Obstacles facing women-owned enterprises: a case for sub-Sahara African women

Women-owned enterprises face several obstacles. However, it is not clear which of these challenges are the most severe within Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify and rank the obstacles facing women-owned enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This knowledge is crucial for planning and allocating resources in a way that can better support the development of women-owned enterprises in SSA. This paper utilises secondary data collected by the World Bank Enterprise Surveys from 40 countries within SSA. A total of 2341 female business owners were interviewed between 2006 to 2018. This data was downloaded and analysed using exploratory data analysis. The findings showed that the lack of access to finance is the biggest obstacle facing women-owned enterprises in SSA. This is followed by the absence of electricity, practices of the informal sectors, tax-related issues and political volatility. Overall, the barriers militating against women-owned enterprises in SSA are largely exogenous, which means that women have little or no control over them. This study contributes to the literature on gender and entrepreneurship by ranking the obstacles that confront women-owned enterprises in a developing country region such as the SSA. It contributes to the knowledge that policymakers require for policy development and effective resource allocation within SSA and other developing countries. For women entrepreneurs, this study unravels endogenous barriers that are within the scope of female business owners. Therefore, women entrepreneurs can take innovative steps to resolve such barriers rather than wait for external assistance, which frequently never arrives.