Women in Business 2014
Accelerating Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa Region
Women in Business 2014 summarises the progress made by the OECD-MENA Women Business
Forum (WBF) since the publication of its first Women in Business report in 2012. In
2012, five groups of actions had been identified as priorities to be carried out by
governments, international stakeholders, financial and business support organisations,
as well as statistical agencies. In two years, the WBF has developed inputs for three
of these areas of priority actions. The WBF’s contributions are growing along with
its increased recognition as a hub which spurs concrete improvements in the business
climate for women entrepreneurs in the MENA region.
Today, women’s entrepreneurship is all the more important as governments in the region
are facing the colossal challenge of rebooting job creation to improve the well-being
of a growing workforce and confidence in the economy. The economic prospects of MENA
economies that are going through a political transition have improved but unemployment
has increased, inflation is rising and public finances have deteriorated. In these
countries, political uncertainties add to long term structural difficulties. In the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the challenges still lie in the diversification
of their economies.
Published on October 20, 2014Also available in: French