Boosting women’s entrepreneurship could be a lever for development, growth and innovation in Egypt. This chapter looks at how to strengthen the impact of Egypt’s entrepreneurship support programmes for women, given their low levels of self-employment and entrepreneurship relative to men. It assesses whether existing policy support measures for business creation are accessible and tailored to women, as well as the extent to which women entrepreneurs are accessing mainstream entrepreneurship support programmes, with a particular focus on their appropriateness for all women-owned businesses. The assessment contrasts the impact of dedicated facilities or programmes for women entrepreneurs with making the wider business support ecosystem more inclusive. Recommendations are offered for strengthening entrepreneurship support for women entrepreneurs.
Women’s Economic Empowerment in Egypt
Abstract
Women in Egypt are not closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship, despite their increasing educational levels. In 2022, women were about 60% less likely than men to be engaged in starting or managing a new business and 70% less likely to have an established business (more than 42 months old).
Just over 11% of self-employed workers in Egypt were women in 2024, with over three-quarters of a million women recorded as self-employed in that year, up from under half a million in 2021. Just under 7% of self-employed women themselves had employees, compared to 16% of self-employed men.
Despite increasing support for women entrepreneurs, societal and cultural attitudes, particularly those related to gender roles, mean they continue to face additional challenges such as increased household and caring responsibilities. Women also tend to have less access to the skills and experiences that are needed to start a business, particularly those in rural and poorer governorates who often face greater challenges in accessing education and work experience.
The government provides a range of dedicated financial and non-financial support for women entrepreneurs, often through collaborations and partnerships. Public actors also engage with non-government agencies to deliver entrepreneurship support to women entrepreneurs, often through local programmes that are tailored to the needs of businesses in the area.
Most policies and programmes are aimed at women starting micro enterprises, with fewer policy measures that support the development of women-owned or -led small enterprises and there are missed opportunities in the areas of international trade.
Actions to boost women’s entrepreneurship range from providing an overarching strategy and harmonised definitions, strengthening access to finance for women entrepreneurs as well as business support services better tailored to their needs, and finally campaigns to change perceptions surrounding women’s role as entrepreneurs, and encouraging them to formalise and access greater support.
Fostering the development of women’s entrepreneurship in Egypt could be a lever for development, growth and innovation (OECD/European Commission, 2023[1]). It could have a positive economic impact through increased job creation, greater exports, and innovation in products, services and markets. By offering women an additional route into the labour market, it could also help to narrow the gender gap in labour force participation and unemployment. In Egypt, 18% of women were unemployed in 2024 compared to 5% of men (ILO, 2025[2]), with the gap wider among those with a university education – in 2021, 25% of tertiary-educated women were unemployed, compared to 10% of similarly educated men (CAPMAS, 2024[3]).
Increasing women’s entrepreneurship would boost household incomes, reduce poverty rates and strengthen social inclusion. Fostering the growth of women-led businesses is particularly relevant where women have few employment opportunities or when the demands of paid employment do not offer them sufficient flexibility to balance their work and family responsibilities. Moreover, research suggests that businesses run by women tend to employ more women than those run by men, creating a multiplier effect that can enhance women’s economic inclusion and social mobility. Greater entrepreneurship among women could help to diversify the economy as well as boost overall economic growth, making it a crucial element of Egypt's broader development goals.
This chapter provides an overview of women’s entrepreneurship in Egypt, and the economic and social opportunities it provides at the global, regional and national level. Section 8.2 surveys the trends and current rates of entrepreneurship and self-employment among women, and considers why women are more likely than men to operate small, informal home-based businesses. It also considers the array of challenges faced by women entrepreneurs looking to operate in the formal economy. Section 8.3 details the policy and strategic landscape covering women’s entrepreneurship and the case for a unified strategy and harmonised definitions. Section 8.4 then considers both the financial support available to women entrepreneurs and their access to wider business development support, whether through general entrepreneurship support programmes (those that are open to everyone) and those solely available to women entrepreneurs and tailored to their specific needs. Lastly, Section 8.5 closes with a set of recommendations for policymakers.
Entrepreneurship activity rates are very low among women in Egypt
Women in Egypt are less likely to have recently started a new business than their male peers or women in comparator countries. In 2022, only 3% of women reported they were actively starting or managing a new business (defined as one that is less than 42 months, or 3.5 years, old) compared to more than 9% of men (Figure 8.1). This share of women involved in early-stage entrepreneurship lags behind the shares in most G7 and comparator countries, including Colombia (26%), the United States (18%), Canada (15%) and Tunisia (15%), but is similar to Morocco’s (3%). Meanwhile, men in Egypt were 2.5 times more likely than women to be working on a new business. While this was a similar gap to that recorded in Japan, it was about double the gap found in most G7 countries.
These low levels of start-up activities have in turn contributed to a small base of more established women-led businesses. Only 1% of Egyptian women reported having an established business (over 42 months old) in 2022, compared to 4% of men, suggesting that women entrepreneurs have found it harder to develop their start-up into a viable business (Figure 8.1). This was similar to rates found in Morocco and South Africa (2% of women each), but below the 5% of women in Tunisia who report having an established business. Morocco and Egypt had relatively similar gaps – women in Morocco were 78% less likely than men to be operating an established business, compared to 73% less in Egypt – while in Tunisia the gap was narrower (68%), due in part to the greater participation of women in business in Tunisia.
Early stage (<=42 months) and established (>42 months) business ownership rates in G7 and comparator countries, 2022
Source: GEM (2023[4]), GEM 2022/23 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report: Challenging Bias and Stereotypes, www.gemconsortium.org/report/gem-20222023-womens-entrepreneurship-challenging-bias-and-stereotypes-2.
There are generational differences in entrepreneurial activity among both men and women. Figure 8.2 shows the age distribution of Egyptians who were actively starting or managing a new business in 2022. The majority are young: 60% of the women in this position are under 35. However the generational differences among women are not so marked as they are among men, with a larger share of the women running new businesses being aged 35-54, or 55 and over, compared to their male counterparts. This may be related to differences in availability of maternity and family support for younger women, as well as the advantages offered by pursuing self-employment and entrepreneurship rather than working as an employee.
