Female entrepreneurs make significant contributions to growth
and poverty reduction worldwide but face greater obstacles than their male counterparts. Their businesses are typically smaller, employ fewer people and are more likely to be concentrated
into smaller and informal firms and in the retail sector.
This BBL will present evidence from Nigeria, Tunisia, and Togo
on what works to support women-led businesses to improve
their performance and close the gaps between male and female entrepreneurs. The work is supported by the Women’s Leadership in Small and Medium Enterprises (WLSME), a trust fund partnership with USAID that aims to promote a better understanding of the key determinants of successful
women-led SMEs in developing countries.
WLSME is co-financing rigorous evaluations of interventions
in 12 countries across Africa, Central Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia.
Chair:
Caren Grown
Senior Director, Gender Cross-Cutting Solutions Area
World Bank Group
Presenters:
David McKenzie
«Identifying and Spurring High-Growth Entrepreneurship: Experimental Evidence from a Business Plan Competition» (Nigeria)
Stefanie Brodmann
«Entrepreneurship Education for University Students in Tunisia: Long-Term Impact Evaluation Results,» co-authors Patrick Premand and Jumana Alaref
Markus Goldstein
«Which Skills for Women’s Success? Preliminary results of an impact evaluation of entrepreneurship training programs in Togo,» co-authors Francisco Campos, Leonardo Iacovone, Hillary Johnson and David McKenzie
