New report shows that Ghana is producing the highest amount of female entrepreneurs in the world

The report, which is the second edition, shows that some of the least wealthy and developed economies have higher women business ownership rates than their wealthier developed peers.

The rise of women entrepreneurs is not necessarily associated with the pace of their country’s wealth and economic development as this latest index on women’s entrepreneurship has shown.

Ghana came out on top, with 46.4% of businesses in the country owned by women, ranking ahead of second-placed Russia (34.6%), third-placed Uganda (33.8%) and the United States which is listed at 23rd with only 25.5% of the businesses owned by women.

The Index examined 57 different economies around the globe. Botswana, Ethiopia, South Africa and Uganda. Ghana, Nigeria and Malawi were the new additions.

The report noted that there are several aspects of the entrepreneurial conditions in Ghana that lead to a strong level of women entrepreneurship. First, women tend to be more inclined to engage in entrepreneurial activities (38%) than men (35%). They were also found to have a very strong representation as business leaders.

Another enabling factor was found to stem from the Ghanaian society’s high regard for entrepreneurship as a good career choice (81.6%) and successful entrepreneurs (94.1%). For both perception indicators, Ghana’s rating was the highest in the world (GEM 2012 sub-Saharan Africa).

Here are the top 10 countries producing most female entrepreneurs