Women in Ethiopia: Creating value through entrepreneurship

Despite constraints women entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan countries face, they create value for themselves, their family well-being and societal welfare through their entrepreneurial activities. Development economists acknowledge that this value creation through enterprising has a positive impact on development indicators that go beyond economic growth, in particular for women entrepreneurs. Building on this notion, we explored the value that women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia create for their sense of self through their entrepreneurial activity within a constrained socio-economic environment. The narrative accounts of three women entrepreneurs in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, highlight the challenges and opportunities women encounter as well as the values they create. Specifically, the study gives an insight into how the women’s entrepreneurial activities help in building capability to exercise agency, self-confidence, decision-making autonomy, wellbeing and personal growth and learning. Formal and informal support may strengthen the resilience of women entrepreneurs among which investing in education of girls and improving accessibility to financial loans. Furthermore, initiatives aimed at nominating, navigating and changing constraining gender roles both for women and men may facilitate change and enhance social value creation.