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    Women Entrepreneurs

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    Sagar Bhardwaj
    India ranks low (70 out of 77 countries) on an index measuring the best countries for high-potential women entrepreneurs due to a lack of gender parity in the workforce and limited access to initial financing. While India's performance improved slightly over the previous year's ranking, significant changes are still needed to better support women entrepreneurs, such as increasing access to bank accounts, providing financial training programs, and improving gender diversity across sectors. For women entrepreneurs to thrive in India, more efforts are needed to close the large financing gap and address challenges in obtaining loans due to lack of collateral and gender bias.

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    Women Entrepreneurs

    Uploaded by

    Sagar Bhardwaj
    30 views3 pages
    India ranks low (70 out of 77 countries) on an index measuring the best countries for high-potential women entrepreneurs due to a lack of gender parity in the workforce and limited access to initial financing. While India's performance improved slightly over the previous year's ranking, significant changes are still needed to better support women entrepreneurs, such as increasing access to bank accounts, providing financial training programs, and improving gender diversity across sectors. For women entrepreneurs to thrive in India, more efforts are needed to close the large financing gap and address challenges in obtaining loans due to lack of collateral and gender bias.

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    WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS (1)

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    India ranks low (70 out of 77 countries) on an index measuring the best countries for high-potential women entrepreneurs due to a lack of gender parity in the workforce and limited access to initial financing. While India's performance improved slightly over the previous year's ranking, significant changes are still needed to better support women entrepreneurs, such as increasing access to bank accounts, providing financial training programs, and improving gender diversity across sectors. For women entrepreneurs to thrive in India, more efforts are needed to close the large financing gap and address challenges in obtaining loans due to lack of collateral and gender bias.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    30 views3 pages

    Women Entrepreneurs

    Uploaded by

    Sagar Bhardwaj
    India ranks low (70 out of 77 countries) on an index measuring the best countries for high-potential women entrepreneurs due to a lack of gender parity in the workforce and limited access to initial financing. While India's performance improved slightly over the previous year's ranking, significant changes are still needed to better support women entrepreneurs, such as increasing access to bank accounts, providing financial training programs, and improving gender diversity across sectors. For women entrepreneurs to thrive in India, more efforts are needed to close the large financing gap and address challenges in obtaining loans due to lack of collateral and gender bias.

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    of 3

    OCTOBER 18, 2016

    RELATED KEYWORDS: high-potential-women-entrepreneurs|Gedi|Female-Entrepreneurship-
    Index|Ainsley-Lloyd

    Women entrepreneurs get a raw deal in India


    Lubna Kably, TNN | Jun 25, 2015, 01.30AM IST

    inShare78

    The country needs to do much more to improve the ecosystem for its women entrepreneurs. According to Lloyd, increasing access to bank accounts,
    financial training programs and improving gender diversity across sectors were key areas for improvement. (Image for representation)
    MUMBAI: Which is the best country for high-potential women entrepreneurs to succeed? It's
    certainly not India which ranks a low 70 among 77 countries covered in the 2015- Female
    Entrepreneurship Index. The main reasons that the study identifies for the country's poor score
    are lack of labour force parity and access to first-tier finance (women entrepreneurs find even
    initial debt funding, required for day-to-day operations, difficult to raise).

    India's neighbors have fared worse, with Bangladesh at 75 and Pakistan occupying the lowest
    rank at 77. The US, Australia and the UK have been named the top three countries for high-
    potential female entrepreneurs (i.e.: women who own and operate businesses that are innovative,
    market expanding, and export oriented). Of the 77 nations surveyed, 47 (including India) scored
    less than 50 points out of a top score of 100 (see graphic) on various parameters. This indicates
    that significant changes are required to reduce barriers for female entrepreneurs.

    Last year, this index which is brought out by the Washington-based Global Entrepreneurship and
    Development Institute (GEDI) had covered only 30 countries and India at rank 26 was placed in
    the bottom five.

    However, the socio-economic scenario in India is gradually changing for the better and a
    comparison with last year's gender rating substantiates this point. Ainsley Lloyd, researcher at
    GEDI and co-author of the 2015 research report, said India had actually improved by 4 ranks.
    "We calculated this improvement using only those countries that appeared in both last year's and
    this year's index so that the ranks are truly comparable," explained Lloyd.
    According to her, the biggest improvements had been an increase in the percentage of women
    entrepreneurs who were using new technology and introducing innovative products. "In addition,
    there has been an increase in the percentage of women entrepreneurs who are 'growth oriented',
    that is those who plan to add more than 10 new employees and achieve 50% growth in five
    years," added Lloyd.

    But the country needs to do much more to improve the ecosystem for its women entrepreneurs.
    According to Lloyd, increasing access to bank accounts, financial training programs and
    improving gender diversity across sectors were key areas for improvement.

    In the initial business stages, most women are forced to rely on personal funding, including for
    meeting working capital requirements. A report released by International Finance Corporation in
    2014 said there was a finance gap of Rs 6.37 lakh crore (Rs 6.37 trillion) when it came to
    meeting requirements of women entrepreneurs in the MSME (micro, small and medium
    enterprise) sector. Lack of collateral and a misogynist mindset are the main stumbling blocks
    women face in accessing loans

    The country lacks also large-scale women-oriented venture capital funds or institutions, like
    Wells Fargo in the US which provides customized offerings to women entrepreneurs such as
    collateral-free loans of up to $100,000 (Rs 63 lakh). Golden Seeds, a US-based VC Fund, invests
    exclusively in women-led enterprises.

    Financial training and mentoring programs help women entrepreneurs get that edge when it
    comes to writing business plans and seeking funds from banks and VCs but small steps have
    been taken in that direction. "IIM Bangalore and IIM Udaipur have programs to promote
    entrepreneurship among women. IIM Indore has also held such workshops," says Anjana Vivek,
    a visiting faculty and founding director of VentureBean? Consulting.
    Organizations such as WEConnect International, which help connect certified women
    entrepreneurs with multinational corporate (MNC) members is also expanding its coverage in
    India. At present, it has 16 MNC members including Accenture, Cisco, Dell, IBM, Intel,
    Microsoft, Marriott, and Hilton Hotels. Women entrepreneurs from the tech and non-tech sector -
    including a premium chocolate venture -- have benefitted by obtaining orders from these MNCs.

    "There has been a demand from several quarters that the government's public procurement policy
    which mandates that 20% of government and PSU procurement be from MSME should provide
    for 5% procurement from women-owned businesses," says Sucharita Shome Eashwar, India
    head, WEConnect International.

    Without such steps, India may remain at the bottom.

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