Access to finance main barrier for businesswomen

Access to finance is still the main barrier for women-led small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Bangladesh, according to various experts.

Although the country's growing number of women entrepreneurs have mostly kept good payment records over the past decade, their share of the total loans disbursed still remains low, said M Abu Eusuf, a professor of development studies at the University of Dhaka.

Eusuf made these remarks at a seminar, styled "Expanding Economic Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh", at Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Dhaka yesterday.

The SME Foundation and The Asia Foundation jointly organised the event.

In the second phase (July-2021 to May-2022) of a government stimulus package geared towards helping SMEs overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, a Tk 20,000 crore fund was formed to this end. Of this amount, just 2.65 percent was disbursed to women entrepreneurs, he added.

Quoting a study conducted by The Asia Foundation, Eusuf said more than 75 per cent of the surveyed respondents cited a lack of financing as a challenge for adapting their businesses to comply with Covid-19 restrictions.

"Besides, women entrepreneurs usually face difficulties in preparing the necessary legal documents for starting a business," he added.

Ensuf then said a lack of awareness regarding credit facilities and when products should be marketed are also barriers for women entrepreneurs.

At the event, a new one-stop business advisory platform for Bangladeshi women entrepreneurs called "Onnessa" was launched to expand economic opportunities for women in the country.

The SME Foundation and The Asia Foundation jointly launched the platform.

This platform will mainly provide relevant information to women entrepreneurs about loan projects of financial institutions, scope of consultation and advisory services, according to the organisers.

Md Masudur Rahman, chairperson of SME Foundation, said this platform will definitely help women entrepreneurs boost their business activities.

Among others, Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, country representative of The Asia Foundation in Bangladesh, and Md Mafizur Rahman, managing director of the SME Foundation, were present.