World Association for Small & Medium Enterprises (WASME)

Plot No. 4, Institutional Area, Sector 16 A, Noida-201301, Uttar Pradesh, India

Tel: +91-120-2515241, 4216283-84, Fax: +91-120-2515243, URL: www.wasmeinfo.org

18th WASME International Conference on SMEs

Empowering Women through Entrepreneurship:
Opportunities, Issues and Approaches

Ghana International Conference, Accra, Ghana

March 14-18, 2011

Host:

Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs (GAWE)

P.O. Box AN 7600 Accra-North, Accra, North Ghana
Phone: +233-21-701413, Fax: +233- 21-240748,
Email: ghgawe@yahoo.com URL: www.ghanawomenentrepreneurs.org
WASME 18th International Conference on SMEs
 Empowering Women through Entrepreneurship:
Opportunities, Issues and Approaches

Issue of concern

Women almost constitute 50 per cent of the world population and have been making
substantial contribution to socio-economic development. But, unfortunately their
contribution largely remains unrecognised and unnoticed in most developing and least
developed countries. Besides, society gives little chance to women to enter into the fields of
various economic activities. It has been observed that though women are burdened with
family and house-hold responsibilities, they, particularly in semi-urban and rural areas, have
been actively participating in economic activities in the unorganised sector. Yet, the overall
socio-economic environment discriminates against them.

Women empowerment – Role of entrepreneurship

Empowering women has become the key element in the development of an economy. With
women moving forward, the family moves, the village moves and the nation moves. Hence,
improving the status of women by way of their economic empowerment is highly called for.

Starting a business and bringing creativity in life with self-esteem and happiness have a
direct link with each other. Economic growth is highly indispensible for any developing
country, which can be substantiated by ensuring participation of women. Being the focal
point of economic development, entrepreneurship can play an instrumental role in building
the world.

Entrepreneurial activities transform the ideas and creativity of aspiring women into business
ventures with high potential and growth. This certainly helps in generating jobs and wealth
creation, resulting into a state of well-being and increased opportunities in the country. As
more and more women are getting to know the benefits of entrepreneurial activity, a silent
renaissance is sweeping across all the sectors resulting in larger participation.

Women venture into entrepreneurial activities for myriads of reasons such as economic
necessity; lack of better employment options, commercializing an idea; desire to be
economically independent; an urge to be creative and utilise their time gainfully; and
pursuing a hobby.

In spite of the discrimination against them, women are increasingly taking up the leadership
role in economic activity. Owing to supportive policies and programmes of governments
aimed at solving the twin problems of poverty and unemployment, there has been a
proliferation in number of women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),
contributing to their respective economies across the globe. It is to be noted that their
presence in the economic leadership role in least-developed countries (LDCs) is not
comparable in developed countries. Interestingly, the number of women-owned and
managed SMEs, though still small in numbers, is on the rise in developing countries. It is in
this context observed that countries in which women are marginalized are seen in the bottom
of the list on measures of economic prosperity and entrepreneurial opportunity. In contrast,
countries that are more proactive towards gender equality, top the list.

International Scenario

Alleviating poverty through entrepreneurship is a key tool for economic empowerment of

women around the world. Women entrepreneurs must be supported to grow from small
informal enterprises to formal small and medium enterprises in order to create sustainable
employments, be visible in their national economies, contribute to GDP growth and be
relevant in the global market place.

Promotion of women entrepreneurs as a part of SME development programmes has become

an important priority among countries, both developed and developing ones. In most of the
developing countries today, more and more emphasis is laid on the need for development of
women and their active participation in the main stream of development process. Women
entrepreneurs as major part of informal and small scale industries in the current global
economic scenario are going to play vital role in the social-economic and political
development programs. Gender equality is a key policy objective in developing countries. It
is increasingly seen as providing a double dividend: not only guaranteeing a fundamental
human right, but also boosting economic growth.

