Women’s Enterprise Market in G-11 has been launched by the capital city. Parliamentary Secretary and MNA Farah Naz Akbar inaugurated the facility. The ceremony was organised by the Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The initiative is in partnership with the Capital Development Authority, Jazz Cash and Metropolitan corporation in Islamabad.
Gender Divide in Entrepreneurship
The initiative of this marketplace responds to the stark gender disparities in Pakistan’s business sector.
Only 1 per cent of women are entrepreneurs, while 21 per cent of men are entrepreneurs.
The whole market will be operating on cashless transactions. It is designed to integrate female business owners into formal financial systems and enhance digital literacy of women.
Access to banking and digital payments
Senior Deputy Chief Manager at the State Bank of Pakistan, Imtiaz Ali, further explained that the purpose of the cashless model is aimed at strengthening financial capabilities of women entrepreneurs and their connection to formal banking channels.
The technology partner for this digital payment infrastructure is Jazz Cash.
The National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2024-2028 of State Bank is aligned with this initiative. The strategy targets reducing the gender gap in banking access from 30 per cent to 25 per cent.
The recent women’s financial inclusion data show that women’s participation has risen to 52 per cent from 4 per cent. The gender gap is now narrowing from 47 per cent in 2018 to 30 per cent in 2025.
Challenges of financing for women-led businesses
Substantial obstacles are faced by women-owned enterprises in accessing capital. Only 3.2 per cent of SME loans went to female-led firms in 2022. This is according to the WECON Policy Report of 2025.
According to the same report 91 per cent of women still remain hesitant to use institutional financing channels.
Just 8 per cent of Pakistan’s more than 5 million enterprises are owned by women.
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