Summary

“This report offers a trend analysis of women’s entrepreneurship in 50 countries, five global regions and three national income levels. We focus on four key themes in the first half of the report, followed by a closer analysis of region- and country-specific patterns in the second half. The four themes are (1) gender differences in rates at various points in the entrepreneurial lifecycle, from intentions through to startup activity, new business, established business and business exit; (2) gender differences in COVID impacts, both positive and negative; (3) structural inequalities and women’s participation in high-potential startups; and (4) factors in the enabling environment that likely influence gender differences in entrepreneurial activity.

Our findings offer insights to a diverse audience of researchers, policymakers, educators and practitioners. Our goal is to highlight areas where women entrepreneurs have made significant progress, where the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their business outcomes, and where there are still gaps, challenges and opportunities that can be better addressed.”

Summary

Enterprise growth in the developing world is often constrained by capital, lack of training and skilled labor, market frictions and a general difficulty in identifying ventures with greater growth potential. In the case of women, entrepreneurship or self-employment is constrained further by several additional factors, such as lower levels of education and skills acquisition, restricted mobility, a higher burden of care work and social norms regarding appropriate work for women. The expansion of e-commerce and internet access in recent years has led us to investigate if digital technology could be leveraged in our setting to improve these skilled women’s access to wider product markets and enhance their earnings. This project update shares the methodology used to address this research question and early insights that have emerged so far.

Summary

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the region with the lowest rates of female-owned business, as only 10% of all firms are owned by women. Increasing and promoting female entrepreneurship is therefore very important and has a high potential to broaden labour force participation and diversify the economic landscape of MENA countries. This project aims to address this issue by assessing the effectiveness of an export promotion program targeted at female-owned enterprises in Tunisia who have the objective to export to other African markets. This project update shares the methodology used to address this research question and early insights that have emerged so far.

Summary

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) act as drivers of economic growth due to their positive impact in creating jobs and driving social change. However, their owner-managers (entrepreneurs) generally face a lot of stress in running a business through role conflicts, working long hours, high time pressure, coping with past failures and managing many economic demands. This project examines the impact of a psychosocial intervention on the business performance of female entrepreneurs in Nigeria. This project update shares the methodology used to address this research question and early insights that have emerged so far.

After one year of implementing the Accelerating Women Climate Entrepreneurs (AWCE) project at ANDE, a learning brief was created to share key takeaways. The report discusses strategies for supporting women entrepreneurs in climate-related value chains as well as investment and programming opportunities in the climate entrepreneurship ecosystem in the region.

Resumen

“Un corpus de investigación en crecimiento ha mostrado que los programas de aceleración de negocios pueden ser efectivos para ayudar a los emprendimientos a pasar a la siguiente etapa de crecimiento. Sin embargo, un examen más profundo ha revelado que las emprendedoras no reciben los mismos beneficios que sus contrapartes masculinas, evidenciando que las mujeres están infrarepresentadas y que tienen un desempeño bajo en los programas de aceleración.Este informe sintetiza los hallazgos clave de cuatro proyectos de investigación y deriva perspectivas accionables para ayudar a cerrar esta brecha en la evidencia sobre las necesidades de las emprendedoras y en qué forma las aceleradoras pueden responder a los obstáculos clave.”

Resumo

“Um crescente corpo de pesquisa mostrou que as aceleradoras de negócios podem ser eficazes para ajudar empreendimentos a passarem para o próximo estágio de crescimento. No entanto, uma análise mais aprofundada revelou que mulheres empreendedoras não vivenciaram o mesmo benefício que seus homólogos do sexo masculino, evidenciando que as mulheres estão sub-representadas e com baixo desempenho nos programas de aceleração. Este resumo sintetiza as principais descobertas dos quatro projetos de pesquisa selecionados e extrai descobertas acionáveis para os profissionais para ajudar a preencher essa lacuna de evidências sobre as necessidades de mulheres empreendedoras e sobre as formas como as aceleradoras podem abordar os principais obstáculos.”

Summary

“A growing body of research has shown that business accelerators programs can effectively help ventures move to the next stage of growth. However, further examination has revealed that women entrepreneurs do not experience the same benefits as their male counterparts, showing that women are still underrepresented and underperforming in accelerator programs. This brief synthesizes the key findings of four selected research projects and draws actionable insights for practitioners aiming to fill the evidence gap on the needs of women entrepreneurs and in what ways accelerators can address key barriers.”

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Research Report Series

“Entrepreneurs who lead innovative companies and spearhead transformative solutions are needed to address some of the world’s most pressing issues. Endeavor Insight offers in-depth research on innovation and entrepreneurship across agriculture, healthcare, and clean energy sectors, made possible with support from the Lemelson Foundation, and additional funding for agriculture-specific research by Small Foundation.

These studies evaluate the challenges and opportunities for founders creating positive impact in emerging markets, specifically sub-Saharan Africa and India. Based on data from more than 500 innovative companies and interviews with over 130 entrepreneurs, the research draws lessons from high-performing companies, identifies how they are addressing urgent needs, and analyzes the role of ecosystem actors such as support organizations in enabling their success.”