Coordinated institutional support services, tailored skills development, better data and finance with a gender lens can generate stable women exporters
Across Africa and the Caribbean, women entrepreneurs are the backbone of many local economies—but too often they are held back by complex regulations, high costs, and fragmented support. Three recent Investment Climate Reform (ICR) Facility projects—in the Dominican Republic, Kenya, and Tanzania— shed light on both the opportunities and persistent barriers that women face in international trade[i]. They find that women entrepreneurs are willing and able to try exporting but struggle to become “stable” exporters that turn this into a recurring and profitable business activity. Each study combined surveys of women and men entrepreneurs, in-depth interviews with exporters at different stages, and stakeholder consultations with chambers, associations, and government agencies. This provided both hard data and testimonials, to inform recommendations to promote women entrepreneurs in trade.
While the contexts differ, the findings converge: unlocking women’s potential is not only a matter of equity, but also a strategic component for economic growth. Here’s what we learned and where to focus next.
Kenya – High potential grounded by barriers
Kenya’s exports are dominated by agriculture, particularly tea, coffee, cut flowers, and fresh produce—sectors where women are heavily engaged. Yet, only 17% of surveyed businesses are exporting, though nearly all non-exporters wish to begin doing so. The most significant barriers include lack of certifications, regulatory hurdles and high export costs (up to 50% of sales for some firms). Women entrepreneurs also face structural disadvantages: lower land ownership, limited access to credit, and fewer opportunities to scale their businesses (Figure 1). Despite the presence of multiple government programs, their fragmentation and their weak monitoring reduce their impact.
Figure 1. Surveys indicate women are at least 70% more likely to at least sometimes face challenges compared to men.
Source: online survey of 116 firms and eight in-depth interviews in Kenya, where respondents identify key barriers for women compared to men.
Tanzania – Active participation trapped in low productivity
Tanzania has high female labor force participation (73%), but women are concentrated in low-productivity agriculture and informal cross-border trade. Although many women-led businesses would like to enter international markets, exports face long clearance times (12 days on average), there are very weak supply chain systems, underdeveloped logistics infrastructure and costly certifications (Figure 2). Women-owned enterprises are often small, undercapitalized, and lack the technical capacity to meet international standards. Very few firms report using the export promotion or standards agencies, underscoring the disconnect between existing programs and women’s needs.
Figure 2: Major logistical problems faced when exporting.
Source: Strategy to Promote Women-led Businesses in Exports in Tanzania: Challenges and Recommendations.
Dominican Republic – Strong economy but limited women’s share
Despite being one of Latin America’s fastest-growing economies, women-led businesses account for only 13.8% of firms and just 3.5% of total exports. Women exporters are often micro or small, with half of exports concentrated in three products: jewelry, soybean oil, and cacao. Exports tend to be sporadic, with most women-owned firms unable to sustain consistent international sales. Barriers include a very fragmented support ecosystem with over 32 initiatives and low coordination, lack of financing, limited networks, high fixed and compliance costs, and heavy cultural stereotypes.
Common Challenges Across Countries
Despite their different export structures, the three countries face some similar barriers:
- Finance & Assets: Women lack collateral, face higher borrowing costs, and have limited ownership of land and productive assets.
- Certification & Standards: Meeting international quality requirements is costly and complex, with little tailored support.
- Scale & Informality: Women-led businesses remain small and often informal, preventing them from accessing trade finance, large buyers, or global value chains.
- Time Poverty & Cultural Norms: Heavy care responsibilities and entrenched gender stereotypes restrict women’s ability to network, negotiate, or attend trade fairs.
- Weak Institutional Linkages: Existing export support programs are fragmented, poorly coordinated, and often invisible to women entrepreneurs.
Different geographies, similar challenges
Across the three projects, despite the different realities, we identified common needs that can inform reforms for countries seeking to expand women’s role in exports:
- Create Centralized Support Platforms – A single entry point, like the Dominican Republic’s proposed Ventanilla Única para Mujeres Exportadoras, would simplify access to export assistance. Kenya and Tanzania need stronger inter-agency coordination to avoid duplication.
- Subsidize and Support Certification – Governments and partners can subsidize costs, mentor women through compliance, and expand outreach. Certified products are more likely to be accepted abroad and fetch higher prices.
- Tailor Finance to Women Exporters – Credit guarantees, lower collateral requirements, and export-readiness-linked loans are needed. Linking finance to mentoring and market access programs boosts effectiveness.
- Invest in Export-Ready Training – Practical, flexible training on customs, logistics, marketing, and compliance is essential. To effectively support women, prioritize sector-specific, modular training that fits their schedules.
- Strengthen Women’s Networks and Mentorship – Initiatives like “Embajadoras de Exportación” in the Dominican Republic, women-only trade missions in Kenya, or stronger associations in Tanzania can provide market intelligence and role models.
- Simplify Procedures and Reduce Costs – Streamlining customs clearance, reducing paperwork, and digitizing processes help everyone and can have a major impact on women’s margins and available time.
- Improve Data and Monitoring – Collecting sex-disaggregated data on exporters and program beneficiaries is essential to track progress and ensure accountability.
- Cultural barriers – To break down structural and cultural barriers that limit access to business networks and female participation in business and foreign trade.
What Differs Across Countries
While challenges are similar, the potential solutions vary, based on the local environment:
- Kenya: Focus on coordination among multiple government agencies and reducing export transaction costs. The priority is to make existing systems more efficient and accessible to women.
- Tanzania: Focus on helping women transition from informal subsistence trade into formal markets first and then exporting. One way to do to push this agenda would be to strengthen underused institutions like TANTRADE and SIDO
- Dominican Republic: Focus on cultural change and visibility to tackle gender stereotypes, through campaigns, awards, and mentorship to normalize women’s presence in export markets.
Looking Ahead
The projects in Kenya, Tanzania, and the Dominican Republic make one thing clear: women’s participation in exports is both an untapped opportunity and a shared global challenge. Turning episodic traders into stable global exporters demands a blend of actions including digital innovation, tailored capacity building, and coordinated support. By streamlining support services, investing in tailored skills development, collecting better data and mobilizing finance with a gender lens, all countries can unlock the full economic and social dividends of women’s participation in the economy.
[i] This note is based on the following ICR Facility studies:
- Strategy to Promote Women-led Businesses in Exports in Kenya: Challenges and Recommendations, May 2025.
- Strategy to Promote Women-led Businesses in Exports in Tanzania: Challenges and Recommendations, September 2025.
- National strategy to strengthen women’s participation in Dominican Republic exports, March 2025.
The publication of this ICR Story was led by SNV. This was produced with the financial support of the European Union (EU), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the British Council.
The ICR Facility is implemented GIZ, the British Council, Expertise France, and SNV. The contents of the publication are the sole responsibility of the British Council and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EU, OACPS, BMZ or the other implementing partners.
