Chapter 3. Supporting women entrepreneurs.

Chapter 3. Supporting women entrepreneurs. Women are very active economically in Ghana, so improving theirproductivity is critical to reducing poverty and achieving sustainablegrowth in the country. Developing women-owned enterprises enables womento meet their current needs, augment aug��ment?v. aug��ment��ed, aug��ment��ing, aug��mentsv.tr.1. To make (something already developed or well under way) greater, as in size, extent, or quantity: their earnings from agriculturalactivities, and acquire resources for future investments. But theirsuccess in business activities is constrained con��strain?tr.v. con��strained, con��strain��ing, con��strains1. To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; oblige: felt constrained to object.See Synonyms at force.2. by cultural, educational,and economic factors. Improving their prospects will require expandingthe financial and business support services support servicesPsychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services available tomicroenterprises, a sector in which women predominate. Women's business incomes vary but most fall in the modest ormicroentrepreneurial range; in Ghana the enabling conditions needed toencourage larger enterprises and sustain business growth are not yet inplace. But supporting women entrepreneurs would produce a high payoff indevelopment. For one thing, women are more likely than men to investincome from business activities in the welfare of their families(Ardayfio-Schandorf, Brown, and Aglobitse 1995). The standard of livingof women and their children depends on what women earn throughself-employment and small business activities. Increasing women'searning power Earning powerEarnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) divided by total assets.earning power1. The earnings that an asset could produce under optimal conditions. For example, AT&T may currently be earning $2. raises the cost of bearing children, and the rising demandfor education, health, and family planning family planningUse of measures designed to regulate the number and spacing of children within a family, largely to curb population growth and ensure each family’s access to limited resources. services that results createsan incentive to keep the family small and to invest in income-generatingactivities to finance the children's future. For these reasons itis important to overcome the persistent gap between women's actualand potential contributions as entrepreneurs that results from theirrestricted access to business opportunities and financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. . Whether women can engage in business activities depends heavily ontheir own savings and the savings of relatives and friends. Thesurvival, smooth operation, and growth of businesses are improved byaccess to credit. Providing microfinancial services for women cansupport the stability, productivity, and growth of women's businessincome. Skill managing business finances is also important to the survivalof microenterprises and women's ability to repay loans. A betterunderstanding of business management, planning, and marketing allowswomen to "grow" their enterprises and take advantage ofprofitable market opportunities. Low levels of education, literacy, andbusiness training diminish their prospects for business success.Training should include components useful to women whose businessescould grow (or are now growing) into medium or large-size enterprises. CONCENTRATION IN INFORMAL SECTOR In Ghana women are as likely as men to be involved in business.Data for 1991-92 show that 63 percent of households--whether headed bymen or women--have nonfarm enterprises. Self-employment dominatesactivities for both women and men, but women are less likely than men tohave employees, especially in urban areas. Women are concentrated intrading, and most are recent immigrants (less than a year) to the placewhere they are doing business (Canagarajah and Thomas 1997). The mainproblem in developing off-farm businesses, especially for women, is thatthe rapid growth in the labor supply (relative to demand) has beenabsorbed largely in informal, easy-entry activities, resulting in asaturated informal market. Although women have long been active in Ghana's largerbusinesses, it is hard for them to graduate to larger businesses. A 1991study of small and medium-size enterprises found that only 13 percent ofwoman-owned businesses had 10 or more workers, compared with 31 percentof men's businesses. None of the large-scale firms in a parallelsurvey were headed by a woman (Table 3.1). WOMEN'S LIMITED ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES In 1991/92 more than 86 percent of enterprises had no access tocredit. Women had less access than men to formal credit, and tend torely on informal credit, but family members were the main source ofcredit for both men and women. Expanding microcredit microcredit,the extension to poor individuals of small loans to be used for income-generating activities that will improve the borrowers' living standards. The loans, which may be as little as $20 for very poor borrowers in some developing countries, typically are would be useful towomen in business, but its immediate impact might be limited. Doublingall nonfamily sources of credit would reach