Oman: Women face scorn after taking over family shops

Saleh al Shaibany, Foreign Correspondent

BAHLA, OMAN // As a young woman who owns and runs a grocery store, Salwa al Habsi is something of a rarity in conservative, rural Oman. But as growing numbers of men flock to the cities in pursuit of better jobs, businesswomen like Ms al Habsi may not be so rare for much longer.

The shop she now owns, in the deeply conservative town of Bahla in the Interior Region, about 250km from the capital Muscat, was originally owned by her father but was closed after he died a year ago. Ms al Habsi’s three brothers initially refused to let her run the store, but her mother, supporting her daughter’s bid to run the shop, gave Ms al Habsi her gold, which she sold to raise funds to buy out her siblings’ shares of the business.

“If it is all right for women to run a business in Muscat, why are men raising their eyebrows in the regions?” said Ms al Habsi, 24. “It is certainly not against Islam and I have the full blessing of the government since authorities have granted me a business licence required to buy my father’s shop.”

Many family-owned stores such as Ms al Habsi’s in rural Oman are closed down when their owners die because male descendants are reluctant to run inherited businesses and many prefer to move to Muscat to find better paid jobs.

Ms al Habsi is the only woman in Bahla to run a shop, a profession that is taboo for a woman in the culture of any provincial town in Oman, and she is the target of constant ridicule from relatives and friends.

In rural Oman’s patriarchal culture, it is regarded as breaking with tradition for a woman to run a business. Traditionalists say women like her are driven by money, putting greed ahead of culture and heritage.

“The desire for money put them at risk of being shunned away from the community by going against traditions,” said Malik Saleh, a Bahla-based historian and poet. “That means these women may not find marriage suitors since they are seen as immoral.”

But Ms al Habsi said she took on the business to keep her family heritage alive, rather than seek a fortune, and pointed out that her brothers were not interested in managing the store.

“This business was started by my great-grandfather and I am not going to allow it to be taken over by strangers or simply shut down,” she said of the store, which sells many goods, from food and incense burners to kitchenware. “If my brothers care for traditions, why are they not interested in running the store?”

Some young women in other towns said survival now took precedence over preserving male-dominated traditions. “I dropped out of school. This is the only thing I can do,” said Asila al Jabri, 36, who owns and runs a women’s clothing shop in a much smaller town in Ibri, in the Eastern Region.

“The death of my father gave me the opportunity of earning a living. Had I listened to male chauvinism, that women should not openly compete with men in business, then my family would have starved.”

Mrs al Jabri has four children and a wheelchair-bound husband who is unable to work, making her the sole breadwinner of the family. But that does not spare her from scorn and sarcastic comments.

Statistics from the ministry of commerce show that less than one per cent of just over 54,000 small retail businesses outside of Muscat are now owned and run exclusively by women, up from zero per cent five years ago.

“Credit to them, these young women make a success out of the trades left by their fathers and they are also breaking the tradition by being the breadwinners of the families,” said Nader al Balushi, a Muscat resident who was on a visit to Bahla.

Women’s rights activists have called for more women in rural areas to start up their own businesses. Women wishing to do business in the regions should refuse to be pushed down by men writing their own social rules,” said Mahbooba al Hadhrami, a committee member of the Oman Women Association.

“The few women running their own trades in these towns are pioneers for better things to come.”

Qatar: Businesswomen forum to host leadership meet

The Qatar Businesswomen Forum (QBWF) will host the ‘semi-annual leadership meeting’ of MENA Businesswomen’s Network (MENA BWN) in Doha from June 16 to 18.
The network is a partnership of local businesswomen’s organisations across the Middle East and North Africa, Vital Voices Global Partnership and the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the US Department of State.
The goal of the partnership is to build a regional network of businesswomen to expand the number of women in business, to increase the value of their businesses, to advance the role of women in society, and to promote a regional culture of women’s entrepreneurship.
Aisha Alfardan, QBWF vice -chairperson, said, “We are pleased to host the leadership meeting in Qatar. It will be an excellent opportunity for the new members to learn more about the network, and meet in person with businesswomen from other countries to share the expertise and exchange information.”