Experiences of European countries and USA have clearly established that promotion of
women entrepreneurs have immensely benefited them in terms of job creation and economic
growth. According to U.S. Small Business Administration, “Women business owners are
critically important to the American economy. America's 9.1 million women-owned
businesses employ 27.5 million people and contribute $3.6 trillion to the economy.” “Women-
owned businesses constitute approximately 26 per cent of the total non-agricultural business
population of the United States…”. 1 The government has launched Women-21.gov, a premier
one-stop federal resource for targeted information, registration for online programs, and
networking opportunities to help women entrepreneurs navigate the ever-changing business
world and do what they do best: innovate, create jobs, and make a vital contribution to the
strength of America. In member countries of Organisation for Economic Development
(OECD), “women entrepreneurs reportedly constitute a growing share of SME owners, with
higher than average start-up rates in several OECD member and non-member countries”. 2
The One Woman initiative is a joint public private “women’s empowerment fund” provided by United
States focuses on empowerment initiatives including entrepreneurship. The “Ladies Business School”
that has run for almost 20 years in Finland, or the micro-credits programmes in Spain and Finland are
supported by their government as they have proved to be very effective and relevant.

1
The Small Business Economy, A Report of the President, 2004 USA.
2
First OECD Conference on Women Entrepreneurs in SMEs in 1997
A major force behind China’s growth in the global market is its women. In China women comprise
almost half of the labour force (about 45.5%) and still growing. Rural women make upto 65% of those
working in agricultural production.

Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific says “small businesses have emerged
as significant avenues for the economic empowerment of women” in the region. Between
1995 and 1997, women business operators increased by 9% while male business operators
increased by 2.6%”.3 Women are increasingly venturing into business in African countries
also and growing membership of African Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (AFWE) 4,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, reflects increasing entrepreneurial activities among women in
African continent.

Women are not only found in manufacturing and trading sector in the domestic economy but
also are active in export/import trade. For example, “in Russia, women business owners are
involved in international trade at a higher rate (19%) than in the US (13%). In Brazil, Mexico
and Argentina, 22% to 32% of women business owners are involved in international trade”. 5
Yet, women entrepreneurs around the world continue to face hurdles in their operations,
necessitating governments to design appropriate remedial measures.

UNIDO’s Rural and Women Entrepreneurship (RWE) Programme contributes to poverty reduction
through entrepreneurship development programmes— with a focus on rural development and gender
equality.

Government ministers and experts from 29 nations met at the World Trade Organization in April 2008
to draw up a blueprint to tap the entrepreneurial power of women when the world’s least developed
countries (LDCs) draw up their trade and development plans.

The Conference

Against this backdrop, WASME is going to organize the 18 th International Conference on

SMEs with the theme “Empowering women through entrepreneurship: issues,
opportunities and approaches” for the consistent growth of women-owned enterprises
worldwide in general and in Africa, in particular.

Advancement in information and communication technology has changed the way

businesses were operated hitherto. Women are now much aware of their own traits, rights
and also the work situations. The challenges and opportunities provided to the women of
digital era are growing rapidly that the job seekers are turning into job creators. They are
flourishing as designers, interior decorators, exporters, publishers, garment manufacturers
and still exploring new avenues of economic participation. Although women constitute the
3
http://www.unescap.org/55/e1133e.htm#_1_3
4
AFWE is a Federation of National Associations of Women Entrepreneurs operating in 45 Sub-Saharan African countries
5
E-commerce training with small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries: some findings by Nidhi Tandon
majority of the total population, the entrepreneurial world is still a male dominated one.
Women in advanced nations are recognized and are more prominent in the business world.

The conference is aimed at highlighting the opportunities thrown open for stimulating
entrepreneurial activities among women in today’s globalized world. What are the specific
schemes and programmes devised by governments to create an enabling environment for
women to take active participation in economic activities? How international organizations
work towards gender equality? How women could exploit the opportunities to their
competitive advantage?

This event is particularly essential for achieving the goals of sustainable development and
inclusive growth. It will identify the bottlenecks hindering their growth to entitle full
participation in the business. It will provide a platform for entrepreneurial development thus
promoting entrepreneurship among women which will in turn contribute to the rapid
economic growth and development.

