With the world speaking ‘Gone are the days when women were considered inferior to men when it comes to running a business’, India stands still. India ranks 52 on the Mastercard Index for Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) — a list of 57 nations released by Mastercard. The report focuses on female entrepreneurs’ ability to “capitalize the opportunities granted through various supporting conditions within their local environment”. While the US ranks in the top five, and India’s economic archrival China is placed in the top 30, India itself beats just five countries — Iran, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt and Bangladesh.
The report says that India’s ‘underlying conditions’ for women entrepreneurs are less favorable when compared to countries that got a high index score. The report further indicates that women in India have less inclination towards business ownership due to cultural bias. Not just that, women who actually own businesses are less likely to grow their business and are more prone to shutting down due to lack of financing.
Manasi Narasimhan, Vice President Marketing, Mastercard said, “Markets like India, which are comparatively less wealthy and developed tend to render less enabling conditions for women’s advancement as entrepreneurs. The Index serves as an informative mouthpiece to inspire change at the economic, political and social levels, and empower women to run successful businesses and lead richer, more fulfilling lives.”
Talking on what needs to be improved, she added, “Learning from top ranked countries in the Index such as the United States and China, India needs to cultivate an environment where women have higher participation in the workforce and access to tertiary (post-secondary) education & financial services”.
The report highlighted key points such as Knowledge Assets and Financial Assets, supporting entrepreneurial conditions, among others. When it comes to knowledge and financial assets, India dips further down to rank 55, with likes of Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia ranking ahead of it. On the other hand, India ranks 47 in ‘Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions’, not far behind China (41).
India needs to work on 1) Increasing women enrollment in postsecondary education; 2) Increasing access to financial loans to women entrepreneurs, and; 3) Single window clearances, tax breaks and other measures to promote entrepreneurship in the country, the report added.
New Zealand is at the top of the list, with Sweden, Canada, US, Singapore, making the top five in the index. The index was based on 12 indicators and 25 sub-indicators representing 78.6 percent of the world’s female working population. Pakistan is not among the 57 countries listed in the report.