only an additional 3.3percent of households headed by women and 1.8 percent of householdsheaded by men. Expanding access to informal credit would have a greater impact onwomen entrepreneurs. Gender differences in access to credit are notgreat, but there is a substantial gap in the average size of formalloans to men and to women. The differentials are much lower for informalloans, which are also larger for self-employed women and those who ownmicroenterprises that employ two to nine workers. Personal and family savings are the main sources of finance tostart and operate nonfarm business activities in Ghana. Genderdisparities are more pronounced for savings than for credit. In 1991/92,31 percent of male heads of households were able to save money (comparedwith only 23 percent of women) and men's average savings were 26percent greater than women's. The propensity to save was stronglycorrelated cor��re��late?v. cor��re��lat��ed, cor��re��lat��ing, cor��re��latesv.tr.1. To put or bring into causal, complementary, parallel, or reciprocal relation.2. with level of education and with living in an urban ratherthan a rural area, and less correlated with level of consumption.(Correlations were much weaker for credit.) It seems that economicallyactive women had access to savings services, but preferred informalagents to banks. According to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. a 1991 study of urban market women, 77percent saved with susu collectors; the proportion of women with a bankaccount fell from 49 percent in 1982 to 36 percent in 1989, because oftheir diminished confidence in banks (Box 3.1). OTHER CONSTRAINTS CONSTRAINTS - A language for solving constraints using value inference.["CONSTRAINTS: A Language for Expressing Almost-Hierarchical Descriptions", G.J. Sussman et al, Artif Intell 14(1):1-39 (Aug 1980)]. ON WOMEN IN BUSINESS Women's high rate of labor force participation reflects theabsence of legal barriers to, and social acceptance of, their economicactivity. Their concentration in informal employment andmicroenterprises reflects cultural barriers. Cultural norms channelwomen into a limited range of occupations, which are usually saturated,less dynamic, and use fewer modern technologies. In Islamic areas(mainly in the north), restrictions on interactions with men limitwomen's business activities outside the home. Householdresponsibilities--including childbearing, child care, and homemaintenance--limit the amount of time a woman can devote to herbusiness, the size of business she can manage, and the rate of return onher capital investment. Women working from home cannot easily reachclients in central business districts and more lucrative markets. Thethings that limit women's economic activities also limit theiraccess to skill-building opportunities and business support services.Box 3.1 Savings Characteristics of Urban WomenWhy do many households and market women prefer to save informally?A survey of 1,000 market women in three cities showed littleconfidence in the security of bank deposits. More than 40 percentof respondents would not save with banks because they thought theirincomes were too low, there was too much formality at banks, andbanks were not interested in small, frequent deposits or tornnotes, and discouraged market women as customers. In smallercommunities and rural areas, travel time and costs were a largerpart of transaction costs than in large urban communities.Income and savingsThose who saved 79.5%Those with income 76.2%Average weekly earnings 9,864 cediSavings allocationAverage portion of monthly income saved 19.1% At home 18.2% At bank 18.3% With susu collector 50.0%Savings characteristicsThose with a bank account before 1982 49.1%Those with a bank account in 1989 36.4%Usual reason for never saving in bank Income too lowUsual reason for ending bank savings after 1982 Lack of confidenceThose operating a susu savings account 77%Borrowing characteristicsEver borrowed from bank 14.7%Usual use of credit from bank Expand businessUsual reason for never borrowing from bank Never needed loan; no collateralGeographicfactorsAverage distance from nearest bank 0.7 kmAverage distance from usual bank (if applicable) 4.0 kmSource: Aryeetey and Gocel 1991, cited in World Bank 1994. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"put differently , a woman's business strategy is conditioned bytime constraints and concerns about the daily welfare of the householdthat male entrepreneurs need not consider. As a result, women are morelikely to pursue risk-averse strategies, such as trying to increaseproductivity and investing profits in the household or otherincome-generating activities, rather than expanding the business. Thetendency for women's microenterprises to stay small over a longtime suggests that "many women may view successful self-employmentas a satisfactory, permanent source of income rather than as a steptoward expansion. Firms owned by men, on the other hand, are more likelyto grow over time" (Steel and Webster Webster,town (1990 pop. 16,196), Worcester co., S Mass., near the Conn. line; settled c.1713, set off from Dudley and Oxford and inc. 1832. The chief manufactures are footwear, fabrics, and textiles. 