GROWTH DETERMINANTS OF WOMEN-OPERATED MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES IN ADDIS ABABA

The role of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in employment and income generation is increasingly recognized for the unemployed people, especially for women, and has become a major playing field for policymakers and donors with dual objectives of enhancing growth and alleviating poverty. MSEs are particularly important for women since they offer a more flexible, less restrictive form of employment and can be undertaken by the skill they acquire. This study investigates the constraints and key determinants of growth, particularly in employment expansion, among women’s-enterprise, based on the survey-covering 123 businesses units in four Kebeles of Nifas Silk-Lafto and Kirkos sub cities of Addis Ababa. The finding shows that marketing problems, due to the presence of competitors with identical products, change in demand and absence of market linkages are the basic constraints to the growth of women operated enterprises. Lack of enough working space, raw material accessibility, shortage of working capital, and lack of availability of enough loan access are the subsequent growth barriers for women’s enterprises.