Nezam M.H.Tehrani

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Challenges facing women entrepreneurs in Nigeria
Daphne Halkias
Center for Family and Young Enterpise, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy

Women entrepreneurs in Nigeria 221

Chinedum Nwajiuba
Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria

Nicholas Harkiolakis
Metsovio Polytechnic of Athens, Athens, Greece, and

Sylva M. Caracatsanis
University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
Abstract
Purpose – This study seeks to examine the business and social profiles of 67 women entrepreneurs in three regions of Nigeria in order to identify patterns of entrepreneurship and social and economic challenges facing women business owners in Nigeria. The study aims to support and encourage sustainable small-scale economic development activities by Nigerian women and determine ways to integrate these small businesses into existing urban economic development projects and strategies for poverty alleviation, expand understanding of the business and social profiles of women entrepreneurs in Nigeria, examine the contextual influences on their work, raise the level of awareness of women entrepreneurs amongst all economically active agents and researchers, influence social and economic policy addressing issues of women entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was developed and administered to a sample of 62 practicing Nigerian female entrepreneurs. The survey was divided into sections that recorded personal demographics, the entrepreneur’s perceptions of the business environment and their venture and the motivations and drives that led to the birth of their business. Data were collected and processed to produce frequency distributions on every question/variable in the survey followed by cross-tabulations between all variables and x 2 tests in order to reveal strong associations. Findings – With no or few significant differences shown to exist between male and female business

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Daphne Halkias has held teaching and Department Chair posts at universities in the USA and Greece, as well as clinical and consulting positions at institutions including rehabilitation centers, schools, universities, hospitals, and at the US Embassy in Athens. Aside from her academic career, she is also CEO of Executive Coaching Consultants, an international business consulting firm with consultants based in Athens, New York city and Paris, France. Publications carry her name in research on entrepreneurship, immigration, executive coaching, women’s issues, organizational behavior, education and clinical psychology. Daphne Halkias has been an Invited Guest Speaker at the World Entrepreneurship Summit, the Oxford Conference on Business and Economics, the Global Conference on Business and Economics at Harvard University, and at The Yale Eating Disorders Clinic at Yale University, The Copenhagen Business School, INSEAD, University of Paris Diderot, and The Hellenic Naval Academy. She has also edited two books on recent trends in business and technology and is presently working on one book of cross-national case studies on female immigrant entrepreneurship and another on father-daughter succession issues in family business. Chinedum Nwajiuba holds a B.Agric. (1986) and MSc (1989) in Agricultural Economics (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria), and a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Hohenheim, Germany (1994). He also holds an MSc in Development Economics from Nigeria’s Imo State University Owerri (2007). A Professor of agricultural economics since 2004, Chinedum Nwajiuba has been involved with teaching and research in diverse areas including the agricultural, transport, mining, and industrial sectors, as well as socio-economic impact studies. He has been involved in project cycle management, headed the Imo state government Food Basket Programme, worked on consultancy teams for the Local Economic Empowerment Programme sponsored by the European Community, as well as evaluation of projects by the UK Department for International Development evaluating rural and local government projects in Enugu State, Nigeria. He is presently involved with the World Bank sponsored assessment of Fadama 11 Agricultural/Poverty Alleviation projects in Imo State as an Advisory services consultant, and is currently editor of the Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences (www.imsu-jafs.com), Associate Dean and Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension. In the HAU Female Immigration Entrepreneurship Project, Chinedum Nwajiuba serves as an External Consultant on migration issues related to Africa and the African Diaspora. Nicholas Harkiolakis holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Athens and has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Physics and Aerodynamics. In the past, he has served as an Associate Professor and Chair of the Computer Science Department of the University of La Verne California, Athens Campus, where he developed and chaired graduate and undergraduate programs in Computer Science, Information Technology, and E-business areas. At present, he is Professor of Information Technology, Chair of the Master’s in Information Technology, and Director of Research at the Hellenic American University in Athens, Greece. In this capacity, Nicholas Harkiolakis has also developed undergraduate and graduate IT programs. Professionally, he has 25 years of experience in development and implementation of business information systems and he continues to consult in that area. His research interests extend to the areas of business information systems, optimization, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, and simulation and modeling. Sylva M. Caracatsanis graduated in 1997 from the University of La Verne California, Athens Campus, with a BSc in Psychology. Professional activities have since focused on writing and editing in publications spanning the international medical, business, and finance sectors. Other recent professional experience includes management level positions held at Starbucks International Coffee Company where, among other operational functions, she was responsible for retail management training and class administration, market-specific development of training manuals and business and operational excellence tracking tools, and in charge of district recruitment and hiring. She also held the position of Starbucks Project Director for the 2004 Olympic Games and saw to fruition the implementation of a company-wide Crisis Response Plan for the Greek market. Sylva M. Caracatsanis is currently affiliated with the American Hellenic University in Athens, Greece, where she is a Research Associate working on local, regional, and global research studies in the International Business area. Sylva M. Caracatsanis is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [e-mail] Women entrepreneurs in Nigeria 235 To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [e-mail] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints