LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

August 26, 2015

The Director
Dhaka School of Bank Management (DSBM)
Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM)

Subject: Submission of the Dissertation Report Bank finance to the women

entrepreneurs of Bangladesh.

Dear Sir,
This is my pleasure to present my Dissertation Report, entitled Bank finance to the
women entrepreneurs of Bangladesh. which is the partial requirement to fulfill MBM
degree. I have invested my every effort to depict the state of Bank Finance to the women
entrepreneurs of Bangladesh.

I have tried my level best to put meticulous effort for the preparation of this report. Any
shortcomings or fault of the report may kindly be considered as my unintentional mistakes.
I will enthusiastically welcome any clarification and suggestion about any view and
conception disseminated through this paper.

It has been a huge learning experience for me and I have enjoyed doing the research as
well as preparing this paper and look forward to answering any queries you may have. I
strongly hope and believe that you will be kind enough to accord your kind approval to this
report.

Thanking you.
Yours sincerely,

.
JANNATUL FERDOUS
Roll No: 171337
Academic Session: 2012-2013
Master in Bank Management (MBM)
Dhaka School of Bank Management (DSBM)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In order to apply theoretical knowledge into practical field, as a student of MBM, I was
required to prepare a dissertation report through conducting my own research work. I have
presented this report after finishing my working program. First of all, I would like to
express my deep gratitude to the Almighty Allah for all the blessings showering upon me
which helped me to prepare this report.

I express my deep sense of gratitude and heartfelt respect to my Guide Teacher Abdul Jalil
Choudhury for his constant and spontaneous support, efficient care and constructive
recommendations and suggestions regarding this report. He advised me and guided me in
my work and was always very helpful and kind. I shall remain ever grateful to him for his
kind gesture and cordial guidance in completing the report.

I am also very much indebted to Dr. Toufic Ahmad Choudhury, Director General of BIBM
as he has always encouraged us to give our best to anything what we do. My heartfelt
gratitude goes to Md. Mohiuddin Siddique, Director of DSBM for providing me all sorts of
academic support.

I am grateful to Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) for giving me the

opportunity to conduct a research and make a research paper like this. Gratitude is also
extended to the BIBM authority for ensuring necessary help to pursue the degree of MBM.
I especially like to give thank my parents, brothers, classmates and all of my well-wishers
for extending their generous cooperation and unfailing love at a time I need it most. I
remember all the care and love of my friends for their inspiration, valuable suggestion and
co-operation.

And last but not the least; I would like to thank all the faculties and staffs in BIBM who
also make me indebted for their useful instructions. They made the environment congenial
and favorable for me to understand the task. Without their assistance and cooperation, this
report might not have seen the light of day.

Thanks to all.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents Page number

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY V

CHAPTER 01 : INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Rationale of the study 5
1.3 Objectives of the study 5
1.4 Methodology of the study 6
1.5 Limitations of the study 6
1.6 Organization of the paper 7

CHAPTER 02 : LITERATURE REVIEW 8

CHAPTER 03 :Bank finance to the Women entrepreneurs 12

CHAPTER 04:Institutional Support for Women Entrepreneurship 18

Development

CHAPTER 05: Major Findings& Discussions 24

5.1 Women Entrepreneurs Barriers at a glance 24

5.2 Profile study of sampled Women Entrepreneurs 27
5.3 Access to finance for Women Entrepreneurs 34

CHAPTER 06 : FEW REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES 36

CHAPTER 07 : Recommendations 40
CHAPTER 08 :Conclusions 42
CHAPTER 09 : References 46
CHAPTER 10 : Annexure 47

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LIST OF FIGURES

Titles Page number

1. Educational Background of Women Entrepreneurs. 27

2. Marital Status of Women Entrepreneurs. 28

3. Training scenario among of Women Entrepreneurs. 29

4. Experience scenario among of Women Entrepreneurs. 30

5. Sectors of operation among Women Entrepreneurs. 31

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The intention of this paper is to examine the role of banks in promoting women
entrepreneurship in Bangladesh. This study has been done on the basis of both primary and
secondary data. The primary data has been collected from April-July; 2015.

The respondents are selected randomly and interviewed through two different checklists
(one for the beneficiaries and the other for the bank officials). The data are collected from
Dhaka city. Small and medium women entrepreneurs are interviewed. Loan disbursement
procedures of different banks are analyzed to examine the role of Banks in promoting
women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Bank officials of different banks branches are
interviewed to get a clear perception about the process of financial assistance for women
entrepreneurship development.30 women entrepreneurs are interviewed. The major areas
of loan assistance covered by these banks are mainly for beauty parlor, tailoring, butiks and
embroidery, hotel and restaurant, stores, dairy farm and agro-industry etc. The size of the
business is mostly small.

It has been observed that 21.6% of the entrepreneurs spent their earning for maintaining
family expenditure followed by the education of the children and repayments of loan. In
that sense the bank loans help them to increase their social status as well.

In the study it has been found that women entrepreneurs received loans from banks mostly
by their own initiatives and also by availing local level facilities. It is found that one to six
months time is required for new applicants to get their loans and for existing borrowers it
takes only 10 days.

However, the loan disbursements to the women entrepreneurs hampered sometimes due to
e.g., failure of loan repayments in time, lack of communication with banks, expectations of
exemption from loan repayments due to government policy, uses of loan for other
purposes, discontinuation of businesses, management problems, lack of experience,
unwillingness to receive loans due to fear of debt and finally lack of training on the
entrepreneurial activities etc.

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As per Bangladesh Bank suggestion, there should be a separate desk for women
entrepreneurs in every bank branch to facilitate women entrepreneurs and also to create a
friendly atmosphere for them. However, it has been observed that some banks have failed
to do this due mainly to an inadequate numbers of women entrepreneurs as claimed by the
Bank official in the survey.

Analyzing the socio-economic background of the entrepreneurs, it has been found that
highest numbers (17) of the entrepreneurs have their education level up to SSC and 8 (27
%) entrepreneurs have education level up to graduation. Only 5 entrepreneurs have
education level above graduation.

It is found that most of the entrepreneurs are middle-aged group. Majority 18 person
among 30 entrepreneurs (60%) of the entrepreneurs are between 25 to 40 years of age
group.

Most of the entrepreneurs were married (73%).

Majority of the entrepreneurs (56%) had initial capital for business up to Tk. 0.50 lac
which is managed from their own family and/or their own income.

There was lack of experiences among 70% entrepreneurs. Only 30% were experienced.

Banks provided Cash Credit (CC) mainly for large business and Small & Medium
Enterprise (SME) loans, but the highest amount is provided for SME found in the survey.
The lowest duration of loan is one year when highest is 5 years.

The lowest number of installment is one and highest number is twelve.

In the survey, borrowers have been found very punctual in repayment of loan. It has been
observed that 83% of the borrowers (25 among 30 entrepreneurs) repaid their loans timely
and others delayed to repayment due mainly to increasing family expenditure and also
getting troubles from their businesses.

Bank officials help women entrepreneurs in various ways. Some of them assisted the new
applicants to fill-up the loan form and provide other related information. All the borrowers
mentioned that they did not face any obstacles in getting loans from banks.

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It has been found that entrepreneurs started their business with their family labor and hire
labors after that. The total number of labors varies from 2 to 14 and most of them are
skilled.

