A 2014 census report conducted by the National Institute of Statistics in Rwanda, revealed that only 26.8 percent of sole proprietorship establishments are owned by women, compared to 73.2 percent owned by men.
What are the reasons for this imbalance?
In Donah Mbabazi’s article for “The New Times,” she shares a telling quote from the first Vice Chairperson of the Private Sector Federation Chamber for Women, Sarah Kirenga. Kirenga speaks to the challenges that Rwandan women, and all women, can face when it comes to business:
“The number one challenge women in business face is the fear of failure. Failure is a very real possibility in any business venture, but when it comes to women in business; fear to fail becomes a great concern to growing the business, hence, women are afraid to take up big risks. I believe you need to have massive failure to have massive success, you may need 100 ‘nos’ to get one ‘yes,’ but that one ‘yes’ will make you more successful tomorrow than you were today.”
Further in the article, the CEO of the Rwandan stock exchange, Pierre-Celestin Rwabukumba, cites Rwanda’s social climate as a cause for the lack of female participation in business: “It’s because of the general patriarchal kind of environment we have been living in for decades. Business doesn’t change because it is done in the same society.”
This poses an interesting question: Do social norms surrounding gender equality have to change in order for patterns in business to evolve? Or would change in entrepreneurship affect society? What do you think roadblocks women from achieving their full potential as entrepreneurs? What can women do for themselves to get in the game?
Read Mbabazi’s article, and her account of some solutions to the inequity in Rwandan business, here.
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JOIN us for our first weggchat™ (#weggchat) Wednesday, August 8 from 11:00 a.m. — 12:00 p.m. (noon) Central time on “Take Your Business Global!“ and facilitated by Laurel Delaney, President of WEGG and founder of GlobeTrade.com. Laurel will field questions and add insights on how to take a business global. Small business owners can join the conversation by using the hashtag #weggchat to chime in with questions and answers.
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