## Breaking barriers: Women entrepreneurs are changing the dynamics of the Arab workplace

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**Canonical URL:** [Breaking barriers: Women entrepreneurs are changing the dynamics of the Arab workplace](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2023/september/seidman.pdf)

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### Overview
- Women in the Arab world are increasingly taking entrepreneurial roles in business and technology, shifting traditional gender expectations and influencing innovation and inclusion.
- Labor force participation for women in the Middle East and North Africa is 19 percent compared with the global average of nearly 50 percent.
- Progress is uneven and constrained by social norms, conflict, resource limitations, and institutional barriers.

### Yemen — Brewing opportunities in coffee
- Profile: Arzaq Al-najjar, 34, founder of Mocha Valley in Sana'a, a coffee-production and business consultancy focused on research, training, and development across the coffee value chain.
- Historical and market context:
  - Coffee’s historical ties to Yemen: nearly 600 years since Ethiopian beans were first roasted and brewed in Yemen’s Sufi shrines; Mocha port as a historic coffee crossroads.
  - By 2021, coffee exports topped $36 billion globally; today Yemen exports less than 1 percent of the world’s coffee.
- Development challenges and opportunities:
  - Aim: develop and expand Yemen’s coffee value chain to reach global markets and support development.
  - Yemen ranked 183rd of 191 countries on the UN’s Human Development Index in 2021.
  - Humanitarian and economic context: approximately 22.5 million people, or about 75 percent of the entire population, require humanitarian assistance, with over 4.3 million civilians displaced (World Bank). The IMF estimates Yemen’s GDP will fall by 0.5 percent in 2023 and that inflation will run at 17 percent.
  - Local constraints: qat cultivation competes with coffee for land and scarce water resources; qat-centric business customs (e.g., contracts negotiated during male-only qat sessions) limit women’s participation in deal-making.
  - Interventions: providing knowledge and free training to coffee workers to raise quality standards; cultivating young female leaders in the coffee sector via Mocha Valley.
- Time horizon: Mocha Valley launched five years ago.

### Egypt — Expanding financial inclusion via fintech
- Profile: Fatma El Shenawy, cofounder of Khazna (founded in 2019), a fintech platform serving underbanked and unbanked populations with digital access to income-backed multipurpose credit lines, cash advances, bill payment, merchant purchases, and medical insurance.
- Market and reach:
  - Egypt: 67 percent of the population have no access to formal banking services (Global Finance magazine).
  - Mobile phones are in more than 90 percent of Egyptian households.
  - World Bank estimate: about 1.7 billion people around the world are currently unbanked.
  - Khazna partnerships: works with businesses that employ 1.5 million people and with Egypt Post to serve 5 million pension customers.
  - Company scale and funding: more than 350 employees; raised $38 million in equity and debt last March, bringing total funding to more than $47 million.
  - Expansion intent: targeting Saudi Arabia due to perceived regulatory openness and digitally connected population.
- Gender and labor context in Egypt:
  - Labor participation: 15.4 percent for women, compared with 67 percent for men.
  - Social barriers: women entrepreneurs often receive less community support than male peers; mentorship and supportive peers matter for career and entrepreneurial success.

### West Bank and Gaza — Motivating tech and AI entrepreneurship
- Profile: Mona Demaidi, assistant professor at An-Najah National University and managing director of Girls in Tech—Palestine, focused on upskilling youth and females in technology through mentorship, boot camps, free courses, private sector exchanges, and job-board access.
- AI and tech education gaps:
  - Female employment in AI lags the sector’s 20 percent average.
  - Only 9 percent of universities in the West Bank and Gaza offer programs in artificial intelligence, and none higher than a master’s degree.
  - Between 2016 and 2021, the Palestinian territories graduated just 28 students who specialized in AI.
  - AI start-ups in the West Bank and Gaza constitute less than 1 percent of start-ups, and none are founded by women.
- Ecosystem growth and mentorship impact:
  - A broader start-up ecosystem (mostly tech and e-commerce) is emerging; each year, 19 more start-ups are created than in the previous year, resulting in a 34 percent compounded growth rate in start-up creation since 2009 (World Bank).
  - Mentorship: nearly 40 percent of start-up founders have been mentored; mentoring transfers know-how and helps entrepreneurs acquire business acumen, understand unspoken rules, and access talent, knowledge, and resources.
- Labor force context: female participation rate in the workforce in the West Bank and Gaza is less than 19 percent.

### Key statistics and figures (verbatim)
- Women’s labor force participation in the Middle East and North Africa: 19 percent.
- Global average labor force participation: nearly 50 percent.
- Yemen: exports less than 1 percent of the world’s coffee.
- Coffee exports globally (2021): $36 billion.
- Yemen Human Development Index ranking (2021): 183rd of 191 countries.
- Humanitarian needs in Yemen: approximately 22.5 million people (about 75 percent of the population) require humanitarian assistance; over 4.3 million civilians displaced.
- IMF estimate: Yemen’s GDP will fall by 0.5 percent in 2023; inflation will run at 17 percent.
- Mocha Valley founded: five years ago.
- Egypt unbanked: 67 percent of the population (Global Finance magazine).
- Mobile phone penetration in Egypt: more than 90 percent of households.
- World Bank estimate of unbanked globally: about 1.7 billion people.
- Khazna partnerships: businesses that employ 1.5 million people; Egypt Post serves 5 million pension customers.
- Khazna scale and funding: more than 350 employees; raised $38 million in equity and debt last March; total funding more than $47 million.
- Egypt labor participation: 15.4 percent for women; 67 percent for men.
- AI sector female employment benchmark: 20 percent average for the full sector.
- West Bank and Gaza universities offering AI programs: 9 percent.
- Palestinian AI graduates (2016–2021): 28 students.
- AI start-ups in West Bank and Gaza: less than 1 percent (and none founded by women).
- Start-up creation growth in West Bank: 19 more start-ups created each year than in the previous year, resulting in a 34 percent compounded growth rate since 2009.
- Mentored founders in West Bank and Gaza: nearly 40 percent.
- Female workforce participation in West Bank and Gaza: less than 19 percent.

### Policy implications and recommendations emphasized in the text
- Strengthen value chains and industry standards to enable producers (e.g., Yemeni coffee farmers and traders) to reach global markets and support national development.
- Provide training and free knowledge transfer to upskill workers and improve product quality.
- Cultivate female leadership through mentorship, role models, and targeted training programs to boost entrepreneurship and sectoral participation.
- Expand digital financial services and leverage mobile penetration to increase financial inclusion for unbanked and underbanked populations.
- Foster regulatory environments open to innovation to allow fintech and start-ups to scale and expand regionally.
- Develop AI and tech education programs (including graduate-level offerings) to build capacity and prevent the region from falling behind in strategically important technologies.
- Use mentorship and boot camps as accelerants for start-up creation and for transferring business acumen and networks to new founders, particularly women.

*Source: SEPTEMBER 2023 F&D — “Breaking Barriers” by Gary A. Seidman*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2023/september/seidman.pdf_