Entrepreneurship and Business Climate - Women Entrepreneurs in New Zealand

New Zealand is a sovereign island country located in the Pacific Ocean. Its head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. The country is also represented by a governor-general – currently Dame Patsy Reddy – and a Prime Minister who is also a woman, Jacinda Ardern.

Thanks to its solid economic stability, New Zealand has one of the best business climate in the world for entrepreneurs. A major indicator of the country’s good health is the unemployment rate. Only 4.5% in the last quarter of 2017, leading the country in a state of full employment. In the wake of structural reforms in labour legislation, thanks to its administrative flexibility and to an incentive tax policy supporting entrepreneurs, the country has created a stable and friendly environment for investment and development.

New Zealand largely supports foreign entrepreneurs. There is a specific visa allowing under certain conditions foreigners to create or to buy an existing company and to settle in the country. This policy is partially due to a negative migration balance and a lack of qualified professionals. But, at the end of the day it stimulates not only the country’s economy but also people’s ambition.

Every year women continue to make notable progress in the entrepreneurial landscape. Even if they are not completely invisible in this field, they are still an exception rather than a norm. Because no one ever refers to a successful “male entrepreneur” and the fact that we need to specify “female” or “woman” in front of the word “entrepreneur” when referring to a successful lady is saying a lot about the long way we still have to manage.

Even if some 64% of university graduates are women, they earn around 10% less than their male counterparts. Women are still under-represented in higher level jobs and their biggest disablers to thrive in the business world is social pressure concerning their personal life. At a global scale, the gender gap rate decreased by 5% between 2014 and 2016. Even so, there is still a way to go before achieving gender parity.

New Zealand is the country with the strongest supporting conditions and opportunities for women to succeed as entrepreneurs. Ahead of Sweden, Canada and the USA and for the second time in a row, New Zealand has been named the best country for endorsing female entrepreneurship according to the 2018 MasterCard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE). The Index measures a range factor in order to determine the level of opportunity for women entrepreneurs. Those factors include women’s advancement outcomes, knowledge as well as financial access.

This study, conducted by MasterCard and released on the 7th of March, just before the International Women’s Day, revealed that they represent 33% of all business owners of the country. It means that a third of business owners in New Zealand are women. One of the best rate in the world.

Jacinda Ardern's arrival at the head of the government in October 2017 helped to challenge people’s attitudes towards women in the professional landscape and showed that working mothers can run a country and have a baby.

Several Kiwi women are true examples of successful entrepreneurship.

The first example that comes immediately to mind is Rebecca Mills, a sustainability strategist and one of New Zealand's most inspirational women. Rebecca graduated with a Master of Science from the University

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