Regarding the women entrepreneurship development, it has been found that 73.326% of
the entrepreneurs did not receive any training while others received training on cattle
fattening/rearing, sewing/tailoring, beauty parlour, and block/butick and fish culture.

Finally, it is found from the study that due to providing loan and other facilities to SME
women entrepreneurs by banks, the social status of women in the family and in the society
has increased significantly.

In the decision making process now they can contribute more than that of previous time.
They can also create employment opportunity to others and thereby increase standard of
living of their family and as well as economic and social empowerment of other families
which in turn would increase output and income of the country.

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INTRODUCTION

The employment opportunities for women, specially for those who are illiterate & poor,
are very limited in Bangladesh. At least 60 percent of our population lives in moderate or
absolute poverty; women suffer more because of traditional social norms. They have less
access to education, employment and productive resources. Because of limited option of
gainful employment, they most often earn an income which is not adequate for subsistence
level of living. Poverty, pervasive inequality and gender discrimination are major
impediments for Bangladeshi women to achieve self-reliance. Excluding women from the
mainstream development program; institutionalization of a sustainable development
process is just unthinkable.

Our country is a resource-limited and overpopulated one where society is highlystratified,

services and opportunities are determined by gender, class and location. However, women
make nearly half of the population which means huge potential to be utilized for socio-
economic development of the country. Development and enrichment of women
entrepreneurship are the means of promoting national competitiveness and sustainability.
Its represent the individual and community level initiative and contribution towards the
greater national economy, poverty alleviation models pursued by both the GOs and NGOs
consider the above mentioned phenomenon as one of the prior sector of intervention. Half
of the population of Bangladesh is female and it is very important to engage this segment
in greater development of the nation.

1.1 Background of the Study:

In early 1980s, women entrepreneurship development program is initiated by Bangladesh

Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC). Bangladesh government has set
distinct strategies in its National Action Plan (NAP) for the development of women
entrepreneurship that includes tax policy, tax holiday, gift tax, etc. Bangladesh Bank,
NGOs, ADB, BWCCI and UNDP have taken initiatives for promoting women
entrepreneurship in Bangladesh. The study has focused only on the role of banks in
promoting women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh.

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Entrepreneurship is considered as the act of assuming the risk and the tasks of an
entrepreneur. The term entrepreneur has been defined in different ways by many
authors.Following are some of such definitions:

a) The Shorter Oxford Dictionary,1989

Person who starts or organizes a commercial enterprise, especially one involving financial
risk.

b) The New Encyclopedia Britannica:

As the individual who bears the risk of operating a business in the face of uncertainty
about future conditions and who is rewarded accordingly by his profit or losses.

According to the DCCI, the meaning of the term ENTREPRENEUR is expressed by

following qualities:

E = Extra effort
N = New ways of doing business
T = Tactics
R = Revolutionary Outlook
E = Empowerment
P = People-orientation
R = Rational
E = e-solution for Customers
N = Next best Alternative / Next Opportunities (NO)
E = Equity
U = You-first Approach
R = Reassessment of Decisions

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Entrepreneurship is defined by Kuratko D F and Hodgetts R M as The process of
organizing, managing and entrepreneur assuming the risks of a business.

The term entrepreneur and entrepreneurship are interlinked. It is now time for defining
Women Entrepreneurship (WE) to work out priorities in financing. The Industrial Policy
2010 defines a woman entrepreneur as the following: "A woman will be termed as a
woman entrepreneur if she is the 'owner or proprietor of a private or proprietary enterprise'
or 'is the director of a private company' registered with the 'joint stock companies' or
'shareholding enterprise' or owning at least 51.0 per cent shares among the shareholders.

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has defined women entrepreneur for SMEs as one who is the
sole proprietor of an enterprise or has majority shares in the enterprise. This is interpreted
as those who are sole proprietors, or have more than half the shares in partnership/private
limited companies. On the other hand, the financial institutions define women
entrepreneurs as those who are sole proprietors only. As the Industrial Policy 2015 is in
process, a suitable definition should also be spelt out in the new policy and there should be
a clear instruction to maintain a single definition by all related financial institutions.

Society of Bangladesh is a male dominated one. Usually male child gets the priority to get
formal education in our countries. Women have to abide by cultural & religious practices.
They are restricted to go outside & undertake public activity freely. Their responsibility
with the household limits them to take business activity. Female is synonymous with the
household activities epitomized as 3ks; Knitting, Kid and Kitchen.

Bangladesh is one of the countries, which rectified the UN Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The constitution of Bangladesh
also grants equal rights to women and men in all spheres of public life [Article 28(1), and
28(3)2). The Constitution also keeps an obligation for the state to ensure women's active
and meaningful participation in all spheres of public life (Article-10). In response to the
international concern and constitutional commitment, the Government of Bangladesh has
initiated some institutional measures for the enhancement of women's economic position

3
and status in society. The Bangladesh Government has also formed a National Women
SME Forum under the SME Foundation of the Ministry of Industry to promote women's
participation in formal economic sectors. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP),
which is now the main document for national development in Bangladesh, also
incorporated some noteworthy issues to ensure women's participation in social and
economic life. The industrial and SME policies 2005 of Bangladesh Government have
emphasized women entrepreneurship development, particularly in SME sector.
Despite15various initiatives from different corner of the state, the level of participation of
women in the mainstream economic activities, especially private sector, remains
insufficient and the percentage of women in business and industry is still well below than
that of their male counterpart.

Problem Statement of the study :

Women entrepreneurs of Bangladesh face huge difficulties to get financing facilities while
operating or starting a business. There are many social barriers and other obstacles which
deprived them from being successful entrepreneurs.

This study deals with general problems of women entrepreneurship development and role
of bank finance as an important supportive factor in this regard.

In this study, we considered Women entrepreneur is any women who organizes and
manages any enterprise, especially a business.

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1.2 Rationale of the Study:

The choice of this area to study is based on some phenomenons as following:

a) Socio-economic development of Bangladesh and Women Entrepreneurship

Development (WED) are co-existed. (Begum 2001). Entrepreneurship creates the
forces of changes & ultimately accelerates the pace of economic development (Acs
1996).
b) At present women are entering into trades and industries. The government is
making policies & implementing various plans and programmes for WED. Creation
of employment is another important aspect of economic development. Women
Entrepreneurship contributes substantially employment generation ; Entrepreneurs
also promote a better skilled workforce through institutional training & introducing
them with new technologies (Islam and Mamun 2000)
c) It is recognized that women's entrepreneurship can reduce women's poverty and
thus contribute to poverty reduction of our nation aswomen constitute half of the
total population and half of its potential.
d) Economic status of women is now accepted as an indicator of the stage of
development in a country. Women entrepreneurs are coming up with different
ventures but are facing several problems, particularly in the field of access to
finance.

1.3 Objectives of the Study:

The objectives of this study are as follows:

a) To study the role of a bank finance as a support service for the women
entrepreneurship development.

b) To explore the existing barriers of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

c) To explore the recommendations from the women entrepreneurs to overcome

this problems.
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1.4 Methodology of the study:

This study is descriptive in nature. This study has been done on the basis of both primary
and secondary data. Primary data has been collected from April to July; 2015.The
respondents are selected randomly and interviewed. Both qualitative and quantitative
research methods adopting participatory data collection processes were applied to explore
information from different sources. Secondary data are used to analysis the findings in
qualitative manner. For relevant secondary data from reputed journals, books, annual
reports, government policies, CCCI, CWCCI, Publication from Finance Ministry, MIDAS,
BSCIC, WEA, WEAB, DCCI and World Bank, UNDP publications, Bangladesh Bank
publications and study papers was collected. In depth interviews were conducted with
some women entrepreneurs to have the overall scenario. The study, in fact, follows the
method of descriptive analysis on related issue of women entrepreneur and development
issue in the context of Bangladesh.

