FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN MICRO ...

They also pointed out that since there have not been any organized policy and support
systems that women entrepreneurs in MSEs have been confronted by the various
problems which are of policy, structural and institutional in nature, lack of smooth supply
of raw materials and working premises were the major bottlenecks for women
entrepreneurs in MSEs. On the other hand negative attitude of the public to the
importance of the sector due to cultural influence is another constraint to the development
of MSEs, due to these reasons, training services to SMEs is fairly young and weak. Only
insufficient formal counseling, information and training services are given and they are
often given freely and are not demand driven and lack of knowhow on adequate skills &
experience.
A similar study by Walelign and Wondimu (2002) shows that women entrepreneurs in
MSEs in Amhara region are constrained by lack of market; lack of finance /Capital/;
problems related to government rules & regulations; lack of information and advice; lack
of sufficient training; lack of Premises / working Place; shortage of the supply of raw
materials; cultural influence and lack of infrastructure facilities.
2.2 Women entrepreneurs in MSEs and TVET
MSEs play a vital role in poverty reduction, employment generation as well as economic
development in poor countries like Ethiopia. The Ethiopian micro & small enterprise
sector has a wide range of operators: petty traders to small restaurant owners; a shoeshine
boy to a small shoe factory owner; a peddler in the streets to a grocery business operator,
etc. But to bring it to the modern arena, much is expected from TVET institutions in that
they are the main suppliers of qualified labour force both male and women. In support of
this, to bring effectiveness in the MSEs sector by integrating them with TVET
Ratchusanti (2008) identified the following.
• Strengthening Partnership with the private and government organizations
Supporting TVET projects.
• Existing the effective TVET Projects of fostering entrepreneurship or self-
employment of TVET students and the people.
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