Tomorrow"s promise : female entrepreneurs in Egypt

This study examines how USAID"s Small and Micro Enterprise (SME) Project has served female entrepreneurs in its target areas of Alexandria, Cairo, and Port Said. An introductory chapter provides background information on female entrepreneurs, the pros and cons of women-only versus integrated programs as means of reaching them, and the possibly negative effects of such efforts. Chapter 2 presents a conceptual model of the female entrepreneur, along with a general and a business profile of the female entrepreneur in Egypt. Chapter 3, focusing on the needs of the female entrepreneur, summarizes the SME Project"s approach of reaching women through its intermediary NGOs or foundations and summarizes findings of interviews with over 125 female business owners about their relationship with their respective foundation. Chapter 4 highlights the project"s limitations in reaching female entrepreneurs in its three target areas; currently, the SME project supports less than 1,000 female-owned and -operated businesses. The chapter includes a series of recommendations for expanding the SME project"s outreach to female entrepreneurs through improved strategic planning, training, lending policies, outreach, and use of gender disaggregated data. Includes references.