One of the deterrents to women’s entrepreneurship in Egypt may be the very low female labour force participation rate. Despite impressive increases in educational attainment among women (see Chapter 5), women’s economic contribution remains low and has even been declining during the last decade (Assaad et al., 2020[5]; Vishwanath et al., 2011[6]; Nozeir, 2019[7]). Young women’s labour force participation rate is especially low (see Chapter 7). Research indicates that the majority of entrepreneurs generally were in paid employment just before starting their own businesses, with only a minority entering the labour force for the first time as an entrepreneur (GEM, 2023[4]). Women’s low participation rates are therefore likely limiting the pool of potential women entrepreneurs in Egypt.
Age distribution of people working on a new start-up or managing a new business, 2022
Source: GEM (2022[8]), GEM 2021/22 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report: From Crisis to Opportunity, www.gemconsortium.org/report/gem-202122-womens-entrepreneurship-report-from-crisis-to-opportunity.
Women are much less likely than men to be self employed
Over one in five people in Egypt were self employed in 2024 but despite increases, women still have lower self-employment rates than men. Only 452 100 women were self employed in 2021, rising to 769 300 by 2024 (CAPMAS, 2024[3]; CAPMAS, 2024[9]). The self-employment rate for women is lower than for men: 15.6% of all women in employment were self employed in 2024, compared to 24.5% of men (Figure 8.3). Although self employment has increased as a share of total female employment, it is often out of necessity rather than opportunity (Assaad and Mahmoud, 2024[10]). Only 6.8% of self-employed women employed others in 2024, compared to 16% of self-employed men (CAPMAS, 2024[9]).
Women in rural environments are more likely to be self-employed than those living in urban areas (Figure 8.3). In rural areas, 19.5% of employed women were self-employed in 2024, whereas the rate was just 11.3% of employed women in urban areas, which may reflect fewer employment opportunities for women in rural areas. In 2024, 11.6% of all self-employed individuals in rural areas were women, compared to 10.4% in urban areas. However, self-employed women in urban areas are more likely to employ workers of their own than rural ones: 10% versus 5%. The rates for men are 20% of self-employed men employing others in urban areas and 13% in rural areas (CAPMAS, 2024[9]).
Self-employment as a percentage of all employed individuals, 2024
Source: CAPMAS (2024[3]), Annual Bulletin Labour Force Survey 2024, https://www.erfdataportal.com/index.php/catalog/311
There are considerable differences between self-employed men and women in sectors and rates of formality. Overall, women entrepreneurs tend to be more active in sectors with low entry and exit barriers. They often cluster in capital-scarce activities in highly competitive markets with limited scope for innovation. Women entrepreneurs in Egypt are over-represented in sectors such as wholesale and retail trade, crafts, services and agriculture. For example, more than 60% of self-employed women are active in the wholesale and retail trade sector, compared to about 25% of self-employed men (CAPMAS, 2024[3]). Female-owned non-agricultural enterprises are also only half as likely as male-owned enterprises to be operating as formal businesses, with a 25% formality rate, compared to a 51% formality rate for those owned by men (Rizk and Rashed, 2019[11]). About 44% of women business owners operate their enterprise from their home, compared to less than 10% of men (Rizk and Rashed, 2022[12]). Women in Upper Egypt are particularly likely to have a home-based business, which can be explained in part by differences in societal norms and customs (Borham et al., 2023[13]).
Informal employment can lead to an oversupply of solo self-employed women or women-owned micro enterprises. This can lead to further crowding, lowering the market-size-to-firm ratio, and reducing demand and average profits (Hardy and Kagy, 2020[14]). For the full potential of the micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector in Egypt to be realised, it is important that informality rates are reduced, particularly among women, and that the share of the self-employed who themselves have employees is increased further (OECD, 2025[15]).
There are three primary approaches to formalising informal business activity: deterrence, incentives and persuasion. While deterrence measures for informal business activity (e.g. labour inspections, sanctions or co-ordinated government strategies) form the cornerstone of formalisation strategies in OECD countries, a balanced strategy that uses all three approaches tends to be the most effective in encouraging formalisation. Monetary and fiscal incentives (e.g. tax deductions, vouchers, VAT exceptions) are especially important in encouraging informal women entrepreneurs to formalise as they make it easier for them to engage in compliant behaviour while also reducing risks associated with formalising. Chapter 7 considers the barriers to formalisation and approaches to removing them.
There are a number of reasons why women entrepreneurs might operate in the informal economy. They can have limited access to opportunities in the formal economy, as well as to relevant education, business skills and knowledge (e.g. of administrative and regulatory procedures), experience, and training. They also face social and cultural barriers, such as their domestic and care responsibilities (see next section). Women may also choose to operate in the informal sector to avoid taxation or because of the sector they operate in, among other considerations. MSME Law 152/20201 (Arab Republic of Egypt, 2020[16]) outlined incentives to encourage the formalisation of informal economy enterprises, which has had some impact on the registration of informal MSMEs at the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) one-stop shops.
Women face multiple barriers to pursuing entrepreneurship and self-employment
Women often face more and heightened challenges in pursuing entrepreneurship and self-employment than men. These barriers are often inter-related and reinforce each other (OECD, 2023[17]). They include lack of experience in the labour market, and of entrepreneurship more specifically, and limited access to the networks that result, as well as to assets and to loans. Women also take a larger share of family responsibilities, limiting the amount of time they can dedicate to entrepreneurship. Women in rural and lower income governorates tend to face even greater challenges in accessing information, social protection, resources, support and financial services.
Lack of knowledge, experience and contacts are holding many Egyptian women back from starting their own businesses. Survey evidence from Egypt found that women were most likely to cite a lack of experience in business creation as a barrier (41% of women surveyed), followed by limited networks and professional contacts (32%) (UNIDO, 2017[18]). Another significant barrier to entrepreneurship may be women’s relatively low levels of awareness about the entrepreneurship support programmes available. Women are under-represented in entrepreneurship schemes aimed at small businesses (as opposed to micro business and self-employment schemes, where women are less under-represented). This is in part due to challenges related to outreach to women entrepreneurs, particularly in rural governorates. For example, outreach efforts to women entrepreneurs by MSMEDA regional offices are typically ad hoc, depending on the initiative of the individual managers of each centre.
