Women in Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies (Published)
Some of the greatest challenges being faced globally especially in the 3rd World countries are issues bordering on unemployment, poverty, terrorism and other social ills. Efforts must be made by any progressive government to eradicate these or reduce them to the barest minimum in order to promote the economic development of a nation. A sure way to do this is to promote entrepreneurship as this is seen as the ‘engine’ of economic growth and development of a nation. The population of the women folk is 49.36 per cent of the total population in Nigeria as at 2011 (World Bank Report) A nation that is determined to progress and boost its economy must realise the economic potentials of women and invest in developing the entrepreneurial acumen of this gender who traditionally are discriminated upon and face many constraints when venturing into businesses apart from their traditional roles of home keeping. These constraints may be in form of access to credit facilities, land and other infrastructures, legal, education, family and cultural issues. The women folk are naturally endowed with special skills such as negotiating skills, endurance and other soft skills as pillars of the family. If these constraints that serve as barriers to their economic development are removed, expose them to entrepreneurship education and they are empowered to start their businesses or scale them up, it will go a long way in improving their standard of living and economic potentials, boost their self-confidence as a person, improve their family, their community and the foreign exchange earnings of the nation. Investing in women entrepreneurship development should therefore be seen as investing in our collective future. This will reduce incidences of crime, terrorism, kidnapping and other social ills plaguing the country, and our country ranked among the advanced economies of the world.
Keywords: Unemployment, Women Entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurship education., special skills