What women entrepreneurs in Albania need to thrive

When Shqiponja Leci became a mother, the business she had run with her husband no longer fit the rhythm of her daily life.

“For years, I managed a café with my husband. Then I became a mother, and the work in the café required more time,” says Shqiponja Leci. “I was a mother, not the single girl I had been before.”

When her daughter was six months old, Leci enrolled her in a private nursery because public childcare did not meet their needs as parents at the time.

“This was an extra expense. Almost everything I earned went to childcare, and there was little left for me,” she says.

Her experience reflects the reality faced by many women entrepreneurs in Albania. According to the 2026 UN Women’s research “Structural Barriers and Enabling Policies for Women’s Entrepreneurship in Albania,” supported by the UK Government, more than six in ten surveyed women entrepreneurs say family responsibilities affect their businesses.

Care responsibilities impact business growth

Fatma Jaupi, one of the experts behind the research, explains that care work often leaves women with less time to develop their business.

“When a woman is the primary caregiver for children or elderly relatives, she simply has fewer hours to invest in growing the enterprise, building a network, finding new clients, managing staff,” says Fatma Jaupi.

Women in Albania spend an average of five hours a day on unpaid work, compared with less than one hour for men.

“Care work doesn’t just compete with the business, it caps how far it can grow. That is one reason so many women-led businesses remain as micro enterprises,” says Fatma Jaupi.

The research recommends linking entrepreneurship policies with investments in childcare and elderly care services. Another UN Women’s study, “Shifting the Paradigm: Care as an Investment in Albania,” found that the country has not yet reached EU targets for childcare and long-term care services. Expanding these services would not only support families, but also create new jobs, increase women’s participation in the labour market, and generate more inclusive economic growth, underlines the study.

“The encouraging part is that these challenges can be addressed,” says Jaupi. “Investing in childcare and elderly care infrastructure isn’t only a social policy, it’s an economic one.”

This shift is also reflected in Albania’s new Law on Gender Equality, adopted in November 2025, which formally recognizes unpaid care work and its economic value.

From café owner to business owner at her own pace

Today, Shqiponja Leci runs a clothing store in Tirana, which gives her greater flexibility and financial independence.

Through the UK Government-funded “Invest in Women” initiative, she received training in business planning, financial management and risk assessment. The programme has helped more than 35 women from vulnerable backgrounds strengthen their entrepreneurial, financial and leadership skills.

According to INSTAT’s Business Registers 2024, women own or manage more than 31 per cent of active businesses in Albania. Yer nearly 89 per cent of women-owned enterprises are micro businesses with one to four employees, concentrated mainly in trade, accommodation and food services.

The UN Women analysis on women’s entrepreneurship underscores that women entrepreneurs face interconnected challenges, including limited access to finance, unpaid care responsibilities, concentration in low-profit sectors, limited business development support, and social norms that influence how women are perceived as entrepreneurs and decision-makers.

“Women-owned micro enterprises are an important part of Albania’s economy, but there is still significant untapped potential,” says Jaupi. “Women aren’t an exception, they are part of the broader structure of an economy dominated by small family businesses.”

Access to finance remains a challenge

Like many women entrepreneurs, Leci started her new business with family resources. Her experience reflects one of the strongest findings of the analysis. Nearly half of the surveyed women entrepreneurs started their business using personal savings, while access to bank credit remains limited.

“I wish there were soft loans with lower interest rates for women entrepreneurs,” says Leci.

According to Jaupi, women entrepreneurs are often underrepresented among bank borrowers, receive smaller loans on tighter conditions, and may lack the registered property in their own names that banks require as collateral.

The research also highlights that women entrepreneurs should not be treated as a homogeneous group. A woman running a shop in Tirana, a rural woman in northern Albania, a Roma or Egyptian woman, or a woman with high care responsibilities may face different barriers and require tailored forms of support. 

For Leci, support through the “Invest in Women” initiative has made a real difference. “I feel better in my family when I bring income,” she says. “Now I have something that belongs to me. I feel more fulfilled and more confident.”