1.5 Limitations of the study:

Due to shortage of time, only a few numbers of entrepreneurs have been

covered by this study.

The list and address of entrepreneurs were not available always. They were
very busy too.

Loan regarding informations are not allowed to be discussed by bank

officials.

In many cases, up to date information is not published.

There was shortage of fund as well as manpower, so the study is confined

within a limited range.

Lesser experience: Experience makes a man efficient; I do such kind of

research activity for the first time. Thats why inexperience creates obstacle
to follow the systematic and logical research methodology.

Most of the women entrepreneurs dont feel comfortable to discuss about

financial situations of their businesses.

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1.6 Organization of the Paper

The study is organized in eight sections. The first section describes the introduction,
objectives, background, rationale,methodology and limitations.Section two reviews the
Literature. Section three describes theloan products for Women entrepreneurs from five
commercial banks in our country. Section Four containsInstitutional Support for Women
Entrepreneurship Development. Section Five presents major findings of the study: Women
Entrepreneurs Barriers, Profile study of sampled Women Entrepreneurs and Access to
finance for Women Entrepreneurs.Section Six analyses few real life experiences. Section
Seven suggest Recommendations. Section Eight discuss conclusions.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

A number of studies (e.g., Faraha, 2009, Lovely, et.al 2012; ADB 2012; MIDAS 2009)
have shown that involvement ofwomen in entrepreneurial activities can improve their
social status and contribute to economic growth. Normally microand small and medium
entrepreneurships (MSE) are the channels through which rural poor especially the
mostmarginalized and vulnerable sections of the community such as rural women, youth
and the landless, can diversify theirincomes, create new sources of economic growth and
generate additional employments (including self-employment) inthe rural areas. It has been
observed that womens little participation in the income generating activities and
theirinsignificant contributions in the cash income of the family have made them
vulnerable socially and economically. Thefindings and issues of the previous related
studies have been reviewed to focus on further potentiality of this sector.

Khatun (2014) conducted a study on 129 women entrepreneurs in Dhaka divisions namely,
Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, and Savar. Regarding problems faced in acquiring loans;
sixty-nine percent of the entrepreneurs reported that they faced problems in getting credit.
Out of the 40 entrepreneurs who faced problems in obtaining loans, 70 percent said that
time constraint was a problem. Forty-five percent of the entrepreneurs said that bank
employees are not cooperative. About thirty-eight (37.5) percent said that
collateral/mortgage was a problem that they faced. Approximately 30 percent of the
surveyed entrepreneurs said that they did not face any problem during the loan process. Of
those who faced a problem (90 entrepreneurs), the majority (61 percent) reported providing
all required documents was a problem that they encountered during the process of
obtaining the loan.

A joint study by Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Agricultural and Rural Development
(2013) conducted in 8 State Owned Commercial and Specialized banks, 19 bank branches
and 182 women entrepreneurs from six divisions for the sample period from December,
2012 to March, 2013 found that banks were able to fulfill the demand for loans by the
women entrepreneurs entirely.Twelve (63 percent) bank officials opined about proper loan

8
realization from female entrepreneurs without pursuing, and other 37 percent mentioned
that banks have to chase the entrepreneurs to realize the loan in time. It was observed that
annual return from investment using bank loans increased up to 0.50 lakh in 2011 from
0.20 lakh in 2009 indicating an improved socio-economic condition of the entrepreneurs as
their self-sufficiency had increased; they could run business by their income, generate
employment for themselves and other women as well which has contributed to decreasing
household poverty. The major areas of their expenditure are expenditure on necessary
goods for the family members, education of children, loan repayments, etc. which in turn
help families to develop human resources and expand the business.

A joint report on the Women Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh by Asian Development Bank

(ADB) and Australian Governments (2012) found that womens entrepreneurship can
increase family income and thus contribute to poverty reductions.

Asian Development Bank in consultation with the Bangladesh Womens Chamber of

Commerce and Industry (BWCCI), the Women Entrepreneurs Association (WEA), and
Micro Enterprise Development Assistance and Services (MIDAS) (2009) have identified a
set of barriers to women entrepreneurship development (in Bangladesh). In addition to
persistent gender biases and gender-based discriminatory laws and regulations, the
consultations identified three critical impediments to women entrepreneurship.These relate
to women entrepreneurs' limited access to skills and technology; financial resources and
services; and market information and business services particularly backward and forward
linkage opportunities.

Chowdhury(2011) mentioned that many women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, face various

problems in businesses that include lack of capital, insufficient experience, unavailability
of raw materials, lack of marketing opportunities, difficulties in attainment of skilled
workers and challenges of account keeping, delay in loan processing, problems involved in
production, infrastructure problems, freedom of movement, male dominated social
structure, harassment of law enforcing agents, non-cooperation of the whole sellers and
irregular cash payments hampering the smooth running of their business.

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SME Foundation (2009, SMEF) conducted a study on women entrepreneurs through an
extensive survey by randomly selecting 34 districts of Bangladesh. The study shows that
there is a positive relationship between women entrepreneurship and economic
development of Bangladesh. The study also indicates socio-cultural, educational and legal
barriers and the problems of exclusion of women from access to market, technology and
finance to the development of women entrepreneurship.

Access to capital/finance was found to be one of the major problems identified in the study
conducted by the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Credit (2008, BWCCI)
in cooperation with the Centre for International Private Enterprises (CIPE). This study
mentioned that family is the main sources of their starter capital. It was evident from their
study that commercial banks, both public and private, did not play their due roles in
promoting women entrepreneurs. It was also observed in their study that about 65 percent
of the respondents did not know anything about the Bangladesh Bank policy on
refinancing scheme for women SME. Among 35 percent of the respondents, that are aware
of the circular issued by the Bangladesh Bank in promoting women entrepreneurship in
Bangladesh, 79 percent of them got information from BWCCI through its various activities
like seminar, workshops and training. Although 35 percent of the total respondents heard
about the circular, 59 percent of them did not know about all provisions of the
circular.Inadequate information dissemination process contributed to the hindrance of the
proper implementation of policy to facilitate women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh.

Lovely, et.al (2012) has identified a set of problems for the women entrepreneurs in
Bangladesh. Of which, lacking of adequate starting capital is one of the main problems for
the women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. The study is done on the basis of secondary data.
Generally, women start their business with limited capital accumulating from the
familysavings and the relatives and other sources. Collateral is another obstacle as
identified in the study. Because women often do not have fixed capital such as land to use
as collateral or a guarantor to get a small loan from the bank. On the otherhand, bank

10
charges around 13% of interest for SMEs loans and 10% for women entrepreneurs which
is higher as compared to neighboring countries (India charges 5 to 7%), thus making it
difficult for the sustainability of SMEs in a competitive global market. Lack of information
on domestic and international market is another barrier found in the study. The lack of
adequate infrastructure facilities in the rural and urban areas is severe in some respects.
Inadequate supply of electricity and gas badly affect the production process.