Many women entrepreneurs receive limited societal and cultural support, notably from their families. Despite governmental and societal advances, expectations continue to reinforce the primary role of women in Egyptian society as caregivers with many family and household responsibilities and obligations (Nahla Zeitoun et al., 2023[19]; Osman, 2019[20]; Kalafatoglu and Mendoza, 2017[21]). Although these societal and cultural attitudes can be found throughout Egypt, they pose particular challenges to women in rural areas and in Upper Egypt. Their assumed responsibilities as wives, mothers and family caregivers often leave women with less time to develop their enterprises and grow their businesses. These barriers are compounded by the lack of childcare options (see Chapters 4 and 6).
Entrepreneurship is not widely seen as an acceptable or viable career path for women. This perception is related to the high-risk nature of entrepreneurship and the limited security it provides (Hassan and Zaharia, 2021[22]). Gender stereotypes that perceive women as lacking professional capabilities and being less resilient or more risk averse than men are pervasive within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. These stereotypes can hinder women‘s ability to expand and sustain their businesses. This leads to additional challenges for women entrepreneurs, particularly those involved in heavily male-dominated industries, further limiting their opportunities for growth and continuity.
Women entrepreneurs typically have less capital than men in their businesses, and less access to formal finance. Only 15% of women-owned business have more than EGP 5 000 (USD 92) in capital, compared to 49% of those owned by men (Rizk and Rashed, 2019[23]). At the other end of the scale, 60% of women-owned enterprises have less than EGP 1 000 in current capital compared to only 29% of men-owned businesses (Rizk and Rashed, 2019[23]). Lack of capital can be an even greater issue for women entrepreneurs in rural areas, where land is often used as collateral. Many women do not own property, which can mean they cannot obtain a loan, leaving them reliant on informal institutions to meet their financial needs (UN Women, 2018[24]; Kandeel, 2020[25]). Only a small share of women-owned MSMEs are currently accessing formal financing through institutions such as MSMEDA and microfinance institutions (MFIs). This is primarily due to women being unable to meet collateral requirements, as well as difficulties in navigating and compiling the documentation required by formal banking institutions. For example, according to 2021 Findex Data, 5% of women borrowed from formal institutions compared to 10% of men (World Bank, 2021[26]).
When women do access finance through formal institutions, they often receive smaller amounts than their male counterparts, although the gap is narrowing. According to MSMEDA, 30% of the 2 380 project owner beneficiaries it lent money to in 2022 were women, who received 21% of the total amount of loans. The average loan by MSMEDA for woman-led entrepreneurship projects was EGP 290 087, compared to EGP 454 530 for men-led projects. More recent data indicate an improvement in women’s access to finance, with female-owned businesses accounting for 34% of MSMEDA’s total finance in 2024, while the financing to micro and small enterprises amounted to EGP 2.1 billion.2
Support for women’s entrepreneurship is spread across multiple economic strategies and policies
Women’s entrepreneurship has been a cross-cutting theme in a number of national strategies and operational plans for MSMEs and entrepreneurship. The measures proposed have focused on improving women’s access to financial and non-financial business development services.
All pillars of the Egypt’s Vision 2030 place a high priority on the economic and social empowerment of women and youth, but does not have any specific policy directives for increasing entrepreneurship among women. The strategy aligns Egypt’s national targets with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a number of which relate to equality between women and men, and to women’s empowerment (Government of Egypt, 2023[27]). More specifically, it seeks to increase the female labour force participation rate, improve Egypt’s rank in the Global Gender Gap Index and achieve targets linked to the SDGs on gender equality (SDG-5). The Vision 2030 document includes objectives to increase women’s employment opportunities in the major proposed strategic projects (e.g. agro-industry cluster initiative and digital hub initiative).
The 2017 National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 also includes targets to enhance women’s entrepreneurship (NCW, 2017[28]). The strategy targets a 50% increase in the number of small enterprises managed/owned by women; a 53% increase in microfinance targeting women; and an 18% increase of women with bank accounts, compared to 2015. Public initiatives such as the Tahweesha initiative (see below) have built on the actions of the National Council for Women (NCW) to build the capacities of women who wish to start a business, or of existing women entrepreneurs who are seeking to expand their business.
The Economic Reform Programme fiscal plan for 2022-23 stresses the importance of fostering the economic empowerment of women. This not only covers ensuring women have equal employment opportunities in all sectors and developing their capacity to expand their professional opportunities, but also includes promoting their entrepreneurship. As well as boosting financial literacy through spreading financial knowledge among female school and university students, it covers enhancing their access to financial services, especially banking services. The plan offers financing through the Nasser Bank to give more economic independence to women currently in receipt of subsidy support for income-generating activities under the Mastoura Loan Programme (launched in 2018). Banque Misr’s ZAAT Programme also offers tailored mentorships and training for early-stage and growth-stage women-led businesses, while Alexbank’s Ghalya and Ebda’Men Masr programmes support women to access resources and tailored support including microloans.
Policies aimed at making childcare more accessible for working women also open up home-based business opportunities for women offering childcare services. Another policy priority of the Economic Reform Programme is to enable more women to take up paid work by increasing the number of public nurseries. Capacity for all childcare in Egypt is estimated at around 1.3 million, against a total population of 12.5 million children under 5 (ILO/Unicef/MoSS, 2021[29]) (see Chapter 6). New laws allow nurseries to be established under the implementation of selected non-government organisations (NGOs) with preference for these nurseries to be located in a fully female home. The introduction of these “home nurseries” opens up many home-based business opportunities for women to offer childcare services and thus potentially advances women’s entrepreneurship, as well as employment opportunities for childcare workers. However, it is important to consider the barriers that remain for women in opening a nursery, including the cost, safety and environmental requirements, ensuring the quality of services provided and staff qualifications, and the need to acquire the necessary equipment.
Strategies also cover fiscal literacy and financial support for women entrepreneurs
The National Financial Inclusion Strategy (2022-25) made the financial inclusion of women a priority of its reform agenda and targets (Central Bank of Egypt, 2022[30]). The strategy involves four points of action: (i) financial education; (ii) the protection of clients’ rights; (iii) diversified financial products (banking and non-banking); and (iv) the creation of a business-friendly environment. This includes initiatives by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to promote the inclusion of more women-owned MSMEs in the formal financial system.
