The Growth of Female Entrepreneurship Benefits the MENA Region
Over the past 10 years, more and more women in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region are starting their businesses, especially in the technology and innovation sectors, and securing their futures.
According to the International Finance Corporation, since the tech industry is still relatively new in the Arab world, there is no legacy of it being male-dominated. As a result, one in every three tech firms in the Middle East is led by women, much higher than in Silicon Valley.
The fifth-annual Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs report shows that more women are starting businesses in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, and Lebanon than ever before. The report found that 87% of Saudi Arabia’s female business owners started companies to raise their financial independence. Entrepreneurship is particularly attractive for women in this region who have grown up with technology and social media. They have ideas and ambitions to start up and grow their companies.
The catalyst for them starting their own companies is often tied to societal pressures on women to stay at home, the gender gap, and structural disadvantages in fund-raising and investments.
An additional benefit is that according to the World Bank, female-owned businesses hire more women (25%) than their male counterparts do (22%). Female-owned firms also employ a higher percentage of women in managerial roles, helping women to climb up the ladder, compared to those who are only hired for lower, unskilled positions. To top it off, women-led businesses are hiring more workers in general. In Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, firms run by women are growing their workforces at higher rates than those run by men.
