Empowering women entrepreneurs

Bangladesh women entrepreneurs have demonstrated their immense strength, but still, several challenges exist, such as low access to formal finance, data expensive and connectivity, skills-gap in e-commerce and digital channels of finance. It has been proven that because of digital finance and supportive digital infrastructure participation and resulting increase in business participation and outcomes among women are a material increase, but the potential has not been equally realised without opportunities to coordinate policy and access to finance.

Practically, three successful levers should be broadened by the government and other development partners. First, micro-credit scale and partitioned windows that are offered to women business proprietors with lighter collateral and expedited approval procedures. Second, promote low-cost mobile data packages or collaborate with telecommunication providers to create packages targeting women to make digital advertising and transactions cheap and secure. Third, invest in intensive online up-skilling (several-hours certified online listing, online payment, online customer care and online cybersecurity) offered by universities, non-governmental organisations and even business incubators.

The players of the private sector such as marketplaces, fintechs and logistics providers will also need to establish gender-friendly onboarding (streamlined KYC, minimum balances) and mentorship programs that are female oriented by pairing experienced entrepreneurs with new founders.

Empowering women to build sustainable businesses is not merely a social goal; it is an economic multiplier. It increases the household incomes, expands domestic demand, and it diversifies the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Timely policy will transform shaky recovery into sustainable, inclusive growth.

Najiza Israt Rifa

najiza.rifa@northsouth.edu