Women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh face unique societal issues (BWCCI 2008).

Consequently, womens micro-entrepreneurial capacity would go a long way by
developing their ability to identify and capitalize different opportunities and empower
them economically and socially (Shane 2003).

Spouses are generally not very involved in their wives businesses, are not supportive of
them and expect them to continue with their household duties despite the demands of their
business (Goffee and Scasse, 1985). This is not surprising for until recently females were
confined to private and domestic roles. But the role of entrepreneur does not conform to
the traditional roles that females are expected to play in society. These issues, and others,
may result in more family conflicts for females than their husbands (World Bank, 2012).

Given the differences in economic, cultural and technological environment between a

developing nation like Bangladesh and the developed world, it is likely that some of the
findings are not applicable to the developing world in general and that of Bangladesh in
particular. For example, the research in developed nation does not consider religion as a
constraint but religion is a big factor for women in Bangladesh. The women of Bangladesh
have more social responsibility than their counterpart in the developed world. Given the
complexities in the social environment and administrative structure, women's
entrepreneurship in Bangladesh is more challenging. The bottom line of the literature
review is that development of women entrepreneurship is an integral part of the economic
development of Bangladesh.

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BANK FINANCE TO THE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

The commercial banking system dominates Bangladesh's financial sector. Bangladesh

Bank is the Central Bank of Bangladesh and the chief regulatory authority in the sector.
The banking system is composed of four state-owned commercial banks, five specialized
banks, thirty eight private commercial banks, one land development bank and nine foreign
commercial banks. The Nobel Prizewinning Grameen Bank is a specialized micro-finance
institution, which revolutionized the concept of micro-credit and contributed greatly
towards poverty reduction and the empowerment of women in Bangladesh.
One most pertinent issue to be kept in mind that bank fianc is not the only determinant of
development of entrepreneurship in general and women entrepreneurship in particular.
There are a wide ranging factors ( classified as stimulating , supporting and sustaining )
which act interdependently(not independently) for the matter of entrepreneurship
development .Therefore, it is very difficult to isolate a contributing factor (such as bank
finance) and ensure its individual contribution towards women entrepreneurship
development. (Dr. Bandana Saha).
Entrepreneurship and innovation rate of a country determine its growth rate and
development potential. To spur the economic growth through innovation, promoting
entrepreneurship development in our country is necessary.

Entrepreneurship development with special emphasis in women entrepreneurship, new

enterprise creation and enhancing access to formal financial system by the cottage, micro
and small enterprises are in the forefront of Bangladesh Banks initiatives.

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For the time shortage and other limitations, here five commercial banks with their loan
products for women entrepreneurs have been discussed briefly.

1. AB Bank Limited : Loan product for women entrepreneurs

PRODUCT NAME: AWPARAJITA

Purpose A loan facility for meeting working capital requirement as well as

fixed investment in businesses for women entrepreneurs

Loan Amount Maximum: TK 2 Crore(Collateral free maximum Limit is TK 25 lacs)

Tenor Maximum 3 (three) years

Security and/ or (i) Hypothecation of stock and/or book debts

Collateral
(ii) Registered mortgage of properties/ tripartite agreement for shop or
business premises.

(iii) PG of the spouse of the borrower; in case of unmarried customer,

father/ mother or any other able family member

Determination * Limit will be determined by the stock and/or volume of sales.

of Limit * Loan amount will be maximum 80% of the proposed additional

investment/expenditure

Repayment Through EMI/Lump sum/ continuous payment like OD

Keeping pace with the ongoing progressive changes in SME sector in Bangladesh AB has
been relentlessly serving the entrepreneurs establishing a separate division named SME
Division since 2008 to give emphasis on SME financing, to ensure regulation, supervision
and monitoring of SMEs. SME Division is the focal point of all SME related issues,
programs and projects and responsible for providing best financial solution to its
customers. AB Bank operates its SME programs through its 86 branches and 11 SME
Centers across the country. SME Desks and Women Entrepreneurs Dedicated Desks
have been established in every branch.

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 2. PRIME Bank Ltd : Loan product for women entrepreneurs

PRODUCT NAME: ANCHOL

Purpose Anchol is the credit facility for the women entrepreneurs to expand
and operate their businesses at desired level.

Key Features Any justifiable business purpose for Small Enterprise women
entrepreneurs

Eligibility Age: At least 21 years

Any entrepreneur having the experience of successfully

managing the business for at least two years may apply for
the loan.

Loan Amount Tk 1 lac to Tk 50 lac (upto Tk. 25.00 lac unsecured limits)

Interest rate 10% p.a.

Tenure Maximum 12 months for continuous loan and Maximum 60 months

for term loan

Security/Collateral Registered mortgage of property/ownership of the

space/possession purchased in Banks name

Hypothecation of machineries, equipments, vehicles,

inventories

Lien of cash collateral (FDR) and other encashable financial

instrument.

The loan product Anchol serving the purpose to help emerging women entrepreneurs very
well.

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 3. BANK ASIA Ltd: Loan product for women entrepreneurs

PRODUCT NAME: SUBARNO

Purpose Subarno is the credit facility for the women entrepreneurs of Sole
Proprietorship Firms, Partnership Firms, Private limited Companies
etc

Key Features Designed to meet financing need for business expansion and
for purchase of fixed of assets

For unsecured three (3) personal guarantors acceptable to the

Bank and society.

For secured limit resident / commercial / industrial property/

en-cashable securities are accepted collaterals.

Eligibility Minimum two years business operation.

Valid Trade License.

Relevant pre-requisites as desired by the bank from time to

time.

Loan Amount Term loan without collateral Tk 2 lac to Tk 8 lac for all
Women Entrepreneurs from any sector.

Term loan with collateral above Tk. 8 lac to 50 lac all Women
Entrepreneurs from any sector.

Interest rate Attractive rate of interest.

Bank Asia has been sincerely putting its efforts to amplify its SME related activities
through diversified product & services like Subarno.

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 4. ONE BANK LTD: Loan product for women entrepreneurs

PRODUCT NAME: ROMONI

Purpose Romoni is a term loan for small scaled business operated by women
entrepreneurs.

Key Features Target customers are small enterprises as defined by

Bangladesh Bank with minimum two years experience

Easy loan processing

Eligibility Any kind of business having valid trade license, which is at

least 2 years of old.

Sole proprietorship, Partnership or Private Limited Company

Small sized business (Production, Trading, Service and others)

Loan Amount Tk 2 Lacs to Tk 25 Lacs.is offered to meet business needs.

Interest rate 10% P.A. (against the refinance scheme of Bangladesh Bank)

Tenor Term Loan (1 year to 3 years)

Personal guarantees of two persons acceptable to OBL
Security/Collateral Hypothecation of fixed and floating assets of the business

For better service to our SME clients, OBL has SME Help Desk and Women
Entrepreneur Dedicated Desk at every branch. We have already assigned an officer as
Focal Person at Head Office to receive any query/ objection from the clients. The name,
designation and phone number of Focal Person are available at all branches.

