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4.1 The situation of women in MSMEs: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005

Guest post by: International Labour Organization

Article Overview: Key informants confirmed findings from the literature – that women are predominantly found in informal, micro level, and low-growth sectors, and encounter high competition while earning subsistence incomes. Seriously encumbered by their low levels of education, women are unable to find employment in the formal, private sector, and are the first to lose their jobs in retrenchment exercises. Of necessity, they are driven into entrepreneurial activities.

4.1 The situation of women in MSMEs: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005

Key informants confirmed findings from the literature – that women are
predominantly found in informal, micro level, and low-growth sectors, and encounter
high competition while earning subsistence incomes. Seriously encumbered by their low
levels of education, women are unable to find employment in the formal, private sector,
and are the first to lose their jobs in retrenchment exercises. Of necessity, they are driven
into entrepreneurial activities. Their business opportunity identification tends to reflect
their traditional roles in food production, sewing, crafts, small-scale farming, and smallscale
cooperative production. These activities are “somewhat” culturally acceptable.
Several key informants stated that many women lack exposure and socialization, which
restrict their ability to identify higher growth potential business ventures. They are likely
to be operating in groups from home, and often lack social, cultural and business support
for their role as entrepreneurs.

Women operating in the informal economy lack the ability to accumulate the
savings required for the start-up process – women with poor levels of education are less
likely to have accumulated savings from previous employment. They additionally lack
access to working capital and credit and, as a result, have low profits to reinvest in their
firms. Tanzanian women, as is the case with women entrepreneurs in many countries
throughout the world, are reported to be “risk adverse”,19 with limited capacity to absorb
the cost of failure. Micro credit key informants reported that micro-financing is readily
available and that high percentages of their clients are women. However, their
assessment is that women need to be better informed about financial services, the
correlation between debt and growth, and how to deal with lending institutions.

Tanzania’s women entrepreneurs are quite often lack technical and business
management skills, including the sophistication needed to negotiate with financial
institutions.20 The exception to this are women in large urban centres, or those in the food
processing industry, who have substantial support from organizations such as the Small
Industries Development Organization (SIDO). These women do have some potential for
growth, subject to market identification and adequate capital for processing equipment.
Nchimbi (2003) found that women’s motivation for being in business is, more often than
men, to provide family support. This is the primary measure of their success, while their
male counterparts perceive profit as the primary measure of success. Less than 40 per
cent of the Tanzanian women in the Nchimbi study demonstrated a “high need for
achievement” and a desire to grow. Instead they tend to approach growth slowly, often
preferring to own multiple micro-enterprises, rather than to invest in the growth of only
one. Many factors could contribute to this tendency – the inability to attract sufficient capital to scale up, lack of opportunities to meet the needs of tiny market niches in their
local communities, or lack of skills to take an enterprise beyond the micro-level.

Nchimbi notes differences between women and men in the MSE sector, although
comprehensive gender comparisons in the sector have not been done. Women tend to
have higher illiteracy rates than men; are “afraid” to take bigger loans; have less
collateral to back bigger loans; work harder at marketing their products, but lack
bargaining and negotiating power; and have less access to business premises, so tend to
be more home-based.

Related Articles
  1.2 Mission Objectives: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  8.0 Promotion of women’s entrepreneurship: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  13.0 Business environment issues: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  15.0 The state of research on women in MSES in Tanzania: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  8.1 Recommended actions – promotion: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005

Article Tags: business opportunity, micro level, women and men, women entrepreneurs



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Re: Why aren't there more women entrepreneurs? - My opinion on this (being a women, and being disabled), is; Women in general like security. Women are the caretakers, in general. In the work environment we are the one to have children. We are the ones who leave work to do this. We deal with a stigma that we are bad mothers if we work, but we are a bad mother if we do not work. I feel there is no way a man could ever understand this. Sure they can try, and some do a good job of it, however they truly do not understand. How could they?? Being a entrepreneur is throwing cation to the wind. It takes believing in yourself. It takes a women who can have someone say no, put us down or just plan old negativity and for us to turn it around. Women who can do this are called names, while men in the business world are just expected to have a thick skin. Studies show in the work environment that women are more apt to be bullies. Women are more apt to turn on each other. We expect more out of each other. Many women also use the work environment to socialize and to find a mate. Men and women are not created equal. Once we understand this and take what we are and "run" with it; the better all of us will be. Women business owners, women entrepreneurs are still considered a minority. Since there are more women then men in this world, some day this will turn around. This too is why men need to protect themselves and keep us under some kind of control. What bothers me to no end is when women give in to the mans world using sex as a selling tool. We need strong women leaders, not those who use their bodies as a step up. This is just my opinion on this subject.
A ton of Great Women - You might want to profile Teresa Cascioli of LakePort Brewery. She has an amazing story! I met her at at the celebratory luncheon for the Profit/Chatelaine Top 100 Women Business Owners. The Top 100 list is also a great resource for inspirational stories of Women Entrepreneurs.
Re: History of Women in Business in the United States - Yes. Women have increasingly made positive economic contributions to society and their position is being recognized more and more as seen on the Forbes List of Executive Women. In general, women can be a bit more practical in their approach as entrepreneurs too.
Re: History of Women in Business in the United States - Nice read. I feel a few things were left out. At a time in American history it was illegal for a women to do many things. Not only did they need a man to stand up for them, but they needed him to sign bank documents etc.. for the women in question. Not long ago in our history a women did not have a bank account. This was a slap in the face for the woman's husband or father. My state of Oregon is supposedly had a very strong women, a madam, contribute to the establishment of our state. Of course this is seen as a very old business but a business a women were able to run in the back alleys, and as I have read, in the underground here in Oregon. Mileva Mari? was a women in our history that in her own right contributed to America with her mathematics and physics smarts. Born disabled and "homely", her rich parents sent her to many fine schools where she was (it has been said), the only women in these establishments. Since her father did not think she would ever get married seeing how she was, I bet he was a happy camper when Albert Einstein married her. I feel, with no hesitations if it were not for Mileva Mari?, Albert would not be in the history books as he is now. I feel since in the day women were not supposed to have a brain, nor be allowed to publish their own work, that her husband took her work and published it as his own. The Pendleton Roundup , (a huge rodeo here in Oregon), banned women from the rodeo due to "unlady like" behavior around the 1900's. Hence barrel racing took hold as the ONLY women event. In WWII women were the ones who were the welders etc.. women were the ones to take on the jobs of men who were fighting for our country. Once the war was over, women had to relinquish their jobs to the men. One such women was in my sons family, and I got to hear first hand how things were. I like to bring up Emily Dickinson as well, as for women who changed who women are. Women helped establish equal rites here in America. Women along with the black society fought for equal rites. A white women had the same rites as a black person here in America, thus it was only common sense to help with the equal rites movement. Again running into a women who was there. I feel Oprah Winfrey is passing down a history of strong women. Strong women who have always been. She has just stepped it up to modern times. Women rites is not a white nor black issue, it is a women, man issue. Women have done so much for America, sorry to say to find information which gives credit where credit is due when the husband is a big name, or when the establishment is huge, it takes some digging. Women in history have done bigger and better things than the girls of today are taught in schools. Bigger and better then beauty products, or cooking. Women have been, and always will be the back bone of America and American Business.
Re: Are entrepreneur women more organized than men? - The issue of women being more organized than men is true, start from you home, just see how messy the boys are. Women are also very cautious, unlike men who take any risk, a woman will analyze the risk first. Women are also go getter when it comes to business, once they make their mind, then they go for it.


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