Project: Building the Evidence Base to Strengthen Women’s Entrepreneurship in West Africa

To better inform USAID development programming related to women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship in selected countries of West Africa, USAID engaged Limestone Analytics through the LEAP III mechanism to develop the West Africa Women’s Entrepreneurship (WAWE) Survey, and to administer this survey to generate primary datasets in three countries – Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo.

The Limestone team reviewed methodologies including the World Bank Enterprise Survey of formal firms and similar studies by global organizations to shape the WAWE Survey’s approach. Limestone led the development of country-specific survey instruments by reviewing existing data collection tools and identifying data requirements for the performance of a Women’s Entrepreneurship Diagnostic (WED). Additional questions addressed gender-specific considerations as well as recent shocks or crises including COVID-19. Limestone validated the resulting survey instruments through a workshop with key USAID stakeholders. The team secured access to relevant business registries for sampling, which required a field visit by Limestone and USAID staff to Côte d’Ivoire and Togo. With input from the partner enumeration firm GeoPoll, Limestone prepared a detailed methodology report including a data collection plan, sampling approach, sampling frame, and survey instruments.

Limestone provided technical, logistical, and quality assurance oversight throughout GeoPoll’s administration of over 6,400 telephone and in-person surveys across the three target countries. The expansive data collection met requirements to enable statistical analysis across business sectors, firm sizes, and the gender of firm ownership or management. Once data collection was completed, the Limestone team submitted to USAID the datasets, corresponding codebooks, and a technical Data Collection Report to review all work executed.