16
 5. DUTCH BANGLA BANK Ltd : Loan product for women
entrepreneurs

PRODUCT NAME : SMART WOMEN Entrepreneurs Financing

Purpose To meet the fund requirement of business set up by the Women

Entrepreneurs
Easy terms and conditions
Key Features Available through all DBBL Branches
No processing and renewal fees
Quick approval process

No hidden costs

Target customers are Cottage, Micro, Small and Medium

Enterprise operated by women entrepreneurs

Eligibility Nationality: Bangladeshi by birth

Experience: As a woman entrepreneur, must have experience

at least 3 (Three) months

Age : Minimum 21 years ,

Maximum age at the end of loan tenure, 65 year

Loan Amount Minimum: TK. 100,000/-

Maximum: TK. 10,000,000/-

Interest Rate 10% p.a. with monthly/quarterly rests (Subject to availability of

Refinance facility from Bangladesh Bank)

Tenure Term Loan: From 12 months to 60 months

Cash Credit: 01(one) year and renewable

Women entrepreneurs are actively entering into business and increasing their contributions
to national economy. Keeping this in mind, DBBL has undertaken steps especially for
Women Entrepreneurs to bring them in the main stream for rapid economic growth of the
country.

17
Institutional Support for Women Entrepreneurship Development

Bangladesh inherited a mixed economic system at the time of Liberation in 1971. The
immediate decision of the newly established government was to rehabilitate and
reconstruct the war-ravaged infrastructure, resettle and restart the industrial sector. All the
industrial enterprises, banks and other ventures were nationalized. The public sector played
a commanding role. But within a short span of time it was recognized that the performance
of the public sector was not satisfactory as there was lack of capable management. The
government announced its first Industrial Policy (IP) in 1973, the industrial investment
policy (IIP). The process of privatization thus started. Womens involvement in economic
and industrial development and participation was given importance.

1) Bangladesh Bank Policy:

Considering the role of the participation of women entrepreneurs in SME sector

Bangladesh Bank has formulated a guideline named Small and Medium Enterprise
(SME) Credit Policies & Programs. The following steps have been taken by banks &
financial institutions to ensure more institutional financial facilities for the women
entrepreneurs in SME sector. With a view to organizing and making industrial
development and to provide institutional credit facilities, at least 15 percent of total BB
refinance fund for SME sector has been allocated to women entrepreneurs.

a)Interest rate on loan for women entrepreneurs under the refinance scheme of Bangladesh
Bank has fixed at the Bank Rate (which is at present 5percent) plus maximum 5 percent,
i.e. not more than 10 percent per annum.

b) Participation of women entrepreneurs in industrial development of the country and for

conducting business activities by women entrepreneurs in a large scale, banks/financial
institutions are advised to put highest priority on the loan application of small and medium
women entrepreneurs and settle the loan disbursement process within a very reasonable
time from the date of acceptance of the application.

18
c) Banks and financial institutions are advised to take the initiative to advertise all the
facilities for women entrepreneurs in both electronic & print media.

d) Banks and Financial Institutions may provide a maximum loan facility of Taka 25,
00,000/- against personal guarantee when the borrower is woman or woman/womens
ownership of the enterprise is above 50 percent. In that case, group security/social security
may be considered.

e) Bank and financial institutions are advised to establish a separate Women Entrepreneurs
Dedicated Deskin their every branch headed by skilled and experienced woman official.
Branch wise list of Women Entrepreneurs Dedicated Desk should be sent to SME and
Special Programs Department (SMESPD) of Bangladesh Bank within two months from the
date of declaration of this policy and program.

f) Banks/Financial Institutions have also recommended establishing a special advice and

service center for women entrepreneurs in selected branches and ensure service friendly
approach towards women.

g) To identify the real women entrepreneurs, assistance can be sought from Bangladesh
Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), SME Foundation & Professional
organizations, such as, Handloom/ Handicrafts Association, Mahila Samity, different
Women Entrepreneurs Association, such as, Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce
& Industries (BWCCI), Women Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh (WEAB),
Bangladesh Home workers Women Association (BHWA), National Association of Small
& Cottage Industries of Bangladesh (NASCIB) etc.
To make credit disbursements easier
for women entrepreneurs group-wise SME, loan disbursement arrangement has been
introduced where the lower limit of loan for a single woman entrepreneur has been set at
Tk. 50,000. However, the bank has been added for female entrepreneurs requiring loan less
than Taka 50,000 in such a way that they can apply for SME loan by forming a group for
the equivalent amount of Taka 50,000 or more.

19
2) In the constitution of Bangladesh:

The Articles 26, 27 & 28 of the Constitution of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh have
distinctly mentioned the issue of emancipation and development of the women folk of the
country. The Articles 26 and 27 provide for cultural, social and political development of
the women folk. The Article 28 on the other hand mentions the issue of equal economic
right and opportunities and development of women entrepreneurs. The constitution also
includes the issue of the development of the women entrepreneurs.

3) Governments strategies for women entrepreneurship development:

Government has set distinct strategies in its National Action Plan (NAP) for the
development of the women entrepreneurship, which are:
Adoption of a comprehensive sustainable industrial policy that will promote equity
for women and men;
Increase the number of women entrepreneurs;
Ensure womens easy access to markets;
Develop entrepreneurial skills of the women;
Provide infrastructure facilities for women entrepreneurs;
Upgrade technical "know-how" of women and develop technology suitable for
women;
Enable MOI and other related ministries and agencies to address and implement
WID issues in comprehensive and coordinated way for effective implementation of
the Industrial Policy;
Support research, evaluation and action oriented programs of industry particularly
for women engaged in the industrial sector.

The Fifth-Five-Year Plan of the country clearly reflects objectives of the development
policies and National Action Plan (NAP), which commit:

20
 Ensure equal rights of women in all spheres of development, including access to
information, skills, resources and opportunities;
Enhance the participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural
life;
Promote economic self-reliance for women, and generate economic policies that
have positive impact on employment and income of women workers in both formal
and informal sectors;
Create appropriate institutional arrangements with necessary financial and human
resources and authorities at all levels to mainstream womens concerns in all
aspects and sectors of development
Mainstream womens concern in agriculture and rural development, industry and
commerce besides services;
Ensure the visibility and recognition of womens work and contributions to the
economy.

4) Agricultural policy:

All the ministries in the agricultural sector have their national policies. But these policies
recognize women as farmers. Although some actions have been suggested there in to help
agricultural development, in reality, women do not get any advantages from these policies.
A study report has documented that womens share in the total agricultural inputs supplied
by the government institutions is only 14.7 percent (Choudhuri Zohir 2005). The same
study suggested that men receive training mainly in farming and women get training on
poultry farming, as women are not considered to be farmers although the agricultural
policies recognize women as farmers.

21
5) Monetary policy:

The Monetary Policy plays a vital role in facilitating access to credit. Availability of credit
is a necessary condition for developing entrepreneurship. There is no credit policy
targeting exclusively women for development of women entrepreneurship. There are,
however a set of credit directives issued by Bangladesh Bank (BB). In these credit
directives, a lot of flexibility has been provided to help women get credit on easy terms.
There is also no policy prescription in the Industrial Policy of Bangladesh, providing that
bank and other financial institutions should have special arrangements for financing
women enterprises.
A gender specific policy has been adopted only in case of opening of branches for women
by some commercial banks. All the nationalized banks have women branches. But women
branches aim at mobilizing savings from women rather than providing loans to women for
investment. For this reason, these branches have not been of much help to women
entrepreneurs.

