ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain.
Sec. Sustainable Supply Chain Management
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsus.2025.1636585
Challenges and Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs in the Renewable Energy Sector Across the MENA Region for Sustainable Development
Provisionally accepted
- 1Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- 2Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University, Khobar, Saudi Arabia
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This research explores both the challenges and prospects faced by women entrepreneurs operating in the renewable energy sector within six MENA countries: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, and Tunisia. Drawing from 120 survey responses alongside an extensive review of existing literature, the study uncovers a complex landscape where gender-based obstacles persist. This happens due to cultural backgrounds, flaws within the system and restricted opportunities to build good relationships in the field. In spite of that, many women entrepreneurs have remarkable adaptability, in many cases relying on informal channels and their individual coping abilities to navigate these structural barriers. It is also evident from the analysis that North African countries tend to offer better opportunities than Gulf States. A new sustainable conceptual framework, the "glass grid", is proposed to capture the sector's unique horizontal barriers that limit women's participation in the field and career progression. This study proposes tailored policy recommendations that include gender-responsive finances, regular mentoring, and shifts in culture in addition to increased collaborations across the region for sustainable development. Involving women in renewable energy sector is seen as necessary for achieving equality, advancing sustainability and progress in innovation in the MENA region.
Keywords: Women-Entrepreneurship, Renewable Energy, Mena, Gender Obstacles, Glass grid
Received: 28 May 2025; Accepted: 18 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zakzouk, BANDARRA FILHO and Farooq. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dr. Muhammad Farooq, Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University, Khobar, Saudi Arabia
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