In Burkina Faso, the number of women entrepreneurs is almost equivalent to the number of men. And even in 2019, according to the World Bank, 88.7% of women were self-employed. However, only 18.6% of their enterprises are run on a formal basis. Like their counterparts in other West African countries, women here face a number of obstacles when setting up a business.
Hado SEONE is in her forties and is one of the millions of women around the world living in rural areas who, although they cannot read or write, every day embark on a business venture in order to provide an income to support their families.
She lives about 10 kilometres from Tenkodogo, the capital of the Centre-Est region of Burkina Faso, one of the country's poorest areas. In 2014, the national statistics report recorded that three-quarters of the population live in rural areas, and only one in 15 people can read and write