Fostering Women Entrepreneurship in the Digital Economy

The rapid spread of digital technologies is creating new opportunities for growth and development, especially in developing countries. Yet, the benefits of digitalization are not automatic and women, across regions and continents, still face multiple obstacles to succeed in the digital economy. Factors that hold women back are multi-dimensional. They relate to gender bias, lower participation in decision-making processes, limited digital skills, lack of trust, and unequal access to funding, among others. If left unaddressed, gender divides will continue to widen. Recent data show that the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030 - which is one of the targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda. This year’s tracker on Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) on gender equality, reveals a concerning regression in women’s economic empowerment. But this is by no means a lost cause.