KARACHI: “Don’t marry off your girls till they are financially independent,” says screenwriter Zanjabeel Asim Shah — a fairly revolutionary statement in a society where sons have careers and daughters are mostly to be married off.

Celebrating Women’s Entrepre­neur­­ship Day, the State Bank of Pakistan invited women leaders, who narrated their success stories, along with a healthy dose of pragmatism. The event was held at the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Banking Services Corporation (SBP) in North Nazimabad.

It was attended by women from all walks of life, and a spark of confidence permeated the room full of entrepreneurs, who came together to celebrate their achievements, ironically held on International Men’s Day, which is observed on Nov 19. Ms Shah’s views stemmed from her own experiences. Her hitherto cossetted life was turned upside down when her husband discovered he had cancer and barely two months to live. That prompted a crash course in everything, from managing finances to fixing the generator, without a man’s support.

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This eventually led to her developing a career as a screenwriter, which allowed her to provide for her family. “There are no Prince Charmings. Dramas paint pictures of the rich guy in the big car who comes for the girl for ratings,” laughed Ms Shah, herself a writer of such fairytales.

Female entrepreneurs share success stories, pragmatic advice; data shows banks doled out around Rs24bn to women-led businesses between July and November this year

Women make up nearly half the population, but comprise less than 10 per cent of total borrowers and hold only 26pc of bank account holders, as per the SBP statement.

But even these figures are misleading, as highlighted by a simple-yet-telling exercise conducted by Mahin Sahibzadi, founder and president of the Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Korangi. She asked the predominantly female audience how many owned a bank account. Many hands went up. However, significantly fewer hands remained raised when she narrowed the question to those who managed their accounts independently, without a male family member’s involvement.

The speakers narrated stories of women leading strong businesses, yet handing over the financial management to men members because of the misconceived notion that women are not good with money matters.

In some cases, when their relationships with their husbands ended, businesses came crashing down because its financial control was not in their hands. Without actively understanding and being involved in the financial side of entrepreneurship, empowerment can appear to be a mirage, which was one of the central messages conveyed at the event.

Prompted by the SBP, banks have disbursed about Rs24 billion to over 20,000 women-led businesses from July to November 10 of this year, according to the press release. This indicates that the average loan size is Rs1.2 million, perhaps enough to start a small workshop.

Despite this, the female participation is abysmally small — of total credit, only 4.4pc was disbursed to women. However, this number rises to 9pc when accounting for small and medium enterprises (SME), said Rizwan Khalil Shamsi, chief manager of the SBP BSC. Of the over 176,000 SMEs, only about 8,000, less than 5pc, are led by women in Pakistan.

A fundamental challenge for women entrepreneurs, which their male counterparts rarely face, is socialising, noted Ms Sahibzadi. Men exchange ideas and opportunities effortlessly and build networks over lunches, dinners, and smoke breaks.

For women, however, socialisation often takes a backseat to juggling household responsibilities, childcare, and familial expectations. Echoing the #BehenCode from Amazon Prime’s Call Me Bae, Ms Sahibzadi emphasised the importance of women supporting each other in the form of collaborations to achieve collective progress.

After the event, a quick wander among the stalls showed a diverse range, from the ubiquitous handicrafts and jewellery to medical aids as well as a Cut-Measure-Trim (CMT) provider. CMT providers take on the overflow of traditional big textile firms and operate in a largely male-dominated industry with gruelling hours and tough competition.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2024