The CBE is co-ordinating the adoption of a National Financial Literacy Strategy (NFLS) to complement and support the implementation the financial inclusion strategy. The draft strategy has a broad and coherent coverage, outlining a vision, mission, objectives, target populations, implementation arrangements, strategic partnerships, and monitoring and evaluation aspects. Women are identified as a key target group of financial literacy efforts and will be prioritised based on insights from monitoring and evaluation of financial literacy levels and initiatives to tailor future stakeholder initiatives. This structured approach could provide a solid basis for the CBE and its Financial Literacy Department in continuing to strengthen its efficiency and effectiveness in carrying out its work. In the framework of the Egypt-OECD Country Programme, the OECD provided comments to the draft NFLS, drawing on good practice experiences and analysis of its International Network on Financial Education3.
The financial authorities have taken steps to promote gender equality in financial services. The CBE Circular 22 April 2021 directed all banks to advance gender equality in all banking services, including loans and credit. The CBE also actively participates in the Permanent Unit for Entrepreneurship and Start-ups within the Egyptian Cabinet, which places particular attention on empowering women-led start-ups and ensuring inclusion in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has issued a similar directive to advance gender equality in non-banking financial services (FRA Decision No. 204/2020).4 FRA Decision No. 205/2020 allowed for the provision of incentives to non-banking financial entities if women made up 25% or more of the beneficiaries of their financial services. The FRA also has several women-dedicated initiatives that aim to expand access to finance to women entrepreneurship, primarily through microfinance.
The Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship aims to enhance the financial capabilities of start-ups, notably women-led ventures. The CBE, MSMEDA and the FRA, among other ministries, participate in this group, which is led by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MPED). The group is considering launching a unified financial initiative that would have an emphasis on supporting women entrepreneurs. The FRA and the UN Women Egypt signed a letter of agreement on 28 March 2022 outlining a partnership with the aim to promote women’s economic empowerment, advance new financing mechanisms, and encourage businesses in non-banking financial activities to achieve gender equality and create financing opportunities through sustainable financing tools (UN Women Egypt, 2022[31]). Egypt is one of the 26 pilot countries for the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Code (We-Fi Code), which is a global multi-stakeholder commitment by financial service providers, development banks and other financial ecosystem actors to work to increase the funding provided to women-led MSMEs, notably by seeking to expand the quality and quantity of data on the financing of women-led firms.
An overarching strategy on women’s entrepreneurship could increase policy cohesion
A dedicated strategy on women’s entrepreneurship could clearly identify priorities for government and non-government actors alike. Either a stand-alone strategy or a dedicated chapter on women’s entrepreneurship would increase policy cohesion and allow the government to build on successes already achieved. The renewed national MSME development strategy (2023-27) would be well-placed to include a special chapter on women’s entrepreneurship and to specify actions that will lead to an increase in the participation of women in entrepreneurship activity and the growth of women-owned/led MSMEs. The strategy should underline the continuing need to transform the status of women in society and addressing stereotypical roles.
The strategy should also place greater emphasis on supporting women in growing their businesses beyond micro enterprises. A critical element of this will be to scale up business management training to boost the capacities of women entrepreneurs, notably in the areas of opportunity recognition, digitalisation and the adoption of e-commerce tools. This would need to be supported by the allocation of resources for financial measures to support entrepreneurs. Greater support for internationalisation could also be offered, including measures that provide supply chain finance to address associated costs with upgraded equipment, acquiring quality standards certifications, and working capital demands. It would also be important to increase the availability of non-financial services, such as mentoring for women entrepreneurs to provide individualised support, and to facilitate the strengthening of networks.
Given the number of actors involved in delivering women’s entrepreneurship support, the strategy should be developed collaboratively. It could be led by MSMEDA with strong support from the NCW, and based on systematic consultation with a large sample of the wide range of actors delivering support, including universities. Germany’s action plan to increase the number of women entrepreneurs would serve as a good model for the co-development approach since it was the result of a partnership between 5 federal ministries and 27 associations, networks and scientific institutions (Box 8.1). This approach ensured not only that stakeholders were informed, but also that they were supportive of the strategy.
In 2022 Germany launched the action plan More Female Entrepreneurs for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. It was developed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection’s (BMWK) as part of its Women in SMEs Crafts, Foundations and Start-ups initiative.
The strategy is the result of public-private co-operation and includes more than 40 measures jointly implemented by a network of women’s entrepreneurship support actors. Overall, the action plan is based on four pillars:
1. enhance the availability of financial resources for female entrepreneurs and their access to venture capital investments
2. enhance the regulatory and operational environment for women engaged in self-employment, thereby fostering increased participation in entrepreneurship activities
3. foster greater participation by women in the climate sector and the energy transition, with the aim of encouraging them to pursue careers in skilled trades and STEM fields
4. enhance the visibility and recognition of self-employed women in order to acknowledge their contributions and accomplishments.
The measures address many demands of stakeholders (i.e. associations and networks) as well as the political projects of the coalition partners. The BMWK will continue to engage in regular dialogue with the relevant stakeholders and implementation partners, particularly by convening additional network meetings and high-level discussions to discuss the progress made and, if necessary, to add new measures and actors to the strategy and action plan.
Source: BMWK (2023[32]) Neue Start-up-Förderung für Gründerinnen aus dem Wissenschaftsbereich, www.bundeswirtschaftsministerium.de/Redaktion/DE/Pressemitteilungen/2023/06/20230609-neue-startup-forderung-fur-grunderinnen-aus-dem-wissenschaftsbereich.html.
The OECD offers a range of resources to help guide the design of strategies to support entrepreneurship, notably by women. The OECD-EU Better Entrepreneurship Policy Tool (www.betterentrepreneurship.eu) contains an interactive self-reflection tool, policy guidance notes and case studies. In addition, the OECD Recommendation on Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) and Entrepreneurship Policy provides a holistic framework and tools to support the development of coherent, effective and efficient SME and entrepreneurship policies (Box 8.2). The OECD Recommendation on Gender Equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship (OECD, 2017[33]) also provides high-level guidance, as does the recent report Entrepreneurship Policies through a Gender Lens (OECD, 2021[34]). The OECD Recommendation on Gender Equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship outlines how countries can implement more family-friendly policies and facilitate more balanced working conditions to enable both fathers and mothers to balance their working hours and their family responsibilities (OECD, 2017[33]).
