The commonly held perception is that businesses owned by women in the Middle East and North Africa are small and informal, that they're less sophisticated, and that they're huddled in low-value-added sectors. In fact, as The Environment for Women's Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa shows, there is very little difference between mail- and female-owned firms. Female-owned firms in the region are as well-established, productive, technologically savvy, and connected to global markets as male-owned firms. Although there are many similar characteristics and performance levels between male- and female-owned firms in the region, the book notes that women's entrepreneurship isn't reaching its potential, despite an investment climate that is much less gendered than suspected. With a significant increase in women's education level-in 11 out of 18 countries in the region women outnumber men in universities-and the strong economic rights women have in Islam, women's entrepreneurship can become a far greater engine for growth and diversification than expected in the past. This potential needs to be exploited vigorously. Reforming the investment climate to benefit all players is one important action. The second would be to remove or mitigate hurdles to their economic and social empowerment.

This contributed volume explores and reveals the dynamics, strengths and weaknesses, trends and implications of entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Presenting papers by respected experts in the field, it shares essential insights on the status quo of entrepreneurship and the opportunities and threats it faces in the MENA region. Topics range from development of entrepreneurial universities to international entrepreneurship, as well as emergent topics such as green entrepreneurship, sustainable entrepreneurship and youth entrepreneurship.

In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and in light of socio-economic and geopolitical challenges facing governments old and new, women's rights and empowerment have gained new urgency and relevance. Groups in power, or groups contesting for power, are more conservative than expected, and there are serious threats to roll back some of the gains women had achieved over the past 20-30 years on economic and social fronts.The global gender debate has neglected the economic dimension of women's empowerment and a great deal of debate and interest among researchers is needed to push the topics further. This timely book brings together leading regional researchers to offer original research linking gender equality with economic policy, reinforcing the agenda from a broad-based perspective.

This book provides scientific evidence, both theoretically and empirically, on the understudied field of women entrepreneurs across North Africa. It provides insights on the domain of women entrepreneurship, undertaking critical assessment of overall historical frameworks, ecosystems and future perspectives of the region.Women entrepreneurship is among the most important and unexploited sources of economic growth in the developing world. Yet, despite much progress in socioeconomic aspects such as health, life expectancy and education, the gender economic gap remains unchanged. More needs to be done to understand the underlying forces and factors in the region to challenge the current status quo.