Female-Only SME Export Consortia
RCTReview
Female business owners in developing economies face acute professional isolation and lack commercial contacts, restricting their ability to navigate complex export markets independently.
Picture this
Imagine ten female artisans who each run small workshops and lack the capacity or contacts to sell overseas on their own. By forming a collective export group that pools marketing expenses and shares buyer contacts, they present a unified brand that attracts international wholesale orders.
What the evidence says
Establishing female-focused peer networks and export consortia expanded professional networks, increased information sharing, and facilitated collective trade access for women-led small enterprises.
- Who was studied
- Female entrepreneurs and small business owners in Ghana and Tunisia.
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluating female-only business network interventions and export consortia.
What to do
Form and subsidize female-only SME export consortia to enable women entrepreneurs to pool resources, share market information, and access international buyers.
From the source
"Female entrepreneurs are also more likely to lack business contacts-creating peer networks allowed them to expand business networks in Ghana and Tunisia."
Market Access: Connecting Firms and Entrepreneurs to Markets to Spur Business and Job Growth