Women entrepreneurship in developing countries can be better supported with effective use of ICTs

Geneva, 19 October 2011 - The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) calls upon governments and other stakeholders to make better use of innovative initiatives to help women entrepreneurs. In its Information Economy Report 2011: ICTs as an Enabler for Private Sector Development(1), UNCTAD concludes that not sufficient programme and policy attention has been given so far to the application of ICT tools to support women entrepreneurs.

The success of many women-owned ventures in developing countries is often hampered by gender-specific challenges. For instance, women entrepreneurs tend to face greater difficulty in accessing finance. Family commitments often place a limitation on the amount of time women entrepreneurs can devote to their businesses, and in some cases, lack of physical mobility affects their ability to grasp opportunities and to network.

Mobile telephones, radio and the Internet can make a significant difference in helping them overcome the aforementioned barriers. According to UNCTAD, very few private sector development (PSD) projects aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs are taking full advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

There appears also to be a gender gap in terms of access to some ICTs, and the GSM Association and the Cherie Blair Foundation estimate that in developing countries, 300 million fewer women than men own a mobile phone.

Computers and the Internet are valuable tools for growth-oriented women-owned enterprises; yet they are not used much by those operating subsistence-based businesses, noted the Report.

Internet cafés potentially provide lower cost access to PCs and the Internet. However, there are limitations associated with using such centres to support women entrepreneurs. For example, a study of urban microenterprises in Mumbai found that no women business owners visited Internet cafés for business purposes. This was partly the result of the Internet café environment being seen as not well adapted to women.

The UNCTAD report highlights many examples of how ICTs are already making a difference:

• In Kenya, an initiative uses mobile phones to provide nearly 4,000 women entrepreneurs with enhanced access to financial services and to develop their financial literacy and business management skills.
• In some places, mobile money or mobile remittance services are making the process of soliciting microfunds from friends and family easier.
• Information and knowledge provision via ICTs saves time and reduces the need for travel, of particular value to many women entrepreneurs. For example, some 43 per cent of all calls to the Huduma Kwa Wakulima (Kenya Farmers Helpline) are from women farmers who rarely received assistance in the past from professional extension services.
• In Brazil, SEBRAE, a government business development organization, collaborates with a network of cybercafés where staff is trained to help women to access SEBRAE´s business support services.
• Similarly, some business development organizations assist their members in establishing a Web presence for promoting and selling their products to customers in new markets.
• In India, the Self-Employed Women´s Association uses various ICT tools to train its members, including through the use of a mobile van equipped with PCs and Internet access.
• The Cherie Blair Foundation uses mobile phones to send follow-up text messages to women entrepreneurs attending its training programmes.

It is essential to assess the needs of women entrepreneurs and to explore how different ICT solutions can cater to them. Any ICT-enabled initiatives in this area should be carefully tailored to their needs to balance work and family, and their specific training needs in management.