W OMEN IN THE E CONOMY Workshop for the Maghreb Countries Nadereh Chamlou December 8, 2005 Rabat, Maroc Gender and the Investment Climate inEgypt

W OMEN IN THE E CONOMY Workshop for the Maghreb Countries 1.Why gender ownership of enterprises matters? 2.Do women entrepreneurs in Egypt face different problems? 3.How can we enhance Egyptian women’s participation in entrepreneurial activities?

W OMEN IN THE E CONOMY Workshop for the Maghreb Countries 1.Why gender ownership of enterprisesmatters? 1.Why gender ownership of enterprises matters?  Tapping on “unused” human capital that has been greatly invested in through health and education programs.  Promoting women entrepreneurs will often lead to recruiting more women as women employers tend to comply more easily with family-friendly labor regulations.  Increasing women’s income tend to correlate with greater expenditure on family welfare and children.  Removing any gender-bias in the investment climate, and maintaining a level playing field is essential for reducing any market distortion.

W OMEN IN THE E CONOMY Workshop for the Maghreb Countries Industriessectors... Industries sectors... Size of firms... mainly small  Large (>100 employees) 15%  Medium (50–100) 25%  Small (10-49) 60% Legal status..... mostly individual or family owned (90%) 15% majority owned by women..... Firm-level survey of a stratifies random sample of 1,036 firms in 16 Governorate. 2.Do women entrepreneurs in Egypt face different problems?

W OMEN IN THE E CONOMY Workshop for the Maghreb Countries Main Findings of the Investment Climate Assessment Percentage of Firms Rating Constraints as major or server 2.Do women entrepreneurs in Egypt face different problems?

W OMEN IN THE E CONOMY Workshop for the Maghreb Countries 2.Do women entrepreneurs in Egypt face different problems? Finance as a Major Constraint

W OMEN IN THE E CONOMY Workshop for the Maghreb Countries 2.Do women entrepreneurs in Egypt face different problems? Loans Rejection Rates Collateral Requirements Men Women Sources of Finance

W OMEN IN THE E CONOMY Workshop for the Maghreb Countries Recent reforms have changed investors’ perception of the investment climate and their potential for expansion—having more confidence and less uncertainty, except in certain areas. Comparing ICA (December 2004) with ICA (June 2005) Preliminary Findings Significant improvements witnessedNo major changesWorsening

W OMEN IN THE E CONOMY Workshop for the Maghreb Countries Sectoral Distribution by Gender of Firm Owner Exporting Firms by Gender of Firm Owner Share of Women Employee by Gender of Firm Owner More participation of women in entrepreneurship activities will generate higher growth rates.

W OMEN IN THE E CONOMY Workshop for the Maghreb Countries 3.How can we enhance Egyptian women’s participation in entrepreneurial activities?  Ensuring an enabling environments that facilitated private sector development for both women and men.  Addressing the issue of access to finance through developing non-bank financial institutions, and encouraging banks to play their intermediation role.  Investing in infrastructure and social services to support women balance between their family responsibilities and duty as a productive individual in the economy.