15% of businesses in Morocco are run by women, a figure which has remained stable since 2020, indicated a 2022-2023 report from the Moroccan Observatory of Very Small and Medium Enterprises (OMTPME).
Africa has a female entrepreneurship rate of 24% of women engaged in entrepreneurial activities, while in sub-Saharan Africa, this rate even reaches 25.9%, meaning that one in four women is an entrepreneur.
In this sense, the Executive Director of OMTPME, Amal Idrissi, highlighted persistent inequalities during a press briefing in Casablanca, particularly in terms of access to bank credit.
In 2023, only 14.6% of businesses run by women benefited from bank financing, representing barely 11.3% of total outstanding loans.
The report also highlights regional disparities: women run 17.6% of businesses in the Marrakech-Safi region, 16.6% in Rabat-Salé-Kenitra and 15.6% in Casablanca-Settat, while areas like Béni Mellal-Khénifra and Oriental have lower rates, close to 10%.
Despite these challenges, female entrepreneurship is particularly active in certain sectors, such as health (40%), services (30%) and education (30%).
On the other hand, the construction, transport and extractive industries sectors remain dominated by men, with rates below 10%.
SL/SF/ac/APA
Business