1990). Any strategy forassisting women entrepreneurs must recognize gender differences in thesize distribution of enterprises and in the owners' expectationsfor their businesses. The numbers suggest a focus on raisingproductivity in microenterprises rather than expanding the scale ofbusinesses. Another important constraint ConstraintA restriction on the natural degrees of freedom of a system. If n and m are the numbers of the natural and actual degrees of freedom, the difference n - m is the number of constraints. on women's ability to succeed inbusiness is the education gap. In a sample of small-scale entrepreneurs,33 percent of the women had never been to school, compared with only 9percent of the men (Steel and Webster 1990). Closing the education gapwould help women gain greater access to opportunities in the formalsector and would help them to run their microenterprises moreefficiently. Women often have trouble meeting bank requirements for landedproperty as collateral. There are no legal impediments IMPEDIMENTS, contracts. Legal objections to the making of a contract. Impediments which relate to the person are those of minority, want of reason, coverture, and the like; they are sometimes called disabilities. Vide Incapacity. 2. to women owningland, but the application of colonial law deprived many women ofownership and in many parts of the country the traditional allocation ofland rights may not yield a legally enforceable title. Persistingcultural norms may also discourage women from seeking loans on their ownaccount. A spouse's disapproval, even intimidation, may add to thedifficulty a woman faces in getting credit. Some better-off women may bereluctant to show their bankbooks to their husbands. STRENGTHENING MICROFINANCE SERVICES The barrier of illiteracy illiteracy,inability to meet a certain minimum criterion of reading and writing skill.Definition of IlliteracyThe exact nature of the criterion varies, so that illiteracy must be defined in each case before the term can be used in a meaningful , a concentration in stagnant stagnant/stag��nant/ (stag��nant)1. motionless; not flowing or moving.2. inactive; not developing or progressing. (largelyrural) microenterprises, and limited property ownership limitwomen's ability to gain access to finance through formal financialinstitutions. Those characteristics make women seem high-risk to banks,which look for a long-term banking track record and are concerned abouttransaction costs and risks in dealing with a firm. Banks generally tendto avoid lending to microenterprises, and when they do lend to smallenterprises, they tend to give women smaller loans than they give men. Women who need credit often turn to informal financialinstitutions, which have for a long time provided them with convenient,appropriate financial services (Aryeetey 1994). A sector of semiformalinstitutions (such as NGOs, credit unions, and cooperatives) and ruralbanks is also emerging to meet the special needs of the small andmicroenterprise sector, and many serve mainly women clients. By usinginnovative, character-based methods suited to small transactions, theseinstitutions can achieve much lower transaction costs and higher ratesof loan recovery than banks with large-scale clients (Aryeetey andothers 1994). Any strategy to expand financial services to women can build mosteffectively on informal and semiformal financial institutions, whichhave already been more responsive to women's financial needs. True, operations in these institutions tend to be highlypersonalized per��son��al��ize?tr.v. per��son��al��ized, per��son��al��iz��ing, per��son��al��iz��es1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner.2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. , and they often lack the resources to operate on a broaderscale, so the focus should be on improving their capacity to reach moremicroenterprises, especially those owned by women, and on helping themlearn effective practices from each other. The status of microfinance institutions remains ambiguous under theNonbank Financial Institutions Law. The semiformal and informalfinancial activities not explicitly covered under the law need to bereviewed further to develop a policy, legal, and regulatory frameworkthat balances the government's prudential requirements with theneed to encourage innovation in microfinance. Regulatory policies shouldinvite the development of demand-driven, client-responsive financialproducts and methods that target credit and savings services to theunderserved market niches dominated by women and microenterprises. IMPLEMENTING CHANGES IN MICROFINANCE Measures to make financial services more available to women can beincorporated in the general program for developing the financial sector.Especially important would be developing an appropriate policy andregulatory framework, building the capacity of microfinance institutionsto effectively serve microenterprises, and establishing links between,and networks of, financial service providers. Stable macroeconomic mac��ro��ec��o��nom��ics?n. (used with a sing. verb)The study of the overall aspects and workings of a national economy, such as income, output, and the interrelationship among diverse economic sectors. conditions are fundamental to a favorable fa��vor��a��ble?adj.1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds.2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis.3. environment for specialized