ABSTRACT
Much informal sector research focuses on identifying the constraints for micro and small enterprises. In this chapter, we want to point to opportunities as well, in particular for female entrepreneurs. In Burkina Faso, economic liberalisations were announced right after the death of president Sankara in 1987. The new government started negotiations with the Bretton Woods institutions in 1988 and the first adjustment program covered the period from 1990 to 1993. When negotiations concerning structural adjustment started with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) many people in the capital Ouagadougou, anticipated difficult times. Almost half of the 350 micro and small enterprises interviewed in 1991 started up during two years previous, allowing the owners to make a living in some way. In some neighbourhoods, 50 per cent of the entrepreneurs were women.1
