Abstract:

Entrepreneurship in Nigeria used to be male dominated because only men used to own businesses and controlled factors of production which caused gender imbalance in the control of wealth. This infamous trend is however beginning to dwindle especially in the last two decades but not at a satisfactory speed. This paper aims to examine the core hindrances to female entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Secondary data was primarily used for the study. The data were mainly sourced from Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) and Annabel & Mairo (2007) on the variables affecting the growth of female entrepreneurship in Nigeria, particularly in the northern region of Nigeria. Sources of fuel wood, child marriage and educational exposure of Nigerian women were the three main variables used in analyzing the available data and how these combine to cause feminization of poverty and few female entrepreneurs in the country, particularly in the north. Inferences made from the data were analysed using mainly descriptive statistics from where we made our own submissions on female entrepreneurship in Nigeria. The study recommends that use gas as source of fuel rather than firewood, ignore child marriage and complete at least secondary education must be popularized in order to increase women entrepreneurship and reduce poverty among the population studied.