spe��cial��ize?v. spe��cial��ized, spe��cial��iz��ing, spe��cial��iz��esv.intr.1. To pursue a special activity, occupation, or field of study.2. financial programs. With inflation high,people prefer to keep their resources in such nonfinancial forms asinventories or building materials Building materials used in the construction industry to create .These categories of materials and products are used by and construction project managers to specify the materials and methods used for . . This hinders effective intermediationby financial institutions and depresses the rate of return on capitalinvestments. Political and economic instability tends to depress de��pressv.1. To lower in spirits; deject.2. To cause to drop or sink; lower.3. To press down.4. To lessen the activity or force of something. demandfor investment finance. The government needs to consistently signal thatit is controlling macroeconomic conditions, shifting to a fiscalsurplus, and encouraging the development of the private sector. The status of microfinance institutions, which is not explicitlycovered in the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Law, needs to beclarified within the framework of Financial sector development. Effortsto work toward a microfinance policy are currently being supported underthe project. BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY Many organizations aim to serve women and the economicallydisadvantaged, but few have developed the capacity to reach largenumbers in a lasting and effective way. Capacity-building support isneeded to make existing programs more efficient and sustainable, broadentheir outreach Outreach is an effort by an organization or group to connect its ideas or practices to the efforts of other organizations, groups, specific audiences or the general public. , and provide incentives to design new programs. Optionsfor mechanisms to implement capacity-building assistance based onperformance criteria could be investigated as part of the review ofmicrofinance policy (Box 3.2). One approach could be to operate acentral fund to provide capacity-building grants or matching funds Noun 1. matching funds - funds that will be supplied in an amount matching the funds available from other sourcescash in hand, finances, funds, monetary resource, pecuniary resource - assets in the form of money according to established eligibility and performance criteria.Institutional training and support services could be contracted out.Box 3.2 Guidelines for Supporting Microfinance InstitutionsInstitution-building support to increase the capabilities andoutreach of microfinance providers should be based on ability andwillingness to incorporate sound microfinance practices. Thesepractices are described in guidelines developed by the Committee ofDonor Agencies for Small Enterprise Development (1995). Theseguidelines recommend that:1) Institutions should operate credit and savings services on acommercially sustainable basis to ensure continued, growingavailability to the economically disadvantaged.2) Institutions should determine whether there is a need toredesign their programs to accommodate gender-targeting mechanisms(for example, modifying collateral requirements so women canqualify; considering illiteracy in procedures and marketing;increasing the number of female officers), or removing fromexisting programs inadvertent barriers to women's participation(for example, sector-based eligibility restrictions that excludesectors in which women predominate; lending requirements that callfor a spouse's countersignature).3) Institutions should provide credit services efficiently, andprogressively work toward sustainable operations.This would bereflected in:* Services that respond to the preferences of poor entrepreneursand women.* Streamlined operating procedures.* A serious loan collection attitude based on the evidence that theeconomically disadvantaged and women clients are able to repaytheir loans.* Interest rates and fees high enough to cover costs.* Funds obtained not from grants and concessional loans but fromcommercial funding sources.4) Institutions that mobilize domestic resources should provideservices within clear prudential guidelines. Clients should beencouraged to save voluntarily. Institutions should be willing toadopt the following principles:* Give their clients liquidity by imposing few or no restrictionson access to their savings.* Eradicate clients' fears about the safety of depositing moneywith financial institutions by building confidence in theinstitution.* Offer more convenient locations and hours of operation.* Accept very small deposits and torn or worn bills.* Maintain the real value of deposits.Source: Committee of Donor Agencies for Small Enterprise Development1995. Quality financial services can be provided if donor-funded andgovernment-assisted programs are consistent with policies to encouragesustainability. This means discarding the notion that financialassistance to women entrepreneurs is a work of charity. (Complementarysafety net and skill development programs can be targeted to women whoare too impoverished im��pov��er��ished?adj.1. Reduced to poverty; poverty-stricken. See Synonyms at poor.2. Deprived of natural richness or strength; limited or depleted: to take on the burden of a loan.) Subsidized sub��si��dize?tr.v. sub��si��dized, sub��si��diz��ing, sub��si��diz��es1. To assist or support with a subsidy.2. To secure the assistance of by granting a subsidy. creditprograms tend to be unsustainable as funds become depleted de��plete?tr.v. de��plet��ed, de��plet��ing, de��pletesTo decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out.