The Committee on SMEs and Entrepreneurship (CSMEE) provides OECD countries with policy analysis, data, and recommendations to unlock the potential of SMEs and entrepreneurship. Its work covers increasing the quality and number of start-ups, enhancing SME productivity and innovation, addressing barriers to finance, accessing international markets and ensuring access to skilled labour. Furthermore, the committee supports the efforts of governments and SME and entrepreneurship stakeholders in fostering digitalisation and sustainability, while navigating associated risks.
The Recommendation on SME and Entrepreneurship Policy was proposed by the CSMEE and adopted by the OECD Council at Ministerial level in June 2022. The recommendation is part of a broader OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Strategy and aims to provide an evidence-based and holistic framework to support countries in developing coherent, effective and efficient SME and entrepreneurship policies to foster their contribution to inclusive and sustainable growth for the benefit of all. It is based on three pillars – (i) policy co-ordination and governance; (ii) transitions and resilience; and (iii) accessing resources – and underlines the need to consider the diversity of entrepreneurs’ needs (especially women) and to facilitate the formalisation of businesses. As of April 2024, all 38 OECD countries plus Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania had adopted the recommendation. Although Egypt is not an adherent to the Recommendation, the OECD and MSMEDA have co-operated on the SME & Entrepreneurship Policies Review in Egypt under the Egypt Country Programme (Project 1.4), which addressed several SME-related topics, including issues of particular relevance to women entrepreneurs.
The recommendation is accompanied by an implementation toolkit, which aims to provide hands-on guidance to policymakers as well as resources and additional tools. It is an evolving resource as new resources and tools become available and will leverage OECD-wide expertise across the policy areas covered by the recommendation.
Source: (OECD, 2022[35]), Recommendation of the Council on SME and Entrepreneurship Policy, https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0473.
A unified definition of women-owned enterprises can help strengthen data collection and policy implementation
The CBE’s definition of women-owned/led enterprises should be used across all organisations that deliver women’s entrepreneurship support. This definition is consistent with the key definitions for women’s entrepreneurship and women-owned business released by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in the form of an International Workshop Agreement in 2021 (ISO, 2021[36]). This standard was developed to address the lack of clear and universally agreed definitions to describe enterprises owned or led by women, which was preventing countries from collecting internationally comparable sex-disaggregated data to support evidence-based policymaking focused on women’s entrepreneurship. Greater use of this definition would help to implement MSME Law 152/2020, which requires the certification of women-owned businesses to access non-financial incentives.
More widespread use of the definition would also help with collecting and reporting gender-disaggregated data on programme beneficiaries, and women’s entrepreneurship more generally. For example, the NCW could adopt an electronic platform for progress reports from all relevant stakeholders on implementation of the Women’s Economic Empowerment projects under the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 to replace the manual system currently being used. The Egyptian Customs Authority of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) adopted the CBE’s definition in 2018 to enable the CBE to measure the levels of financial inclusion in Egypt, and to build a comprehensive database that includes reporting on companies and establishments using a unified definition of companies and establishments owned or managed by women.
A unified definition will also address problems related to the use of multiple definitions. These can slow the implementation of targeted programmes to advance women’s entrepreneurship and are particularly relevant to the inclusion of women-owned/led enterprises in MSME incentive programmes, such as public procurement, supplier diversity initiatives, trade promotion and grant schemes to foster innovation or technology development: all issues of importance for Egypt.
A number of government schemes offer women entrepreneurs financial support
MSMEDA is the main actor delivering financial entrepreneurship support programmes and women entrepreneurs represent a significant share of its beneficiaries (Table 8.1). In 2022, nearly half of the micro enterprise projects it supported were owned by women, but for small enterprise projects the share was much lower: only 11% of those supported by MSMEDA were women-owned. In 2024, MSMEDA issued around 80 000 loans, half of which were to women, backed by gender-focused World Bank programmes, while 60% of microfinance recipients were women. MSMEDA was also the first agency in Egypt and the MENA region to receive the Gender Equity Seal (see Chapter 7). Other public actors, such as the Central Department for Entrepreneurship (Fekretak Sherketak), offer financial and non-financial entrepreneurship support to foster innovation and sustainable business growth, with women representing about 30% of programme participants. See Table 1.A.2 for the full list of financial programmes targeting women entrepreneurs.
The government has taken steps to promote more equal access to financial support. In line with the Legislative and Institutional Framework Supporting Women, the Government Authority for Investments (GAFI) supports women in business through a number of measures, including Investment Law No.72 (2017), which ensures equal investment opportunities regardless of the project’s size, location or gender of the business owner.
Regional initiatives are increasingly seeking to address structural barriers to women entrepreneurs’ access to finance. For instance, the EU-OECD project on Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Southern Mediterranean (2024-2027) (EU-OECD, 2024[37]) is supporting eight Southern Mediterranean countries, including Egypt, in strengthening their policy and regulatory frameworks for women entrepreneurs’ financial inclusion, with a particular focus on digital financial services (Chapter 10). Through policy stocktaking, stakeholder mapping and virtual consultations, the project aims to inform the design of harmonised, evidence-based reforms aligned with OECD standards and good practice.
The impact of microfinance schemes has been mixed
One of the most effective ways to improve access to finance for women entrepreneurs is to strengthen the microfinance sector. The demand for microfinance continues to grow as it plays an important role in supporting self-employed women and women entrepreneurs. Past initiatives to increase the supply of microfinance to women entrepreneurs include the CBE’s Microfinance Initiative5 and the financial support schemes offered by MSMEDA. The supply of microfinance could be increased in several ways. The government could directly provide MFIs with more funds to be lent to women entrepreneurs, under less stringent conditions. Greater incentives could also be used to entice new MFIs into the market in regions where there are limited opportunities to access mainstream financial markets. These measures need to be followed with steps to ensure that women entrepreneurs with viable projects receive larger loans to increase their opportunities to build viable businesses. This can be achieved with greater guarantees to reduce the risk taken on by MFIs.
