Making financial inclusion a reality for women entrepreneurs

Every year, International Women’s Day gives us a pause to reflect on the state of gender disparity in our world. And just like the disadvantages women face are a legacy of decades of disenfranchisement and oppression, years of sustained efforts and positive initiatives are required to deliver true gender equality. In India, these disparities manifest themselves primarily in the lack of access to finance and capital for women. According to a study by IFC, the financing gap for women-led MSMEs stood at a whopping Rs. 6.37 trillion in 2014. However, there are private enterprises trying to break this cycle of female disempowerment and lack of capital. And some, like IREP , are giving rise to green shoots of hope.

Breaking Bad Habits

IREP is a social impact-driven NBFC, committed to building a more equitable society through financial inclusion. Extending access to loans and credit facilities to female business owners became a big part of this mission, especially with the launch of their ‘Women Entrepreneurship Campaign’. Under the aegis of this campaign, women entrepreneurs in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana were offered business loans at rates up to 4% lower than IREP’s existing interest rates. The company immediately observed a sharp uptick in the number of women availing these attractive business loans to give their enterprises a boost, eventually making up more than half the loans disbursed by IREP in the interim.

In fact, IREP has gone beyond just giving women the means to pursue their ambitions. It also created a platform to celebrate and recognize those who do. The company recently ran an online ‘Women Entrepreneurship Campaign’, where users were invited to share stories of inspiring female entrepreneurs. The best stories won their authors a gift vouchers and hampers from Disguise Cosmetics with all participants receiving exciting freebies too.

Ready To Inspire

Apart from the great user stories it generated, a series of IREP customer testimonials were featured too in the ‘Women Empowerment Campaign’. The most remarkable was the story of Madhavi Challa from Suryapet, Telangana. Having started a Ladies’ Emporium with the proceeds of a chit fund, Madhavi then turned to IREP to keep her business going. Her application was logged under the ‘Women Entrepreneurship Campaign’ and she got a loan, with all the additional benefits of the scheme. Similarly, when Kavitha Appam wanted to expand her store in Warangal, she turned to IREP and all it took her was a week to get her the funding she needed.

Great changes begin from within. That’s why IREP has also undertaken steps to increase the number of women in its ranks. The company has set out to hire ‘Women returning to work’ at all levels, including in strategic and leadership roles. After all, who better to guide IREP’s pioneering efforts to uplift women economically. It’s the start of a virtuous cycle, where greater participation in the workforce yields better services for women, further opening up new opportunities and avenues of growth. And that’s a positive development worthy of celebration on this International Women’s Day.

Moneycontrol journalists were not involved in the creation of the article