In Algeria, women contribute to economic growth at different levels, but their role in entrepreneurship remains relatively weak. In recent years, many policies and programs show a willingness to change and improve the status of women: participation in various international forums to support the role of women, including the hosting of the Fourth Conference of the Arab Women Organization on entrepreneurship, the creation of a legislative and legal base and the development of institutional mechanisms and tools for implementation.

The Women in Business of Algeria (WIBA) association has therefore chosen, through the realization of a diagnosis, to analyze the development of women entrepreneurship in Setif, a very commercially active city. In this context, the diagnosis will examine which are the most important elements that contribute to the success of women entrepreneurs in Algeria, and what are the proposed solutions to activate their contribution to economic growth. The aim is to determine the obstacles that block the development of women-owned businesses, and identify adequate solutions to make them more efficient and productive, taking into account the social environment and the specificity of the business climate in Algeria. The Algerian Observatory for Women, an employers’ association, a media, two research centers, and an enterprise will be involved in the implementation of a diagnosis. These entities constitute the nucleus of the local cluster of gender equality actors© that will be mobilized by WIBA in the first semester of 2018.

Several activities are planned, such as a number of workshops that will mobilize investors, students, women artisans and women entrepreneurs, and the holding of a conference to present the conclusions of the diagnosis.

The WIBA association was selected following a call for applications launched by the Foundation in 2017 to mobilize the actors of gender equality at a local level (3rd edition) in 2018. The diagnosis on the development of women entrepreneurship in Setif will be published in the documentary center of the platform and widely disseminated at a Euro-Mediterranean level. WIBA’s action is part of the project "Strengthening the capacity of equality actors" funded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) and coordinated by the IEMed in synergy with the FFEM.

This action also falls under the framework of the project "Developing women’s empowerment", labelled by the Union for the Mediterranean.

For more information on the local clusters of gender equality actors set up by the Foundation, click here .