The impact of microfinance alone on women’s economic and social empowerment is unclear. Recent research finds conflicting evidence about the extent to which microfinance, on its own, improves the economic status and empowerment of women. For example, a survey of Egyptian women receiving microfinance concluded that changes are needed in how microfinance is delivered in order to alleviate poverty and empower women (El Hadidi, 2018[38]). The study found that the greatest impact of microfinance on women was psychological, by leading to increased self-confidence and self-respect. Moreover, the perceived impact was greater for those women entrepreneurs with larger projects. However, microfinance had limited impact on economic empowerment and the eradication of poverty. The small size of the loans and the highly localised projects of the women entrepreneurs who benefitted meant they had little scope to expand their markets or grow beyond micro enterprise scale. The study concluded that the economic empowerment impact of microfinance on women is not enough to significantly alleviate poverty.
Improving the quality of non-financial support services offered by lenders to women entrepreneurs can strengthen the impact of microfinance. Governments could provide technical support to help MFIs better understand the needs of women entrepreneurs in their location, including their needs for non-financial support. This could include training programmes for staff to provide them with tools and resources to conduct needs assessments and to effectively deliver support to women entrepreneurs, ensuring that programme participants are benefitting from the support offered. A technical support centre could also be created as a resource for MFIs to provide ongoing support and networking opportunities for trainers and coaches. The government could also facilitate collaborations between MFIs and specialist entrepreneurship trainers, coaches and consultants. These types of collaborations, where financial support is provided through one organisation and non-financial support is provided through a partner organisation, are common in OECD countries. Finally, the monitoring of women entrepreneur clients could be strengthened with more frequent and structured communications between lenders and entrepreneurs to enable business challenges to be detected early.
Technology also offers opportunities to widen women’s access to finance
Fintech also holds potential for improving access to finance women entrepreneurs. The rapid evolution of technology in recent years has opened new funding opportunities for women entrepreneurs, notably through new financial actors and marketplaces. Globally, women entrepreneurs have been successful in many of these new fintech markets with projects that might not have otherwise received external financing (Wesemann and Wincent, 2021[39]; Johnson, Stevenson and Letwin, 2018[40]; OECD/European Commission, 2022[41]). Women also appear to be more successful than men on crowdfunding platforms, receiving up to 1.3 times more contributors than male-led campaigns (Slade, 2013[42]).
Fintech is playing a role in boosting women’s financial inclusion in Egypt and facilitating their access to financial services, especially in remote areas. The CBE has sponsored the Digital Saving and Lend Groups Project Tahweesha (based on the mobile application Ta7wisha, which means saving in Arabic) to encourage female entrepreneurship and boost women’s access to finance and financial services, by improving financial awareness, promoting financial literacy, spreading financial culture among women and increasing women’s saving rates. The goal is to incentivise women in Egypt’s rural areas to save and apply for loans to open small and micro enterprises. Tahweesha aims to reach 1.2 million women over a three-year period, forming approximately 60 000 savings groups across various governorates (NCW, 2024[43]). As of December 2024, approximately 246 400 women were using the app, and around 209 000 women who were in savings groups – and a further 102 500 outside these groups – have benefited from financial literacy and awareness campaigns (CBE, 2025[44]).
A critical element for taking advantage of the new technological financial opportunities is to invest in more financial literacy training and entrepreneurship education for women entrepreneurs. Overall, women entrepreneurs in Egypt have low levels of financial literacy, and especially digital financial literacy. Renewed investment and support to increase the availability of financial literacy training for women entrepreneurs will be needed if they are to be able to take full advantage of the new financing avenues enabled by fintech.
Combining finance with training and mentoring could improve its impact on women’s economic empowerment and increase its economic multiplier effect. This would help women develop and grow their enterprises and entrepreneurship activity (El Hadidi, 2018[38]). Progress in expanding women’s access to finance needs to be complemented by access to measures that enhance the quality, scale and sustainability of women-led enterprises. Such business support will help women with micro enterprises to overcome structural and other gender-based barriers in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The existing business development ecosystem does not fully meet the needs of women entrepreneurs
A wide range of public institutions deliver business development services (BDS) in Egypt, each targeting specific segments of the SME and start-up population. MSMEDA plays a central role through its extensive network of regional offices, providing information, basic guidance, entrepreneurship training and technical support to SMEs and start-ups. In addition, the CBE supports a network of 116 NilePreneur BDS Hubs, offering a broad range of advisory and counselling services. The Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre (TIEC) provides one-to-one consultancy services to registered start-ups and SMEs in the IT sector, while the Industrial Modernisation Centre supports manufacturing enterprises. Other prominent entities include the Rowad 2030 Start-up and Business Clinics, GAFI’s Entrepreneurship Development Unit, the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Technology and Innovation Centres, and the NCW’s Women Business Development Centres. Overall, women remain under-represented in general public entrepreneurship support programmes, especially those targeting technology enterprises, innovative start-ups and growth-potential SMEs. For example, less than one-third of participants in the NilePreneurs business development support hubs are women (Table 8.1).
Digital platforms are emerging as a key channel to deliver services remotely, increasing outreach to women entrepreneurs in under-served and rural areas. MSMEDA is leading efforts to enhance the supply of digital BDS through the development of an electronic platform that consolidates information on all available SME support services and programmes provided by government agencies and supporting bodies. Although the organic expansion of BDS provision has created a diverse ecosystem in Egypt, it has also led to challenges for coherence, transparency and visibility. The digital platform may help bridge these gaps and improve awareness and uptake of available support services among women entrepreneurs (OECD, 2025[15])
Egypt’s entrepreneurship ecosystem is heavily male dominated, with few female investors, mentors, role models or female-founded technology start-ups. Egyptian women entrepreneurs report gender-insensitive practices which affect their presence and activities within the entrepreneurship ecosystem and prevent them from accessing and benefiting from all its programmes and services (Hattab, 2023[45]). These include difficulty in accessing networks, support groups, market information, or technical experts to help them develop their business. Perceptions about women’s roles in Egyptian society affects their ability to communicate and interact with some ecosystem players, mentors and investors. Women are also disadvantaged by how networks are built and nurtured, making it difficult for them to participate in informal networking activities and in some scheduled events that conflict with their family responsibilities.
