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Women’s Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh

WEP Workshop, Bali20 February 2014

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Women’s participation in the economy

Barriers to women’s entrepreneurship

ECON’s WE development experience in Bangladesh

Lessons learned: Why it worked

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Rising female labour force participation*, particularly in services and manufacturing• Female labour force participation (LFP) has doubled since the mid

‘90s, but is still low, at 26%– Particularly steep rise for young women – Anomalously low no. of women in agriculture (in South Asia context)

• Garments industry has been vital in creating social change, but is a relatively small contributor to overall rise in female employment

• Major industries experiencing growth in female LFP: – Education: +7%– Health and social work: +29%– Manufacturing: +6.5%

Bangladesh India Nepal Pakistan

Manufacturing 17% 10% 4% 15%

Services 20% 8% 6% 18%37% 18% 10% 33%

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Women’s participation in the economy

Barriers to women’s entrepreneurship

ECON’s WE development experience in Bangladesh

Lessons learned: Why it worked

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Norms and knowledge barriers are impeding women’s entrepreneurship• Social norms regarding women’s work and earnings

– E.g. for 1 in 8 women who earn a wage, someone else decides how that wage will be spent

– 48% of Bangladeshi women say their husbands alone make decisions about important matters such as their health, work, and travel

• Women tend to be excluded from ownership of property and assets, making formal-sector financing difficult to obtain

• Lack of networking connections to district-level value chains and platforms for interacting with policymakers

• Lack of experience and knowledge regarding:– Business development: business entry, finding customers/suppliers,

maintaining accounts, developing high-value products based on market awareness

– Government services and regulations: incentives being offered to women entrepreneurs, licensing requirements, etc.

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Women’s participation in the economy

Barriers to women’s entrepreneurship

ECON’s WE development experience in Bangladesh

Lessons learned: Why it worked

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Platforms for collective action and networking have been developed

Phase 1 2006-2009 Local Economic Governance Program (Katalyst)Created village-level networks to improve public service delivery and enhance information flows

Phase 2 2009-2011 Sustainability and Stakeholder Ownership of Investment Reforms (IFC) Supported the establishment of District Women’s Business Forums (DWBFs) as a platform for training, networking, and access to credit

Phase 3 2011-2013 National and regional linkages Linking the district-level DWBFs to national-level institutions, such as the Bangladesh Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (BFWE) and SME Foundation, and creating regional links, through SAWES

Phase 4 2013-2014 Promoting Women Entrepreneurship p through Improved Networking (GSRD Foundation)Introducing mobile technology to strengthen women’s networks and increase business opportunities

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Platforms for collective action and networking have been developed

Phase 5 Proposed/ Pipeline

Promoting Women’s Entrepreneurship in ICT (Chevron)Expanding women’s entrepreneurship and employment in the ICT sector

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Results: Increasing recognition of platforms, and provision of public services • DWBF membership increased from 175 to 700 in 2013• Senior Joint Convener of the DWBF Sylhet selected as one of the

Directors of the Bangladesh SME Foundation.• Recognition of DWBF Rangpur as the first ever government-

approved Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry at district level

• Collateral-free bank loans extended to DWBF members • Allocations for women owned businesses in City Corporation

markets• Members of DWBFs recognized with national-level awards for

entrepreneurship– 4 members won “Best Woman Entrepreneur” from the SME Foundation– 3 members won awards from Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce

• Inclusion of DWBF members in policy meetings

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Two vignettes: Role of technology and emerging sectors

Mobile Phones in KeralaThe Market: • Hundreds of fishing villages

along 590 km coastline• 600 k tons annual production• Fish primary source of protein• 5-8% of total catch wasted due

to inability to sell in local market

Effects after mobile phones (1997): • Sales in non-local markets rose

from 0% to 35% -> no wastage• Profits rose 8%• Consumer prices fell 4%

• Formation of women’s cooperative for assembly and sale of solar panels, batteries, etc. • Resulted in women’s increasing

decision-making power in the community, greater mobility, and business and technical skills, alongside added income• Husbands started to share in

household tasks once women were working in the cooperative

Solar panels in Bangladesh

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Women’s participation in the economy

Barriers to women’s entrepreneurship

ECON’s WE development experience in Bangladesh

Lessons learned: Why it worked

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Recognition of unmet needs, and buy-in from influential policymakers facilitated reforms• Private and public service providers were looking to partner

with stronger associations, such as the DWBFs– Bangladesh Bank Governor endorsed the association-led model for

collateral-free loans – Commercial banks were interested in loaning to women entrepreneurs,

but could not find the right model

• Leadership development and mentorship at the district level– Vital link between the local and the national level

• TAF was able to find influential individuals to champion the cause: – Bangladesh Bank Governor; Rokia Afzal, President of BFWE and ex-

Caretaker Govt. adviser; Finance Minister’s Office; FBCCI Vice President

• Implementation under the umbrella of the ECON theme helped gain support from male leaders

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Future Outlook for women’s entrepreneurship interventions • Capacity building of the associations: basic organizational

management skills– Regular meetings, managing subscriptions, recording meeting minutes

• Replication of technology-based networking in more districts • Increased focus on ICT-based businesses, rather than

traditional products– ICT Secretary is very interested in creating employment for women

through freelancing work • Strengthen the capacity of associations to collect and

disseminate market information• Ensuring the sustainability of women’s associations by

creating income-earning opportunities– Utilizing private-sector CSR to support associations