Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa: - CAWTAR

Tunisia
“I expect the study to build grounds for future
projects and to touch upon promising areas for
young new businesswomen.” (Leila Khayat,
Chambre Nationale des Femmes Chefs
d’Entreprises)
“The collaboration between professionals and
researchers is expected to be beneficial given
the need for mutual knowledge sharing
mechanisms in this critical area, at a national
and regional level.”
(Ali Ben Yahia, Institut Supérieur de Gestion)
I. Introduction and Methodology
Worldwide, women business owners are
recognised and considered an important force in
the economy. This is also recognised in Tunisia,
where women contribute and participate not only
at the economic level, but also in the cultural,
educational, professional fields.
After a pre-test of the preliminary questionnaire
among 30 individuals, the final questionnaire
used in the study was adapted and validated.
The validated questionnaire was then
administered to a first sample of Tunisian
women business owners utilising face-to-face
interview methods administered by teams of
interviewers from the different regions of the
country. This method did not prove efficient
given the difficulty in obtaining interviews for
numerous reasons in particular the fact that
during the months of July and August the
Tunisian work day is shortened, September was
“back to school”, and coming on its heels was
the holy month of Ramadan, ending at the end
of October. To reach the objective of a sample of
200 completed questionnaires, the informal self
administered method was opted for and
questionnaires were distributed to the members
of the CNFCE (Chambre Nationale des Femmes
Chefs d’Entreprise) located in Tunis, Ariana,
Manouba, Ben Arous, Sousse, Le Kef, Gabes,
Sfax and Siliana. The final sample is composed
of 197 women business owners from the
different major cities of the principal regions of
Tunisia.
Executive Country Report : Tunisia
II. Findings
General information about the business
While the majority of respondents indicated that
they had owned their businesses for over 5 years,
over one-third (37.06%) of those responding
indicated that they have owned their businesses for
less than 5 years. This strong representation of
enterprises with less than 5 years of existence can
be explained by taking into consideration the
structure of the Tunisian population, which is
relatively young (63% of the respondents indicated
that they were less than 44-years old), as well as
the impact of Tunisian government programs,
financing schemes and encouragement for
entrepreneurs, in particular incentives for recent
graduates.
73.6% of respondents indicated that they had
started the business themselves; and over 55%
indicated that they held 100% ownership in the
enterprise. This important dynamic in the creation
and structure of women-owned enterprise can be
explained, in part, by the fact that Tunisian
women were emancipated over half a century
ago, granted their equal rights before the law, and
have the right to property, empowering them to
create their own businesses without having to do
it through or with the assistance of a male
member of the family.
In terms of other types of enterprise incorporation
and ownership structures, respondents indicated
that they are predominately family-owned
businesses, rather than publicly or privately owned
corporations (only 5.6% indicated that they had
non-related business partners). Respondents
indicated that their associates are for the most part
their spouse (18.7%), followed by their parents
(14.7%) , or other family members (9.1%).
Respondents indicated that they are active in
almost all sectors, with the exception of natural
resources. However, their enterprises predominate
in three principal sectors: 41% in services
(business and personal), 25% in non-durable
manufacturing (food, clothing, textiles) and 22%
in wholesale and/or retail trade.
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Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa:
Characteristics, Contributions and Challenges