Dedicated schemes hold promise for boosting women’s entrepreneurship
Women-only networks and women-targeted entrepreneurship support programmes can remedy under-representation in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Evidence suggests that women entrepreneurs respond well to female-dedicated support measures. Many report finding all-women learning environments to be less intimidating and more equality based than mixed environments and that they feel more comfortable and empowered to ask questions (El-Fiky, 2021[46]). For instance, TIEC’s Heya Raida programme found that creating a women-dedicated option of their mainstream entrepreneurship support scheme increased participation among women. Women reported that they had previously been interested in applying to the programme but did not pursue it until the women-only option became available (Al-Din, 2021[47]).
Egypt has a large number of entrepreneurship support schemes offered exclusively to women by government and non-government actors. These include entrepreneurship and technical training, coaching and mentoring, business development services, networking opportunities, and support to facilitate access to markets. These programmes support a variety of women-owned or women-led businesses, including handicraft businesses, ICT-related business, and green and smart tech companies. They also offer tailored support to businesses of various sizes (e.g. micro, small and high-growth potential enterprises) as well as to different profiles of women entrepreneurs (e.g. urban, rural, under-privileged, innovative and tech-focused women). For example, the CBE’s Supporting Women Entrepreneurs initiative by the CBE aims to support female handicraft artisans by offering financial and non-financial services as well as opportunities to showcase their work.
These dedicated women’s entrepreneurship programmes are offered by a large range of organisations. The primary providers are MSMEDA and the NCW, but a range of other organisations are active in providing women-dedicated and/or tailored support programmes in Egypt as well as financial support (Table 8.A.2). Many public and non-government actors also collaborate on support schemes targeting women entrepreneurs. For example, the Ministry of Social Solidarity in collaboration with the NCW offers entrepreneurship support which targets low-income women in rural areas. This support is largely intended to foster income-generating activity through livelihood-based subsistence micro-enterprises.
Dedicated support for women works especially well for novice women entrepreneurs but more established ones stand to benefit more from the wider business support ecosystem. Dedicated support offers those with little business knowledge and experience a women-friendly and supportive environment to build their confidence and entrepreneurship competence. However, at a certain point, more established women entrepreneurs get greater value from participating in ecosystems that are inclusive of women (McAdam, Harrison and Leitch, 2019[48]). This will require creating greater awareness among ecosystem members of women entrepreneurs’ needs; increasing the number of female investors, mentors, role models and start-up entrepreneurs; and ensuring a nurturing and inclusive environment, where women entrepreneurs are able to participate on an equal playing field. The government could also carry out more dialogue with women entrepreneurs when designing development policies and programmes.
The entrepreneurial support ecosystem can evolve to support women’s businesses of all sizes and at all stages
Women entrepreneurs are not a homogenous group, which is a critical consideration when designing and implementing support schemes. They have different demographic characteristics (e.g. education level, household income levels and urban-rural) and situational contexts. Businesses owned by women with university degrees create more jobs, have higher growth aspirations and targets, and are more likely to engage in exporting than those owned by less-educated women (UNIDO, 2017[18]). The primary target of much of the programme support for women entrepreneurs in Egypt appears to be the less-educated and lower-income women in rural and underprivileged areas of the country, with the goal of increasing their livelihood potential and reducing poverty. Entrepreneurship support programmes targeting young, educated women with more growth potential are more likely to exist in the urban centres.
Initiatives targeting different subgroups of female entrepreneurs need to tailor the design and delivery of programmes to their specific needs. This might entail minimising barriers to accessing tailored support, by considering location (e.g. training centre located on a public transportation route, affordable parking available on-site), hours (e.g. training offered during school hours or in evenings, self-paced training, alternating schedules to accommodate more groups of women), accessibility (e.g. digital, physical) and childcare (e.g. childcare available on-site) (OECD/European Union, 2023[49]). Support for more highly educated women may include running entrepreneurship training for graduates in conjunction with incubation programmes to build their confidence (a major barrier to women’s entrepreneurship).
The government has made strides in creating a supportive environment for women entrepreneurs. Initiatives like the Hadanty programme are increasing the availability of public nurseries to allow women to balance family and work responsibilities. Dedicated programmes such as MSMEDA’s Gender and Entrepreneurship Together (GET Ahead for Women in Enterprise) training and the NCW’s various entrepreneurship support schemes are designed to enhance women’s business skills and access to markets.
Public bodies have taken some steps towards encouraging more awareness of women’s entrepreneurship. GAFI has held about 50 awareness-raising seminars on equal opportunities and women’s entrepreneurship, involving public and private stakeholders, including investors. It has also held seminars focused specifically on women’s entrepreneurship (e.g. on female role models and addressing challenges related to investment procedures and exporting). The MPED is also engaged in strengthening women’s entrepreneurship through the Economic, Political and Social Empowerment Programme for Women, including through the Girls in Leadership Roles initiative, the President’s Cup business competition and the She Leads programme to link girls in technical education to micro and small enterprises. In 2020, the MSMEDA launched a 50 Million African Women Speak networking platform project, in co-operation with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, to support trade among small and medium-sized projects owned or run by women (ILO, 2021[50]). The Ministry of Trade and Industry, together with the NCW, has launched the SheTrades programme to address disparities and increase women-led start-ups (see Chapter 2 for more information on support for women to reach global markets).
Complementary efforts are also being made to strengthen entrepreneurial mindsets and skills through technical and higher education as well as targeted training programmes. At the technical secondary level, students are exposed to enterprise creation knowledge, and instructors receive training on delivering the ILO’s Know About Business curriculum, alongside career guidance services. At the higher education level, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is steering all universities to establish entrepreneurship and innovation centres. Many universities have already integrated entrepreneurship courses into their curricula, and extracurricular initiatives such as entrepreneurship clubs are increasingly common. Outside of formal education, NilePreneurs offers the Professionals Programme – a technical and non-technical upskilling initiative for students, recent graduates and entrepreneurs. Additional programmes are provided by international organisations such as the ILO, and national actors like MSMEDA and TIEC, reaching tens of thousands of Egyptians over the years. Online platforms and massive open online courses (MOOCs) further expand access to entrepreneurship training (OECD, 2025[15]).