[Latin d , reinforcingthe notion that women and the poor cannot save money or repay theirloans. Policies to enhance sustainability--involving subsidies, interestrates, performance standards, benchmarks on outreach, accountability,and documentation--are described in guidelines guidelines,n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. developed by theCommittee of Donor Agencies for Small Enterprise Development. Institutions that have not demonstrated an ability to disburse dis��burse?tr.v. dis��bursed, dis��burs��ing, dis��burs��esTo pay out, as from a fund; expend. See Synonyms at spend.[Obsolete French desbourser, from Old French desborser funds efficiently, and above all to recover them, can easily beoverwhelmed o��ver��whelm?tr.v. o��ver��whelmed, o��ver��whelm��ing, o��ver��whelms1. To surge over and submerge; engulf: waves overwhelming the rocky shoreline.2. a. by credit. Such institutions should mobilize mo��bi��lizev.1. To make mobile or capable of movement.2. To restore the power of motion to a joint.3. To release into the body, as glycogen from the liver. local savingsas a basis for loans. Grants to start or build loan portfolios may bewarranted but introducing lines of credit prematurely needs to beavoided. The right incentives could encourage microfinance institutionsto obtain additional loan funds from formal financial institutions,which in the long run would strenghten their links with sources ofsupply. Assistance under existing programs can be reviewed and modified ifit does not already include initiatives and incentives supportive ofwomen. Under projects funded or sponsored by local agencies andinternational organizations there are opportunities for microfinanceorganizations, the government, and donors to coordinate their efforts tostrengthen and improve the outreach abilities of microfinanceinstitutions, to design and implement microfinance policies andprograms, and to make successful programs more sustainable. Two other Bank projects--the Non-Bank Financial InstitutionsProject and the Village Infrastructure Project--have components targetedat building institutional capacity for NGOs and microfinanceorganizations, establishing links between formal and informal financialservice providers, developing a microfinance strategy, creating apexinstitutions for rural banks, and developing pilot finance programs. A social fund that is being considered would include a microfinancecomponent. A participatory approach would be used to define workingguidelines for microfinance and to develop a common frameworkincorporating best practices and gender concerns in the development andimplementation of support programs. Linking Networks of Financial Service Providers Cooperative partnerships among organizations in the formal andinformal financial sectors--including financial and business serviceproviders and international donor agencies--extend outreach and increasethe probability that programs will successfully serve women, the ruralpoor, and other underserved markets. For example, a cooperativerelationship between the informal sector and NGOs in partnership withthe formal banking sector could improve the flow of information andfunds. NGOs and informal agents could introduce women to financialdiscipline and enable them to build favorable savings and creditrecords, reinvest re��in��vest?tr.v. re��in��vest��ed, re��in��vest��ing, re��in��vestsTo invest (capital or earnings) again, especially to invest (income from securities or funds) in additional shares. internal resources, and build their business skills.In Ghana the African Development Bank is operating such a scheme, whichbears watching. Banks could reduce their debt recovery costs by giving to NGOs orother informal sector organizations that work with women and smallclients incentives to monitor and collect loan repayments for the banks.If susu collectors had better links with banks they could expand theircredit operations to women traders, at the same time giving the banks agrowing source of deposits and an effective way to reach small clients. Microfinance institutions learn best practices from each other.Bringing local microfinance providers together in a network wouldfacilitate the exchange of experience, lessons learned, and programinformation among themselves and through interaction with internationalnetworks. This process has been initiated in Ghana with support from theWorld Bank's Action Research on Sustainable MicroFinanceInstitutions in Africa. Reasonable Interest Rates. No policy now in effect protects women(especially women farmers) from excessive interest rates on loans. TheNational Council on Women and Development or similar organizations couldnegotiate with banks and other institutions to secure loans at rateswomen can afford. Greater stability in interest rates is also important.Rates now fluctuate so much that they discourage borrowing or burdenwomen who are ill-equipped to absorb an unpredictable added cost. Legal Reform. Problems with contract enforcement