AWCCI Magazines Afghan Women in Business (Issue 2) | Page 36

Let’s talk some substantial!
Internal Factors Affecting
Growth of Women-Owned
Businesses in
If Barriers to economic participation of women
Afghanistan
by Manizha Wafeq
In 2009, some of the international and na-
tional organizations such as Afghanistan
Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), World
Bank and United Nations agencies realized
that there is no information about the state
of the women-owned business in Afghan-
istan, since then, a number of studies have
been conducted by the AREU, the World
Bank and the Afghan government, focused
on the barriers external to the businesses
like infrastructure, access to markets and
access to finance. AREU’s continues series
of case studies in a various provinces on
how Microfinance helped women business
owners to grow and mapping information
on women’s economic empowerment in Af-
ghanistan are good sources of information
as baseline for future studies.
Many women who accepted risk starting
their businesses in existence of a number
of challenges including major social and
cultural barriers; many of them remained in
the same level for many years and couldn’t
grow their businesses much. Their growth is
of high importance for themselves and the
country’s economy as they have played an
important role investing and creating jobs.
A large number of women owned business-
es have sustained their businesses for many
years with the hope to grow but there are
challenges they face and lag behind.
There is a dire need to help them continue
sustaining and growing their business in order
to increase local industries and job creation.
are eliminated, labor participation/productivity
can increase up to 25% in some countries (World
Bank, Gender Report, 2012)
This study collected and analysed data from a
sample of randomly selected 248 women-owned
businesses based on geography and size cov-
ering their internal factors such as business
internal operation systems and procedures,
employees capacity, and the owners’ skills and
knowledge. Data was collected from the five
major cities: Kabul, Balkh, Herat, Kandahar and
Jelalabad. The study found that more than 90%
of women business owners are educated but
only up to high school. About 50% of them are
familiar with English and the computer as im-
portant tools to today’s business world. Less
than 50% has proper operating system and are
familiar with quality control issues and financial
management systems. About more 50% do not
have business plans or marketing plans, and al-
most everything done by the business owner
herself. Women-owned businesses have lagged
behind due not only to external factors such as
socio-cultural, infrastructure, legal, access to fi-
nance, and access to markets, but also to their
weak internal systems. As a result of the study
the following recommendations are provided
and in order to read the full study please visit
www.awcci.af/publication
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