Gender, Entrepreneurship, and Competitiveness in Africa

This chapter aims to shed light on the nature of men’s and women’s enterprises in Africa, to assess the extent to which the constraints and obstacles faced by women and men entrepreneurs may differ, and to address whether the constraints and obstacles entrepreneurs face affect the productivity and performance of men’s and women’s businesses differently.We begin with a brief overview of gender in the economy, followed by a more detailed analysis of available Enterprise Survey data where key characteristics of businesses can be disaggregated by the sex of the business owner.1 This allows us to look at various characteristics of men’s and women’s businesses, including perceptions of obstacles and constraints, and to assess productivity differences.After briefly placing this analysis in a wider context, the chapter concludes with some recommended actions to address the gender dimensions of entrepreneurship more systematically in policy and programs aimed at supporting private-sector development, along with suggestions for further data collection and analysis.