Women entrepreneurs as bank clients

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HARDLY anyone would disagree that each and every woman has some kind of entrepreneurial skill by birth. Otherwise, women, including those disadvantaged in the rural area who are already involved with some kinds of economic activities would not have survived, bearing the burden of high rate of interest on the micro-credits that they borrow for pursuing such activities. But the entrepreneurial skills of most women are not nurtured in our country for many reasons. Either they are not aware of their entrepreneurial abilities or they have not get enough scope to develop their skills. They die without knowing about their latent skill for development enterprises.
But the reality is that women who have become successful entrepreneurs face severe problems in graduating their businesses from micro to small, and from small to medium level enterprises. They face lack of access to finance. Under the traditional arrangement in the banking sector, women who want to do business with credit supports are neglected.
Not only the rural women entrepreneurs but also the privileged urban women are not considered worthy clients by many banks in our country. This banking environment has also not been improved even after the issuance of a circular by the Bangladesh Bank to the commercial banks to provide women involved in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with loans under its special refinancing facility.
On its part, the central bank has otherwise maintained a pro-active stand on supporting the women entrepreneurs. But many existing banking regulations do, however, still work as barriers to women becoming eligible for loans. The mindset of many bankers about women's business skill is also another obstacle to their getting credits. But a positive sign is that associations of leading women entrepreneurs are continuing their lobbing with different quarters including the Bangladesh Bank and the financial institutions for developing a pro-women credit-supporting policy.
We would all express the hope that with such efforts, the country would soon be able to develop a culture that will encourage lending loans to women entrepreneurs. That will help utilise the full potentials of the women entrepreneurs, thus enabling them to contribute their best to the development of the country's economy in real terms.
Mansura Chowdhury
Azimpur, Dhaka