6) Credit policy:

Credit plays a central role in industrial development. So access to credit facilities in the
modern economic world is a determining factor of the level of economic activity and
growth.
Academicians and people from the practical field also have emphasized the necessity of
credit for the promotion of women entrepreneurs in various ways. According to Dr.
Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank, credit creates hope and ambition for change in the
women business peoples and potentials entrepreneurs. Jennifer Riria-Ouko, Managing
Director of Kenya Women's Finance.

22
7) Bangladesh Womens Foundation:

Bangladesh Womens Foundation evolved as an independent body of Womens Fund in

Bangladesh since 2003 to invest in womens leadership and empowerment to bring
positive change in their livelihood. It has been working towards mobilizing, networking
and institutional capacity building to support leadership amongst the local womens NGOs
that working in the grassroots level and lacks of access to external or local financial
resources. At present approximately 8189 NGOs that have been registered by the Ministry
of Women and Children Affairs, are smaller in size, remoteness, lack of skill to develop
project proposal, language barriers, sophistication and lack of access in to informational
and professional approach. BWF has mobilized and established a network with 1300 Local
Women Organization in 64 districts since 1995 and since 2003 it has been started its
fundraising and grants making with the initial fund from Global Fund for Women.
Subsequently, raised fund from other sources and so far supported the leadership and
capacity building to some 500 local Women organization and grants to 34 women
organizations and groups. (http://www.bdwf.org/)
The Vision of Bangladesh Womens Foundation is to increase the self-reliance of the
womens groups towards supporting womens initiatives focused on human rights, gender
equality and improved conditions of women and children in Bangladesh.
To achieve the vision BWF sets mission is to create an enabling environment for
connecting rural women into national womens movement. To this end, the organization
aim to invest in womens leadership, personal and political empowerment and enabled
women to initiate their own solution in poverty, political deprivation and human rights
abuses and extreme vulnerability and insecurity through human skill development and
financial resources to equip women with the best possible way to lead solution.

23
Major Findings and Discussion:

5.1 Women Entrepreneurs Barriers at a glance:

a) Financial problems:

Lack of property right: Women have no land property though they have
no documents on land. As they lack property right they are unable to
show any collateral for getting loan.

Bank wants a lot of particulars, but it is not possible to provide by

women entrepreneurs. Sanctioning of loan to the women entrepreneurs
informally requires husbands or third party made guarantee.

Lack of information regarding bank loan is a barrier. Many women

entrepreneurs lack knowledge about banking procedure.

Those who are aware of the procedure could not keep track due to long
time taken in sanctioning and disbursement the loan.

Complicated loan form creates problem. Some women entrepreneurs are

psychologically afraid of the regular interest charged on the loan
amount.

Lack of cooperation of bank officials. Some of the sampled complained

about maltreatment by bank officials while approaching for bank loan.

24
b) Lack of ICT knowledge and skills:

Information and communication technology can play a vital role for an

entrepreneur. But most of the women entrepreneurs are not aware and efficient
in this section. Reasons behind this situation are following:

Lack of information
Lack of knowledge about how to use the information
Capacity building and training
Lack of training of women entrepreneurs
Lack of post training facilities
Lack of need based technical training
Lack of skill on product design
Lack of Modern technology

c) Lack of professional skills: Their lack of knowledge in keeping account,

estimating cost and profit and determination of price adversely affect their
operation.

d) Lack of Mass-Media Involvement: In modern days without publicity of the

products its not possible to win the market. Thats why mass media
involvement is necessary but women entrepreneurs are not involved with
these.

e) Social obstacles/Social mind set: As our socio-cultural norms restrict the

physical mobility of women, their access to market for raw materials and

25
 finished products and as well as collection and payment of cash from
customers and suppliers are being hampered.

f) Marketing: Problems relating to exploration of home and foreign market for

their products. In this sector, women entrepreneurs are very much
vulnerable.

g) Lack of Knowledge and skill for design and product development.

h) Lack of leadership: For being a successful entrepreneur, the quality of a

good leader is must. Unfortunately, maximum women entrepreneurs are not
able to maintain it. The reasons are these:

Lack of education
Less confidence of women entrepreneurs
Lack of opportunity due to patriarchal mind set
Dependency on male.

i) Violence against women: Our social context is not women friendly. There
are many phenomenons which are responsible for failure of a women
entrepreneur. For example :

Have no access to decision making process in their family

Acid throwing
Physical and mental torture.
Have to pay dowry for daughters marriage ceremony
Sexual harassment.

26
 5.2 Profile study of sampled Women Entrepreneurs:

In this study, the field level data is collected mainly from primary sources like women
entrepreneurs and bankers. We have surveyed 30 Women entrepreneurs taking bank loan
from several commercial banks. Women entrepreneurs are selected from different
educational backgrounds, marital status, ages, with training & without training, with
experience & without experiences etc. In addition, 15 bank officials of the selected banks
are interviewed for opinion survey at random basis.

1. Educational Background :

Particulars Upto SSC Upto Above

Graduate Graduate

Number 17 8 5

Percentage 57 27 16

upto ssc
upto graduation
above graduation

Fig1: Educational Backgrounds of Women entrepreneurs

Analyzing the socio-economic background of the entrepreneurs, it has been found that
highest numbers (17) of the entrepreneurs have their education level upto SSC and 8 (27%)

27
entrepreneurs have education level uptograduation. Only 5 entrepreneurs have education
level above graduation.
2. Marital Status :

Particulars Married Single Others

Number 22 6 2

Percentage 73 20 7

Married
Single
Others

Fig 2: Marital status of Women entrepreneurs.

Most of the entrepreneurs were married (73%).In the social context of Bangladesh, girls
are getting married earlier. Moreover, maximum person in this survey belongs to middle
aged group. This may be another cause of 73% entrepreneurs for being married.

28
3. Training :

Particulars With Training Without Training

Number 8 22
Percentage 27 73

With Training
Without Training

Fig 3: Training scenario among Women entrepreneurs

In the survey, borrowers have been found with huge necessity of training. Only 27 %
women entrepreneurs were trained. This is one of the most prominent lacking among
women entreprepreneurs in Bangladesh.

29
4. Experience :

Particulars With Experience Without Experience

Number 9 21

Percentage 30 70

With Experience
Without Experience

Fig 4: Experience scenario among Women entrepreneurs

There was lack of experiences among 70% entrepreneurs. Only 30% were experienced.
Due to this lacking of experience, women entrepreneurs have to take risks in business.

30
 5. Sectors of Operation

Particulars Manufacturing Embroidery/Tailoring/handicrafts Others

Number 6 19 5

Percentage 20 63 17

Manufacturing

Embroidery/Tailori
ng/handicrafts
Others

Fig 5: Sectors of Operation among Women entrepreneurs

It has been found that most of the women entrepreneurs are involved with
Embroidery/Tailoring/handicrafts businesses. Only 20% were involved with
manufacturing.

31
 6. Receiving Bank Loan at the very first attempt :

Particulars Yes No

Number 7 23

Percentage 23 77

Receiving bank loan at the very first attempt is not easy. Maximum women entrepreneurs
were not very comfortable with bank loan form fill up and other rules, regulations.

