seem to start their businesses from a relatively modest base, having higher illiteracy rates, more limited educational backgrounds, and more limited training and experience than their male counterparts, and often more burdensome social responsibilities, along with modest financial and non-financial resources. Their modest beginnings affect the size of their enterprises, markets, economic activities, products, and performance. Women's enterprises are, on average, smaller and less efficient than men's; they are mostly in the trade sector; more likely to be informal; and more likely to use traditional production techniques. Those in rural areas face particular disadvantages and their productivity is particularly low.