Empowering female-owned businesses through sustainable banking

Even though the number of women-owned enterprises and startups has greatly increased over the past few years pre covid, the pandemic and current economic volatility have forced many of them to close.

This was greatly compounded due to the fuel crises that stunted the transportation of goods and literally brought the country to a standstill in July.

However, despite these challenges, Sri Lanka offers smart banking systems directed toward female businesses, and MSEs to sustain them through unanticipated economic and political crises that rocked Sri Lanka in July.

The contribution of females to the economy is low and in order to improve this, many banks and related entities have explored diverse methods to secure the interests of their female clients to ensure the continuity and development of their businesses. Incidentally, as a salve to this incumbent economic crisis banks such as NDB had teamed up with IFC to provide better financial prospects to enterprising women.

Through this project by the National Development Bank (NDB) and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, a significant development was achieved for women in small and medium-sized businesses in Sri Lanka despite numerous market hurdles faced this year.

The program's goal of increasing financial inclusion in the country, with a particular emphasis on financing for women, has been successful, with retail assets increasing by 21% among the female base. IFC teamed with NDB to offer a targeted, all-encompassing banking proposal that targets women entrepreneurs in the nation as part of the ‘Banking on Women initiative’, which is a component of the IFC-DFAT Women in Work programme in Sri Lanka. Using its extensive experience gained via comparable projects in other regions, IFC provided consultation services to NDB to help it establish new financial products, including SME loans and digital banking. The solution offered by NDB is more than just a savings account, but rather a complete solution that covers the latent need for financial services amongst the female segment in Sri Lanka.

While facilitating female-run businesses to successfully operate in a recession economy, Sri Lankan banks have also initiated diverse programmes to encourage and recognize these businesses and startups to achieve their goals and also reach the highest potential in their respective businesses.

For example, in an effort to empower Sri Lankan women, NDB and Sirasa News1st established Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana, a celebration of remarkable women who excel on a national level across all industries.

The programme, which is now in its second year, is held in each of the nine provinces and features competitions in 10 categories for female achievers from throughout the nation, including entrepreneurship (small scale), entrepreneurship (micro-scale), entrepreneurship (upcoming), young leader, environmental management, sports, volunteer services, invention and innovation, and literature and education services. The program also seeks to educate and build critical skills in running a business like financial management, innovation and marketing through workshops, conducted at a regional level for female entrepreneurs.

Women empowerment is principally about uplifting women through the challenges and providing them with the right tools, skills, resources and encouragement to perform better. Banks such as NDB, through its diverse programmes, have established a sustainable safety net to preserve female-owned businesses and ensure the continuity of their businesses despite the turbulent economic challenges.