However, SME skills upgrading programmes remain limited in Egypt, with government initiatives primarily focused on employability support for the unemployed or marginally employable. Broader workplace-based training for SME employees is not yet systematically implemented. Only narrower initiatives exist, such as the Industrial Modernization Center’s “Creative Hub Egypt” Programme, which focuses on upgrading the skills of Egyptian artisans. Strengthening SME training systems could enhance productivity and competitiveness, particularly for women-owned or women-led enterprises (OECD, 2025[15]).
Although Egypt has been actively exploring how to reduce the gender gap in entrepreneurship and taking actions in recent years to address persistent barriers to self-employment and business creation by women, policymakers in Egypt should consider the following points to further these efforts.
Recommendation 1. Develop an overarching strategy on women’s entrepreneurship
A women’s entrepreneurship strategy should be developed in collaboration with stakeholders in order to increase cohesion across initiatives. This could be a stand-alone strategy or a chapter in the renewed national MSME development strategy (2023-27), outlining the related targeted actions under each pillar of the strategy. To this end policymakers should:
Policy consideration 1. Develop a strategy on women’s entrepreneurship to clearly identify priorities for government and non-government actors.
Policy consideration 2. Adopt the CBE’s definition of a “women-owned business” to be universally applied cross government ministries and agencies.
Policy consideration 3. Establish a data collection system with harmonised definitions, indicators and reporting mechanisms, in order to improve gender-disaggregated data availability and implement a mechanism for monitoring and impact evaluations of women-dedicated and tailored policy schemes.
Recommendation 2. Strengthen access to finance for women entrepreneurs, including digital financial services
Policymakers should facilitate access to finance for women entrepreneurs.
Policy consideration 1. Improve access to finance available to women entrepreneurs by expanding the availability of microfinance.
Policy consideration 2. Accelerate the provision of financial literacy programmes for women entrepreneurs so they have a greater awareness of financing options.
Policy consideration 3. Expand digital skills training and rural connectivity
Recommendation 3: Support incubators, accelerators and mentorship programmes for women
Policy makers should expand support for women entrepreneurs beyond micro enterprises and help them to reach new markets.
Policy consideration 1. Strengthen existing women-owned-led MSMEs through focused support for digitalisation and e-commerce adoption, mentoring, use of Business Lens diagnostic tool to aid in identifying needs of women-owned/led MSMEs, export readiness, and capacity to integrate in supply chains and compete in public procurement calls.
Policy consideration 2. Develop a more integrated approach to the provision of business development support for women entrepreneurs, by delivery support in packages of training, coaching and finance.
Policy consideration 3. Introduce post-training follow-up support and assistance to GET Ahead trainees who are starting a new business or trying to scale-up their existing enterprise. This could be delivered by MSMEDA and the NCW.
Policy consideration 4. Widen the targeting of entrepreneurship support to increasingly cover highly educated women and high growth potential start-ups to achieve a greater balance of programme support.
Recommendation 4: Use public awareness campaigns to highlight successful women role models and shift perceptions
Policymakers should use widespread national campaigns to.
Policy consideration 1. Highlight successful women entrepreneurs as role models and to change prevailing, stereotypical perceptions of the role of Egyptian women in society and the economy, stimulating greater societal acceptance of the role of women as economic generators, both as employees and entrepreneurs
Policy consideration 2. Run campaigns to address issues preventing the take-up of formalisation initiatives and existing programmes, notably applying for loans.
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← 1. The MSMEs Law 152/2020 consists of nine chapters with 109 articles that aim to enhance the role of MSMEDA under the purview of the Prime Minister. The Law aims to support MSMEs in formalising their activities.
← 2. Data provided to the OECD by MSMEDA.
← 3. For more information see https://www.oecd.org/en/networks/infe.html
← 4. Non-banking financial institutions under the FRA regulation include licensed MFIs, leasing and factoring companies, insurance companies, and capital markets.
← 5. The “Microfinance Initiative” by the Central Bank of Egypt was launched in 2017 with the aim to increase the supply of finance in the microfinance sector through the injection of EGP 30 billion into the market through various MFIs.
← 6. “France to provide nearly $2mln to women-owned micro-enterprises in Egypt” Ahram Online, 7 July 2023, https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/504248.aspx/.
← 7. Radcliffe, D., “Egypt's MSMEDA To Support Female Entrepreneurs With €50m Credit Line”, Startup Scene, 20 September 2021, https://thestartupscene.me/MenaEcosystems/Egypt-s-MSMEDA-to-Support-Female-Entrepreneurs-with-50M-Credit-Line/
← 8. “FIF - Egypt WiB - CIB Loan”, EBRD News, 29 April 2022, www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/projects/psd/51148.html/.
← 9. “FIF – Egypt WiB – Export Development Bank”, EBRD News, 18 November 2021, www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/projects/psd/52550.html/.
← 10. “Banque Misr Launches Innovative Program to Support Egyptian Entrepreneurs; particularly women entrepreneurs”, IFC Press Room, 16 March 2022, Cairo, https://pressroom.ifc.org/all/pages/PressDetail.aspx?ID=26874/.
← 11. “Mastoura programmes first phase finances 6 483 projects worth over EGP 97.5m: Waly”, Daily News Egypt, 6 June 2018, www.dailynewsegypt.com/2018/06/07/mastoura-programmes-first-phase-finances-6483-projects-worth-over-egp-97-5m-waly/.
← 12. “Nasser Social Bank injects EGP 371m to more than 21,000 beneficiaries of the Mastoura Programme”, Daily News Egypt, 15 August 2022, www.dailynewsegypt.com/2022/08/15/nasser-social-bank-injects-egp-371m-to-more-than-21000-beneficiaries-of-the-mastoura-programme/. The programme supported 10 700 projects worth EGP 188 million; 7 886 animal production projects valued at EGP 143.676 million, in addition to household projects and industrial and service projects.
← 13. “Gov’t keen to expand financial inclusion”, Egyptian Gazette, 16 May 2023, https://egyptian-gazette.com/egypt/govt-keen-to-expand-financial-inclusion/.