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8 Hindrances Keeping Women-Owned Businesses from Scaling

8 Hindrances Keeping Women-Owned Businesses from Scaling

By Blossom Ukoha A woman can build a profitable business, attract loyal customers and create jobs, yet still struggle to take that business to the next level. The challenge is often not a lack of ambition. It is a combination of financial, structural, social and institutional barriers that make scaling harder. From Lagos to London, Nairobi to New York, women entrepreneurs are building businesses across industries. Yet the International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises in developing markets face a financing gap of roughly $1.5 trillion. Scaling requires more than starting capital. It requires access to markets, networks, technology, skills, assets and systems that allow a business to move from survival to sustained growth. Here are eight major hindrances. 1. Limited Access to Finance Capital is one of the most persistent barriers. According to the IFC, women-owned businesses face an estimated $1.4–$1.7 trillion credit gap. Women often…

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Home & Decor

The Home as Her Power Base: Creating Spaces That Support the Woman You Are Becoming

The Home as Her Power Base: Creating Spaces That Support the Woman You Are Becoming

By Janet Coin At the end of a demanding day, a woman walks through her front door, drops her bag and exhales. Work can wait. Emails can wait. For a moment, nobody needs anything from her. But then she looks around. The clutter reminds her of unfinished tasks. Her workspace is buried beneath household items. There is nowhere to read, pray, create or simply be alone. She has a home but does her home support the woman she is becoming? For generations, home has often been presented as a woman’s place of domestic responsibility. But it can also be something more: a sanctuary, creative space, workplace, refuge and foundation for personal growth. A Room of Her Own Virginia Woolf famously wrote in A Room of One’s Own: “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” Nearly a century later, the principle remains…

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Amazons on Boards

The New Definition of a Successful Woman: Career, Family or Freedom?

The New Definition of a Successful Woman: Career, Family or Freedom?

By Blossom Ukoha For generations, society has offered women a familiar formula for success: build a career, get married, have children, care for the family and somehow make everything look effortless. But that formula is increasingly being questioned. Across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas, women are redefining what achievement means. For some, success is a corner office or a thriving business. For others, it is raising a family, achieving financial independence, choosing not to marry, pursuing personal fulfilment or simply having the freedom to decide what kind of life they want. The bigger question is no longer whether women can “have it all,” but who gets to define what “all” means? A Global Shift in What Women Want The numbers tell part of the story. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 708 million women globally were outside the labour force in 2023 because of unpaid care responsibilities, compared with about…

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Amazons on Boards

9 Remarkable Things to Know About Professor Ibironke Odumosu-Ayanu, the New Dean of a Canadian Law College

9 Remarkable Things to Know About Professor Ibironke Odumosu-Ayanu, the New Dean of a Canadian Law College

By Blossom Ukoha From Lagos to the Canadian Prairies, Professor Ibironke Odumosu-Ayanu’s journey is a story of intellectual curiosity, unexpected opportunities and academic excellence. The Nigerian-born legal scholar has built a distinguished career in Canada spanning nearly two decades and is now taking on one of her biggest leadership roles. The University of Saskatchewan has appointed Odumosu-Ayanu as Dean of its College of Law, with her five-year term beginning October 1, 2026. Behind the appointment is a remarkable journey: a young girl from Lagos who loved reading and writing, an aspiring lawyer who once expected to study in England, an unexpected move to Canada and a career shaped by a commitment to using law to improve people’s lives. Here are nine things to know about her journey. She began her journey in Lagos Odumosu-Ayanu grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where she developed an early passion for reading and writing. Although…

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UN Day

International Day of Peace: Can We Build Lasting Peace Without Investing in Women?

International Day of Peace: Can We Build Lasting Peace Without Investing in Women?

By Blossom Ukoha When 26-year-old Angel Musiime wakes up for work in Uganda’s Kyegegwa Town Council, peacebuilding does not begin in a diplomatic conference room. As a local parish chief and trained peace mediator, her work can involve helping young people return to school, navigating difficult conversations around domestic abuse, and helping people resolve conflicts within their communities. Musiime describes her ambition simply: “I want to be a great woman of peace.” Through peace-mediation training, she developed skills in conflict resolution and leadership and began using them to support women, girls and others in her community. Her story is a reminder that some of the most important work of peace happens far from the rooms where governments negotiate agreements. That is precisely why this year’s International Day of Peace matters. Observed on 21 September 2026, the United Nations theme is “Invest in Peace – For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day.” The…

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Amazons on Boards

Dubai’s Women-Led Power Story: Beyond Luxury, Into Business and Influence

Dubai’s Women-Led Power Story: Beyond Luxury, Into Business and Influence

By Blossom Ukoha She is not there as a guest. She is not there to represent a family name or add diversity to a photograph. She is there because she owns the company, leads the strategy, sits on the board or has a decision to make. Outside, Dubai continues to project its familiar image of glass towers, luxury brands and spectacular ambition. But behind that polished skyline, another story is taking shape, one in which Emirati women are increasingly becoming builders of businesses, leaders of institutions and participants in decisions that shape the UAE economy. The numbers tell part of that story. In March 2026, the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism reported that the country had 48,257 Emirati women entrepreneurs, while Emirati women owned or co-owned 114,050 SMEs across diverse economic sectors. The National SME Programme alone had attracted 2,700 Emirati women entrepreneurs. These figures matter because entrepreneurship is not…

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Business Clinique

Equal Pay Day: Who Gets to Decide What Women’s Work Is Worth?

Equal Pay Day: Who Gets to Decide What Women’s Work Is Worth?

By Blossom Ukoha She sat across from her manager, salary review letter in hand. Her responsibilities had grown. She was leading projects, mentoring younger colleagues, staying late when deadlines demanded it and becoming the person everyone turned to when something needed to be fixed. Then she saw the number. There was an increase, but it was smaller than she had expected. She also knew that a male colleague with similar responsibilities earned more. The familiar questions came quickly: Should I negotiate harder? Do I need another qualification? Am I not doing enough? But perhaps there was another question worth asking: Who decided that her work was worth less in the first place? That question goes to the heart of Equal Pay Day. Because the gender pay gap is not only about women receiving smaller salaries than men. It is also about how society decides what work is valuable, which skills…

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