The major challenges that female entrepreneurs in Ethiopia face can be categorized into five areas:

  • Individual level Challenges: include lack of starting capital, lack of collateral assets, lack of education and information, fear of failure, and external locus of control
  • Family and social Challenges: These include social and cultural pressures, low land ownership, and low access to capital
  • Environmental-related Challenges: High rent of working areas, insufficient infrastructure, lack of technology and raw materials
  • Institutional Challenges: include low trust of financial institutions in females, lack of credit facilities, bureaucratic obstacles, and low market access and information.
  • Policy-related Challenges: Includes high tax and interest rates and the requirements set for borrowing

Read more: Female entrepreneurs RR