Raising start-up capital is one of the biggest challenges for women entrepreneurs in Kenya’s key manufacturing sector, with banks requiring collateral that most of them do not have, a new study has found. Most women work or run businesses in the informal economy, and face numerous difficulties including pay and promotion disparities, as well as obstacles in accessing information, technology and finance to expand their enterprises. Manufacturing contributes about 10 percent of Kenya’s gross domestic product but women account for only 17 percent of the sector’s workforce, according to the study by the International Centre for Research on Women and Kenya Association of Manufacturers published Tuesday. Most women-owned manufacturing businesses are still micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the informal sector – unable to grow and enter the formal economy. While there are some financial products on the market that were geared towards women, they do not include the sizable credit often required for manufacturing businesses.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
More Stories
MTN Hacked Just as it Launches Mobile Payments in Nigeria
Tanzania, like Many other African Countries, Wants to Stop Depending on Fertiliser from Russia
Equipping African and Africa-focused Startups with PR Tools
Zimbabwean Fishing Communities Fear for Future as Stocks Dwindle
South Africa Still Far from Fair Digital Migration
Pan African Parliament President Elected
Ethiopian Farmers Face a Double-edged Sword
Germany To Return Goddess Statue that was Stolen from Cameroon 120 Years Ago
Lumumba’s Family Closes a Painful Chapter
40 African Cities Feature on the 2021 Cost of Living City Ranking List
A Mangrove Project is the Star of Kenya’s Gazi Bay
Not Enough Females Operating in the African Venture Capital Space