and with laws andregulations governing ownership of land are an issue for legal reform.The Bank's Private Sector Development Project could provide anopportunity to update obsolete laws and to modify enforcement proceduresfor collateral and foreclosure foreclosureLegal proceeding by which a borrower's rights to a mortgaged property may be extinguished if the borrower fails to live up to the obligations agreed to in the loan contract. policies. This would reduce thetransaction costs for contract monitoring and enforcement, which havemade lending to women difficult. The range of acceptable collateralneeds to be expanded (within the legal infrastructure) so women andmicroentrepreneurs can gain better access to financial services. Substitutes for Collateral. Because women's access to financeis restricted by custom and land rights, the international aid anddevelopment community should support the emergence of alternativefinancial guarantees, such as blocked or limited-access depositaccounts, savings-backed loans, physical collateral other than land,liens on working assets The of this article or section may be compromised by "weasel words".You can help Wikipedia by removing weasel words. and receivables, and hire-purchase contracts onequipment--or other security instruments, such as mortgages on realproperty. Pilot projects and existing programs can be used to findworkable substitutes for fixed property as collateral. Other traditionalforms of collateral for smaller loans (for example, beads and jewelry jewelry,personal adornments worn for ornament or utility, to show rank or wealth, or to follow superstitious custom or fashion.The most universal forms of jewelry are the necklace, bracelet, ring, pin, and earring. )could be explored. STRENGTHENING WOMEN'S ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT In the short to medium term women are likely to benefit more from anational policy emphasis on making microenterprises more productive thanon trying to graduate women from microenterprises to largerscaleactivities, although helping them make such a transition could behelpful. PROVIDING TRAINING AND EDUCATION Scarce enterprise development and support services--includingtraining, technical assistance, and technology transfer--should probablybe reserved for growth-oriented small and medium-size enterprises thatwant those services and are willing to cover part of their costs. Tobroadly improve productivity in microenterprises economywide measuressuch as giving girls greater access to education and training may be amore effective way than broad-based business training courses. Raising girls' education level is central to improvingwomen's ability to succeed in business. One way to helpself-employed women become more productive is to teach basic businessand financial skills in education and literacy programs for women. Suchtraining programs would be more effective if they had women on theirstaff to promote and deliver services and used community networks andself-help groups accepted by women. Among other measures, instructorsneed to be sensitized sensitized/sen��si��tized/ (sen��si-tizd) rendered sensitive. sensitizedrendered sensitive.sensitized cellssee sensitization (2). to gender issues, entrepreneurs need basicleadership training, businesswomen should be encouraged and helped toserve as mentors for other women, and more female loan officers need tobe trained. Providing Business Support Services Grassroots management training could improve the business skills ofpoor, often illiterate ILLITERATE. This term is applied to one unacquainted with letters. 2. When an ignorant man, unable to read, signs a deed or agreement, or makes his mark instead of a signature, and he alleges, and can provide that it was falsely read to him, he is not bound by , women. The Economic Development Institute'spilot program in such training has shown some success in empoweringwomen, improving their ability to select viable projects, plan theirbusiness, and increase savings and profits. Ghana is being consideredfor the next phase of this program. It would be worthwhile to implementit and monitor the effect on women's business performance. Organizations such as EMPRETEC EMPRETEC Emprendedores and Tecnolog��a (Entrepreneurs and Technology), Aid to Artisans Aid to Artisans (ATA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Hartford, Connecticut whose mission is to offer "practical assistance to artisan groups worldwide, working in partnerships to foster artistic traditions, cultural vitality, improved livelihoods and community (Ghana), andTechnoServe are among the more successful organizations to provide(often on a cost-sharing system) such support services as access tobusiness training; raw material sources; production, processing, andpackaging technologies; and market information. Monitoring andevaluation can be used to measure cost-effectiveness, outreach, andsuccess in achieving stated objectives. Business associations can improve the flow of information andundertake joint marketing efforts. Support for such associations--forexample, through matching grant matching grantAcademia Non-peer-reviewed funding in which a commercial enterprise, foundation, or philanthropy, federal government, contributes a sum of money that 'matches' a financial contribution made by an