The Conference would also focus on the varied dimensions of empowering women through
entrepreneurship as a central theme and globally emerged best practices towards promotion
of women entrepreneurship. The event would provide room for sharing experiences putting
a thrust on reviving the global cooperation on women entrepreneurship development.

There will be an exhibition concurrently with the Conference which will provide ample
opportunity to small enterprises (with a priority to women-led ones) to showcase their
products and services and establish business linkages.

The Trailblazing event will bring together an exclusive group of thought leaders, investors,
and social entrepreneurs around the globe to bridge the gap between African Women
Entrepreneurs and her counterparts in the rest of the world to bridge the gap in ICT, create
linkages and supply chain, share knowledge, integrate markets to enhance competiveness.

Objectives

The main objective of this seminar is to ‘Enhance awareness and create a more informed
understanding on the opportunities, issues and approaches of Women Empowerment with
resultant attention and resources directed towards supporting women entrepreneurs’. The
underlying objectives of this Conference will be as follows:

 promote entrepreneurship among women;

 share business acumen and technical know-how;
 provide new opportunities to bridge the gaps and increase opportunities for linkages;
 avail comprehensive toolkits to facilitate joint venture opportunities for economic
empowerments, increased production, job creation and poverty alleviation;
 recommend governments for more conducive regulatory and administrative
environment for women entrepreneurs;
  discuss gender-specific constraints faced by women entrepreneurs;
 identify the role of various intermediaries such as associations and NGOs, micro
finance institutions towards enhancing women entrepreneurship;
 suggest measures to improve the reach of credit to women entrepreneurs through a
comprehensive programme;
 share good practices in the promotion of female entrepreneurship;
 discuss actions and support measures for promoting female entrepreneurship in
different countries; and
 capacity building of women entrepreneurs for increased competitiveness, technology
absorbing capacities and women’s control over asset management.

Who Should Attend

 Woman Entrepreneurs currently operating a business

 Women who want to improve their business acumen
 Budding Women Entrepreneurs
 Policy Makers
 MSME promotional agencies/organisations,
 BDS (business development service) providers
 Representatives from NGOs and trade & industry associations
 UN agencies
 Multi-lateral and bi-lateral Organisations
 Foreign missions to Ghana
 Academics
 Domestic and international Funding agencies
 Media persons

Outcome

The end - product of the Conference would be well-documented Report containing

presentations of speakers, summary of discussions and major conclusions and
recommendations, which can provide a road map for arming women entrepreneurs with
required information to strengthen their competitiveness as well as rejuvenating the role of
NGOs and ICT in the same.

About WASME

WASME, World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises, works for the promotion of
micro, small and medium sized enterprises. It is always on the lookout for avenues for
enterprises and entrepreneurs so as to enable people participate in the market process. It is
the only international NGO promoting small and medium-sized enterprises worldwide. It
has Members and Associates worldwide, and enjoys consultative status with concerned
agencies in UN system such as Economic and Social Council, UNIDO, UNCTAD, WIPO, ILO
and all regional UN Commissions. It also has operational relationship with UNESCO.
WASME has been working closely with UNCTAD, WIPO, UNESCAP and ITC for the past
several years on the issue of strengthening the SME sector, including women-owned
enterprises.

It has already organized 17 international conferences on topical issues confronting SMEs.

WASME has been focusing on issues confronting women SMEs in its efforts to strengthen
this sector at international levels and U.N agencies. In addition, it has been closely
networking with several national and state-level women entrepreneur associations worldwide.

About GAWE

Ghana Association of women Entrepreneurs (GAWE) – an affiliate of the African Federation

of Women Entrepreneurs (AFWE) – is a non-Governmental, nonprofit association of self-
employed women manufacturers and exporters of goods and services in Ghana. The mission
statement calls for GAWE to be the empowering agent to facilitate the development of
dynamic women entrepreneurs at all levels in Ghana, advocate for and support government
policies that promote the growth of women’s businesses at all levels, and enhance the active
participation of women entrepreneurs in both national and global economies.

GAWE in Collaboration with AFWE have successfully organized seven international

conferences, fora, and trade fairs at national, regional and global levels including the VIth
IFWE/WASME Conference in 1997 in Accra.