New Zealand, Canada, and the United States have the strongest conditions to support women entrepreneurs, according to the inaugural Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs.
The index uses 12 indicators and 25 sub-indicators to examine conditions in 54 economies across Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, North America, Latin America and Europe. These economies represent 78.6 percent of the world’s female labor force.
New Zealand ranked number one in the index with a score of 74.4, followed by Canada (72.4), the United States (69.9), Sweden (69,6) and Singapore (69.5). Rounding out the top 10 are Belgium (69.0), Australia (68.5), Philippines (68.4), the United Kingdom (67.9), and Thailand (67.5).
“The prevalence of ambitious, resourceful women should be regarded as a prime business opportunity. As society addresses existing cultural bias, we will do our part to help create those conditions that will strengthen and fuel the foundation for personal and economic growth,” Martina Hund-Mejean, chief financial officer at Mastercard, said.
Lower-income economies such as Uganda and Botswana had the highest percentage of women-owned businesses, driven mostly by necessity.
Women own 34.8 percent of businesses in Uganda, the highest percentage in the index. Botswana was second at 34.6 percent, followed by New Zealand at 33.3 percent, Russia at 32.6 percent, and Austria at 32.4 percent.
The remaining top 10 countries with the highest percentage of women-owned businesses included Bangladesh (31.6 percent), Vietnam (31.4 percent), China (30.9 percent), Spain (30.8 percent), and the United States (30.7 percent).
Countries with enabling conditions foster more Opportunity-Driven Entrepreneurs (driven by desire to progress) while countries with less conducive supporting conditions tend to breed more Necessity-Driven Entrepreneurs (driven by need to survive).
The low scores of markets such as India (41.7, 49th), Saudi Arabia (37.2, 52nd) and Egypt (34.0, 53rd) are indicative of the fact that cultural biases against women undermine their ability to rise to take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities.
To thrive, women entrepreneurs need access to financial services and products, ease of doing business, strong support for SMEs and quality governance, the index said.
The biggest obstacles that hinder women include lack of financial funding or venture capital, regulatory restrictions and institutional inefficiencies, lack of self-belief and entrepreneurial drive, fear of failure, socio-cultural restrictions, and lack of training and education.
“By increasing access to critical networks, our study shows that women are more able to recognize their full potential, achieve their goals and ultimately accelerate more inclusive growth. We have a fantastic opportunity to address cultural and organizational issues and further empower women leaders,” Ann Cairns, president of International Markets at Mastercard, said.