Although women represent the majority of the retail workforce in Liberia, men dominate formal retail and institutions are struggling to overturn the situation by increasing the number of women transitioning to formal retail.

Behind agriculture, wholesale and retail are the leading employers in the country and most entrepreneurs in the sector are women – they are much more likely to own their business. However, because of much lower literacy rates than men, women-owned businesses are largely informal and in very small scale.

This carries over to women’s membership of formal business organizations such as the Liberian Chamber of Commerce. With low participation rates, the great majority of retail operators in the country fail to have their interests and needs heard and effective at a policy level. A recent study found that most women traders did not even know about the existence of formal retail organisations. The Liberian Chamber of Commerce is now working with several other institutions in order to encourage women entrepreneurs to formalize their businesses and improve retail policies to create a better business environment for female traders.