7. Was this bank loan helped at your business?

Particulars Yes No

Number 30 0

Percentage 100% 0

Each of the sampled women entrepreneurs agreed that bank loan helped in their businesses.
They used it to expand their businesses, to buy fixed assets, to increase capital etc

32
 8. Have you ever failed to repay your bank loan timely?

Particulars Yes No

Number 5 25

Percentage 17 83

In the survey, borrowers have been found very punctual in repayment of loan. It has been
observed that 83% of the borrowers (25 among 30 entrepreneurs) repaid their loans timely
and others delayed to repayment due mainly to increasing family expenditure and also
getting troubles from their businesses.

Source: Primary survey for the study.

33
5.3 Access to finance for Women Entrepreneurs

Access to finance is a key issue for women. Accessing credit, particularly for starting an
enterprise, is one of the major constraints faced by women entrepreneurs. Women often
have fewer opportunities than men to gain access to credit for various reasons, including
lack of collateral, an unwillingness to accept household assets as collateral and negative
perceptions of female entrepreneurs by loan officers. In South Asia, women are almost
invisible to formal financial institutions - they receive less than 10per cent of commercial
credits (Mahbub ul Haq human Development Center, 2000).

When women do have access to credit it is often in small amounts, whether this suits their
needs or not. Differential access to credit may of course be a reflection of differences in the
choice of sector, educational level or the amount of loan requested.

However, as sector choice and educational levels tend to be limited or influenced by

gender, one could say that any differential access based on this motive is indirectly caused
by gender perceptions. In addition to this, women entrepreneurs in developing countries
continue to suffer from poor overall assets, poor enforcement of financial rights and the
existence of unequal inheritance rights and consequently poor access to community and
social resources. Gender-based obstacles - conventional thinking, cultural and social
values, and lack of collateral - all aggravate the difficulties faced by women. High
transaction costs, the rigidity of collateral requirements and heavy paperwork are further
impediments to women entrepreneurs.

Women, in particular the less educated ones, also find it more difficult to get financing
from banks because they lack information on how to go about securing a loan. Moreover,
bank managers are often more reluctant to lend to women than to men. Sometimes, credit
may be available for women through several schemes but there are bottlenecks and gaps,
and the multiplicity of schemes is often not adequately listed nor is there networking
among agencies. As a result, clients approaching one institution are sometimes not made

34
aware of the best option for their requirements (Vishwanathan, 2001). In many countries,
women face unequal inheritance practices and laws, discriminatory laws on ownership of
property or access to bank loans, or discriminatory practices by banks. In the area of
guarantees, several discouraging habits have becoming rained in financial institutions and
banks, such as requiring male members to accompany women entrepreneurs for finalizing
projects proposed by women, as well as almost invariably insisting on guarantees from
males in the family (Common wealth Secretariat, 2002).

All women entrepreneurs acknowledge that financing is a crucial problem for them as they
get very seldom support in this regard from their husbands. Because of lack of finance
most robust idea of women entrepreneurs could not be realized. They mentioned that bank
credit is related with collateral, which only a very few women can manage. Besides,
interest rate is very high and constrained with many hassles and bribes. NGOs provide loan
at 15 percent interest, which is very high. The loan is very small and the recovery starts
from the next week, which does not give them the least time to produce goods. As a result
the client has to pay from the loan amount without producing and selling.

Women entrepreneurs often have difficulty gaining access to credit. In some cases this is
due to the smaller loans requested by women, which are not profitable for formal financial
institutions to deliver. In other situations, banks may not have enough information about
clients, making them unwilling to lend money due to the perceived risk involved and
unproductive use of loans for the dowry payment of daughter. Often opportunities are
fewer for women to gain access to credit for various reasons, including lack of collateral,
an unwillingness to use household assets as collateral, the small amounts of credit
requested and negative perceptions of female entrepreneurs by loan officers. When women
do have access to credit it is often for small amounts, whether this suits their needs or not.
As sector choice tends to be limited by gender, any differential access based on this motive
is indirectly caused by gender perceptions.

35
FEW REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES

1) ROUDROMOY BEAUTY PARLOUR:

Being a housewife in Dhaka, Mrs Khusi zaman had time on her hands to pursue her
creative interests. She and two other friends together started opening a beauty parlor in
khilgoan, Dhaka to earn some money as well as utilize their free time.

But the strong opposition from in-laws and managing a kid did not put the brakes on
Khusi's dreams to shine as an entrepreneur. She set up the parlour Roudromoy beauty
parlour at 2007 with 5 women workers. Before starting work however, she trained the
women for three to four months on parlour services.
Her journey towards becoming a successful businesswoman was never smooth. She had to
overcome social and family opposition to succeed in the business. My in-laws did not like
that. But I had no other alternative either. I had to go. Her capital was also very small so
the thought of abandoning her venture also crossed Khusis mind several times as she
could not take the pressures of opposition. But the very next moment, she would try to
focus on her duties.

It was 2009 when this young entrepreneur took loan from NCC bank Ltd, Malibagh
branch. Besides she attended several training programs about Business management,
Entrepreneurship development, Marketing, Anti-Corruption etc so that her business can
excel.
I have learnt important marketing mechanisms and business management skills from these
trainings which I implemented in my business and came to this position today. She
recently started tailoring &handicraft business as an expansion of her venture.

After 8 years of her journey, Mrs Khusi is regarded as a successful entrepreneur. Her main
satisfaction is in the fact that she has been able to create jobs for over 35 women, mostly

36
needy, destitute and divorced. The 31-year-old now plans to set up a boutik house on a
large scale that will create jobs for at least another 30 women in her locality.

2) Monowara's Story : An entrepreneur with hope

Monowara, a housewife of Dhaka started her venture with a small poultry business. But
due to lack of technical knowledge, she could not sustain it for a long time. Though
disheartened by the failure, she was not willing to give up her dream to become a self-
dependent business woman. She started again in 2000 with some money she saved before.
This time she set up a handloom factory in one portion of her house and also a Boutique
shop in the city market. Her heart was filled with big hopes for the future, but again her
little business knowledge was hindering the smooth growth of her business.

Monowara heard about Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(BWCCI) from a friend who suggested her to become a member. She followed her
friends suggestion and started participating in the chamber activities actively. With the
eagerness to learn, Monowara grasped every opportunity she got from the chamber to
participate in capacity development trainings on topics like Business Management &
Communication, Accounting & Book Keeping, fashion designing, Product development
etc. She also took part in different advocacy workshops organized by the Chamber where
she heard and learnt about different issues faced by women entrepreneurs like her and how
they dealt with those issues.

At the beginning of her journey, Monowara used to take loans from NGOs with high
interest which actually served her purpose a little rather captivated her in a vicious loan
circle. She learned from the Chamber that Women entrepreneurs are entitled to have SME
loans from banks.Hopeful with this knowledge, she started applying in different
banks only to her despair. At first she faced few problems to get loan. After struggling a lot
& managed collateral, Monowara got her first loan of Taka 3 lac which she invested in her
shop. She made a regular repayment of her first loan and again took another 5 lac taka to

37
expand her business. She was inspired again to go with her dream and she is determined to
reach the zenith of success being an entrepreneur.

