According to the latest reports from a study carried out by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), Africa currently boasts the highest growth rate of women entrepreneurs globally. The report has revealed that there are more women entrepreneurs in Africa than in any other part of the world.
What surprised critics and economic observers the most about the results of the study is the fact that the statistics further revealed that sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship, standing at a staggering 27%. This means that one in every four women in sub-Saharan Africa owns or manages her own business.
Experts say the figures are impressive, especially since these women entrepreneurs are able to cope with the obvious challenges in the economy and harsh business environments, coupled with limited growth potentials to establish small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) – which are instrumental to the economic growth, development, and stability in Africa.
The rise of female-owned cum female-led startups and women entrepreneurship in the African continent can be attributed to the conscious drive by African countries to promote gender equality and inclusion. It has encouraged and given rise to women to pursue various business endevours and careers.
Women entrepreneurs in Africa provide a solution to a $42 billion gender funding gap that exists in the continent. They also own 58% of the SMEs in the continent that contribute a total of approximately $300 billion to the continent’s GDP.
In the same vein, the 2021 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) has released data that proves the credibility, adaptability, and resilience of women entrepreneurs in Africa.
According to the report, for the third consecutive year, Botswana, Uganda, and Ghana have ranked as first, second, and third with 38.5%, 38.4%, and 37.2% consecutively as countries with the highest number of women entrepreneurs globally.
Going by the statistics, it is evident that women entrepreneurs – especially those in middle-income countries; surpass the efforts of men who engage in entrepreneurial activities.
Moreover, they have achieved these feats despite the obvious unsupportive entrepreneurial conditions, difficulties in accessing funding, and gender imbalance in education.
Sitting top of the log as the country with the highest number of women entrepreneurs in Africa, Botswana outperformed more developed countries and economies such as Canada, the United States of America, New Zealand, Australia, and Switzerland. The landlocked Southern African country is ranked 13th globally on the 2021 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) scorecard.
West African giants Nigeria also ranked second globally for the number of ‘women professional and technical workers with a score of 59.1%. Angola ranked second globally in the chart for countries with the highest hiring intentions.
Presenting the 2021 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) report, Ebehijie Momoh, the Country Manager and Area Business Head for West Africa at MasterCard, congratulated women entrepreneurs in Africa and African countries for their entrepreneurial, business, and SME activities efforts.
“Women in Botswana, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, and Angola stand out as excellent examples of women’s determination to provide for themselves and their families, despite facing financial, regulatory, and technical challenges. In these economies, women are able to leverage on opportunities in their respective environments to be business owners, leaders and professional or technical workers,” he said.