Jordan: Conference opens to support women’s entrepreneurship in the Arab region

Jordan Times
By Omar Obeidat

AMMAN - Over 130 female entrepreneurs from Jordan and 15 other Arab and foreign countries have come together to identify strategies and approaches to boost their businesses’ potential.

Launched in Amman on Monday, the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development (WED) Conference also seeks to increase women’s participation in the labour force and discuss the challenges hindering women’s empowerment.

During the three-day event, female entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to meet with investors interested in funding women’s projects, as well as organisations that support the development of women-owned businesses in the region.

WED, the first of its kind in the Arab region, is organised by the Business Development Centre (BDC) and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation (ITC-ILO).

BDC President and Chief Executive Officer Nayef Stetieh said the conference brings experts and entrepreneurs dedicated to female entrepreneurship from around the world to develop the support services available to women.

“Despite social challenges, female entrepreneurs in Jordan and the region can be a real source for economic growth,” he added.

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) Suhair Al-Ali said in her inauguration speech that Arab women still face several challenges that stand between them and their aspirations.

“There are stereotypes that women do not have the capacity and capability to compete with men in the business field,” she noted, adding that women can be key contributors to economic development in the Arab region.

Women also have difficulties in finding financial resources, which force many female investors and businesswomen to establish only small- and medium-sized projects that can be funded with small loans, Al-Ali said.

She pointed to a study conducted by the World Bank in 2008 which indicated that 85 per cent of women-owned companies in the region are in the industrial sector while the other 15 per cent are in the services sector.

Basma Khlouf, from the northern Mazar Municipality, said that women in the area encounter difficulties in funding their projects due to strict financing rules.

Her main goal in participating in the event, she said, was to find small projects to support women in her “poor area” so they could contribute in improving their families’ living standards.

On the other hand, Iman Majali said that she was able to get a loan 10 years ago to open a private education centre for people with disabilities.

“I started with two employees and now the centre has 23 staff members,” said Majali, who came to the conference to find ways to improve her business’ administration.

The conference targets international development agencies, banks, microfinance institutions and investors interested in funding female-owned projects, in addition to creating partnerships and networking among female entrepreneurs.

“The conference aims to stimulate knowledge and experience sharing among main actors in promoting women’s entrepreneurship development in the region,” ITC-ILO representative Kholoud Khaldi said.

WED is supported by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development , MoPIC, Jordan Enterprise, The National Fund for Enterprise Support, Durham University, the USAID-funded Tatweer Project and Business and Professional Women-Amman.

Oman: Omani Women En Route to Economic Independence

MEPI

In Oman, small businesses are considered a critical factor for economic growth and recovery. Assisting women in attaining professional entrepreneurial skills to maximize small business potential is a driving force for many countries economic growth. Supported by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) local grants program, Dar Al Atta, a leading charitable organization in Oman, started a program to encourage small and medium business ownership for economically disadvantaged women from different regions in Oman. To improve and enhance the economic climate for women’s entrepreneurship, Dar Al Atta conducted training for 65 women from low income families throughout the country in January and February 2009. Participants learned how to launch a business, achieve professional success and climb the entrepreneurship ladder.

Further training sessions taught participants how to develop a business idea, organize a business program, estimate start-up funding, and develop a business plan, as well as information and communication technology and E-Commerce skills. The women also acquired leadership and management skills that will support them in their outreach to funding agencies in Oman and in their successful small business operations. Six key-note speakers from the Omani Ministry of Social Development and Ministry of Manpower and a successful women entrepreneur communicated their experience and provided insights on utilizing tools for business progress. As part of the MEPI-sponsored project, a web portal is also being developed to provide business development resources, information on local incubators and government supported-programs, and a network of local entrepreneurs. The portal will serve as a medium for women business owners to share collective wisdom.

Through MEPI grantee Dar Al Atta’s efforts, Omani women will be energized to invest in themselves, boost their living standards, and realize their goals to be economically independent. Next project steps will include: offering further training for women in other regions, finalizing a small and medium business instructional toolkit, and launching the entrepreneurship web portal so that more women will be able to achieve professional success.

This MEPI local grant project was covered recently in Oman’s local press, including the Times of Oman and Al Osra.