institution, university or hospital. funds--can help the private businesscommunity better market its products and services. Associations canraise and enforce quality standards, provide training, and facilitatethe collection of taxes. Not until women's business and financial needs are thoroughlyunderstood can Ghana identify demand for services, determine activitiesto meet them, and design delivery mechanisms that respond towomen's needs. Any needs assessment should differentiate betweenthe nature, goals, and performance indicators for financial andnonfinancial services Nonfinancial servicesSuch things as freight, insurance, passenger services, and travel. for women. Support should also be appropriate to the level of the businessactivity. Community-based education programs can be a suitable optionfor subsistence subsistence,n the state of being supported or remaining alive with a minimum of essentials. activities. Women engaged more fully in microenterprisesthat are not very stable (and have limited growth potential) may be bestserved through groups that can provide support and channel assistance tothem. Growth-oriented small and medium-size enterprises (capable ofadjusting production techniques to expand into new product lines andmarkets) are most likely to benefit from programs for individualbusinesswomen especially when the programs are designed to complementgroup activities. The government could improve the climate for microentrepreneurs byconsistently recognizing how much informal activities contribute to thenational welfare and by discouraging dis��cour��age?tr.v. dis��cour��aged, dis��cour��ag��ing, dis��cour��ag��es1. To deprive of confidence, hope, or spirit.2. To hamper by discouraging; deter.3. local authorities from harassinginformal or "street" entrepreneurs. (One approach that hasworked elsewhere is to set up Pedestrian-Only walkways.) When conflictsarise between authorities and informal entrepreneurs the governmentshould encourage constructive dialogue. POLICY FOCUS Interventions to improve the contribution of women'sentrepreneurial activities to development need to be sustainable, toreach as many women as possible, and to have a measurable impact. Mostimportant is to offer services that beneficiaries want, enough to allowintermediaries increasingly to recover operational costs, so that theybecome less dependent on external subsidies. As much as possible, theyneed to reach a high proportion and growing number of women in a programsuitable for expansion and replication. Programs need to demonstratethat they improve enterprise stability, growth, or profits; householdincome or assets; or investment in children's education and health. Growth of demand for goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. of microenterprises isessential if supply-side interventions are to be effective. Demanddepends on income growth at the lower end of the scale. Women andmicroenterprises can better contribute to economic growth and povertyalleviation when the economy is stable, when they have access to adeveloped, competitive financial system, and when interest rates arereasonable. In Ghana women entrepreneurs must balance the benefits of engagingin business against the constraints affecting women. They must alsomeet--and be known to meet--the community's many expectations abouttheir social responsibilities as daughters, wives, and mothers. Tosupport women entrepreneurs and enable their full participation insustained economic growth, we recommend focusing on the following: * Expanding and deepening deep��en?tr. & intr.v. deep��ened, deep��en��ing, deep��ensTo make or become deep or deeper.Noun 1. deepening - a process of becoming deeper and more profound financial and other business supportservices for women. This will require new initiatives to encouragesavings, credit, access to qualified business professionals such asaccountants and financial advisers (for growing businesses), and thedevelopment of readily available training in cash management, marketing,inventory control, and related skills. * Providing short, specific briefing sessions on business subjectsimportant to women entrepreneurs. Such a program should include sessionson business basics--for example, explaining how the banks work and howto apply successfully for loans or propose an expansion that requiresextra capital. It could also include information on contract law,leasing and property regulations, local or regional variances, andhealth and hygiene regulations. * Exploring the possibility of reducing women entrepreneurs'domestic obligations. Constraints on women's time have been knownand deplored (or accepted without serious question) for many years. Formost women progress until now meant increasing production rather thanexpanding the size of the enterprise. Perhaps the potential is generallylimited to productivity gains, but it will be worthwhile to consider newalternatives as they emerge. More and better education should producefresh approaches. Edited by Shiyan ChaoTable 3.1 Distribution of Small and Medium-Size Enterprises by Genderof Owner and Number of Employeespercentage of sample by genderGender ofbusiness owner Less than 4 workers 4-9 workersFemale 46.7 40.0Male 38.8 29.9Gender ofbusiness owner 10 or more workers Total sampleFemale 13.3 100.0Male 31.4 100.0Source: Steel and Webster 1991