19% Businesses in Fiji Owned by Women says Minister at WIN Convention

Lynda Tabuya, the Minister for Women, Children, and Social Protection for Fiji has stated that women own only 19 percent of businesses in Fiji and a majority of them are micro-enterprises.

Lynda shed light on this statistic while speaking at the 2024 Women Invigorating the Nation Convention at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva. The theme for this year’s convention is 'Revitalize for Resilience: Fostering an inclusive inspiration for all'.

Lynda also spoke about the various challenges that women entrepreneurs have to face. She mentioned roadblocks such as prevailing gender biases, inadequate access to finance & collateral, technology etc. she mentioned that these challenges along with existing social norms and prejudice hamper their business growth.

The Minister for Women, Children, and Social Protection stated that when one is fighting gender-based challenges, it becomes tougher for them to contribute to the nation’s economic growth & development. Lynda also highlighted that women in Fiji are faced with numerous challenges and a major one being health issues including cervical and breast cancer. These remain as the top most reason behind Fijian women’s death.

Speaking at the Women Invigorating the Nation Convention she highlighted women’s contribution to the informal economy. Women continue to be the major caregivers and are embroiled in unpaid care and household duties.

Lynda also said that in Fiji only 46 per cent of women are in the labour force as compared to 83 percent of men. But the irony is that women make up 57 percent of university graduates while men only makeup 43 percent of men.