Women In Entrepreneurship

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As the world economy slowly getting its feet following the worldwide economic turmoil, entrepreneurs are recognized as the engine-room of economic development and societal well-being (Healey, 2012). Even though, the research shows women’s participation in entrepreneurship differs around the globe, as does their impact on employment and innovation (GEM, 2012). In the United states, for example, women entrepreneurs are growing at unprecedented, level more than double the rate of all other firms (23 percent and 9 percent respectively) and have done so for nearly three decade (IFC,2010).
Entrepreneurs contributed almost $3trillion to the U.S economy and directly employed 23 million jobs. (Mckinsey, 2011). New data projections also showed that future job growth in the United States will be created primarily by small scale entrepreneurship women. In Canada, women own 47 percent of entrepreneurship is accounted for 70 percentages of new business start- ups in 2004 (IFC, 2011). Women’s important contribution in these developed economies exemplifies what many developing economies can aim to achieve by increasing opportunities for women owned business.
In most of the developing countries, women are also making an important economic contribution (Alooma 2010). It is estimated that there are about 8 to 10 million formal small scale entrepreneurs with at least one women owner of small scale business in developing countries (Centre for Women’s Business Research, 2009). These businesses are contributing to the economic transformation, poverty reduction and job creation. For example 1,228 women business owners in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region found that women are running well – established businesses that are revenue generati...

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... many developed and under developing countries the economic empowerment of women is believed to work as a catalyst for economic development in Nigeria. In the early eighties development of women entrepreneur is initiated during Babangida’s regime in 1985. A number of studies are done to measure the potentiality of women entrepreneurship in Nigeria. These studies mainly focus on the accessibility and utilization of micro- credit by women entrepreneurs, their economic empowerment, and the nature of their utilization of financial services provided by financial institutions, and the extent to which entrepreneurial activities was able to repay the loan funds granted to the sector. And also the level at which the entrepreneurs (small and medium) helped to in wealth creation, employment, and alleviation of poverty with in the household and the national level (Aminu, 2010

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