Dear colleagues,
In the context of developping projects promoting access to finance for women in business, we are yet to determine a common defitinition for women-owned enterprises.
In your work, what definition have you been using?
Thank you
Anne
Dear colleagues,
In the context of developping projects promoting access to finance for women in business, we are yet to determine a common defitinition for women-owned enterprises.
In your work, what definition have you been using?
Thank you
Anne
1 Comments
Anne,
Submitted by Linet MIRITI on Wed, 28/09/2016 - 13:17 Permalink
This is an interesting question. I don't have an answer but perhaps we need to come up with our own definition. I see two main criteria for a business to be considered women-owned:
1. An enterprise that is fully owned by a woman or women
2. An enterprise in which a woman or women have at least 51% stake
On the second issue above, i have come across places where the definition includes businesses where women have at least 30% stake. In my view this is too low a stake to claim ownership and in some cases this kind of ownership is not genuine.
In Kenya since the government introduced the affirmative action on public procurement, many businesses have gone ahead to incorporate a female director so that they can access the reserved tenders for women. This is clearly not a women- owned enterprise but rather using women to access business. Hence the reason i suggested that we need our own definition. It would be great to hear what others think