3) Farida Handicraft: Breaking barriers brought her success

Farida Begum was born in a family of Sataranji (handmade carpet) makers. When she was
growing up, she also learnt the skills behind Sataranji making. In 1997 just after her
marriage, she decided to start a business using her skills thus improving her family income.
Her husband supported her initiative but the initial capital was very little. She started
making Sataranjis and selling them from door to door. Day by day her business made slow
progress and she engaged few other local women to work for her. But Farida was not
happy with her business because her marketing opportunities were very narrow and she
was selling her products only in her own locality.

It was then when she came to know about Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (BWCCI) from some local women entrepreneurs and decided to become a
member in 2010. The Chamber was implementing a capacity building project in
cooperation with US Embassy in Rangpur for women artisans like her at that time. Under
that project, Farida received 4 trainings on Entrepreneurship Development and Business
Management, Business Communication and Marketing, Accounting and Book keeping,
and Product Identification, Product and Design Development.

Farida says, I was doing business but I started to think as an entrepreneur after these
trainings. Not only this, Faridas confidence was stronger than before and she took part in
a three days Artisan Fair in Dhaka organized by BWCCI where she made a sale of Tk
22,500/= (USD 304). Farida was encouraged by this new experience because she never
thought she would be able to bring her product in the capital city, let alone make such a
huge sale. She also managed to network with many buyers who already ordered for her
products.

38
Farida also shares, I never knew that banks give loan to small-town entrepreneurs like me.
But now the Chamber has given me the knowledge and I already applied for loan in a bank
which I am hopeful to get very soon. Farida has changed for the better. Farida has learnt
new business strategies. Farida is now on the way to make her business big, thus inspiring
many other women entrepreneurs who would be the change makers of our country one
day.

39
Recommendations:

a) Proper training is needed for development of skill of the staff and laborers to raise the
production targets and quality of the enterprise. Women entrepreneurs also need training to
increase efficiency for better marketing of their products and understand business climate.

b) Loans need to be provided on easy terms and conditions.

c) The rate of interests on loans should be reduced to single digit.

d) The entrepreneurs should use the modern information technology to sell their products.

e) In order to get access to the international market, the quality of the products need to be
improved.

f) The government sector should help the women entrepreneurs to get fair price of the
products as well as to ensure low price of raw materials for the entrepreneurs more
frequently.

g) More seminars, workshops and fairs should be arranged for the publicity of their
products.

h) Rural market should be linked with city and export markets so that rural women
entrepreneurs can get more market exposure for their products.

i) For reducing migration of women from rural to urban areas, women entrepreneurship
development should be encouraged in the rural areas.

j) Continue support for women SME helpline centers established by the Industry ministry
to institutionalize them.

40
k) Capacity building training facilities by respective public institutions and ministries for
women SME, particularly for rural women SME.

l) The different technical training needs to be reorganized and regular coaching is needed
until the project beneficiaries are familiar with the technical terminologies.

m) Need to be imparted the business intensive counseling session among the beneficiaries
to identify their business opportunities considering their capacity, feasibility, resources,
etc.

n) Need to be introducing the English learning course.

o) Develop some master trainer through pear process.

41
Conclusion

In Bangladesh, though the majority of the working women still have not been able to
impose a controlling authority in mainstream production, there has arisen a new class-the
women entrepreneurs, who have accepted the challenges of life and have emerged as
leaders in the socio-economic development-earning for themselves and for their families or
contributing towards the socio-political upliftment of the women. Women have now
become aware of their socioeconomic rights and have ventured to avail the opportunities
initiated for them.

Rural Bangladesh is now a changed scenario for the women who have gathered courage to
break barriers and enter off-house working force as entrepreneurs and workers - a situation
not accepted by the society in the past. The urban areas have greater opportunities for
business development but the areas where women lack assistance are in the access to
credit, provision of skill training, and market facilities. Today has become an important
profession among the women of Bangladesh at the various levels of the society, both in the
urban and rural areas. Due to poverty, they have been forced into off-house income
through entrepreneurship for economic solvency, the women of the middle class families,
who have always lived a restricted lives, have today, ventured into this profession as a
challenge and an adventure into a new world of economic activity.

On the other hand, many women have taken up entrepreneurship and become professionals
in order to establish their rights through the development of a sector and thereby contribute
towards the progress of the society and nation. The changing role of women shows that
over the last two decades, there has been a steady upward trend in the participation of
women in economic activities in developing countries including Bangladesh. Despite the
problem of serious under enumeration of women's involvement in economic activities in a
sex-segregated society as ours, the potential of women's economic contribution is now well

42
recognized. Greater participation of women in remunerative work is improving their living
conditions and bargaining positions in the households and wider community.

The intention of this paper is to examine the role of banks particularly the state owned and
specialized banks in promoting women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh. In our study 8
banks, 19 bank branches and their 182 women entrepreneurs from six divisions were
included in the survey. Through the survey it was found that SCBs and Specialized banks
have some role for developing women entrepreneurship although not at mentionable
significance.

The respondents (beneficiaries) belonged to different age groups. It is found that most of
the entrepreneurs are middle-aged group. Majority 18 person among 30entrepreneurs
(60%) of the entrepreneurs are between 25 to 40 years of age group.

It has been found that highest numbers (17) of the entrepreneurs have their education level
upto SSC and 8 (27%) entrepreneurs have education level up to graduation. Only 5
entrepreneurs have education level above graduation.

43
The major areas of findings are as follows:

a) Banks fulfill the demand for loans as claims by the authentic women entrepreneurs
while women entrepreneurs also supports their views.

b) In the survey, borrowers have been found very punctual in repayment of loan. It has
been observed that 83% of the borrowers (25 among 30 entrepreneurs) repaid their loans
timely and others delayed to repayment due mainly to increasing family expenditure and
also getting troubles from their businesses.

c) Majority of the entrepreneurs (56%) had initial capital for business up to Tk. 0.50 lac
which is managed from their own family and/or her own income.

d) The major areas of expenditure are family expenditure, for education of children, loan
repayments etc. which in turn help families to develop human resources. It has been
observed that 21.6% of the entrepreneurs spent their earning for maintaining family
expenditure followed by the education of the children and repayments of loan. In that sense
the bank loans help them to increase their social status as well.

e) It has been observed that 21.6% of the entrepreneurs spent their earning for maintaining
family expenditure followed by the education of the children and repayments of loan. In
that sense the bank loans help them to increase their social status as well.

f) In the survey it was found that there are no loan diversions of the women entrepreneurs.

f) There was lack of experiences among 70% entrepreneurs. Only 30% were experienced.

g) Regarding the women entrepreneurship development, it has been found that 73.326% of
the entrepreneurs did not receive any training while others received training on cattle
fattening/rearing, sewing/tailoring, beauty parlour, and block/ butick and fish culture.

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Finance is one of the tools to empowering women entrepreneurs economically and socially
as well. Often sources of funding are considered as one of the main challenges for the
women entrepreneurship development. To promote female entrepreneurs, Bangladesh
Bank has declared supportive measures so that women can easily avail financial assistance
from banks at a lower cost. For this reason, it is necessary to assess the actual impact of
these policies and suggest further improvement of the process.

The study is conducted to analyze the facts in two broad dimensions: firstly, assessing the
role of banks in promoting women entrepreneurs and secondly, changes in the socio-
economic status of women entrepreneurs. This study investigates various schemes of banks
dedicated to women entrepreneurs, Identified problems in loan distribution, utilization
patterns, monitoring measures of banks, communication gap between the banks,
entrepreneurs and markets, terms and conditions and the assistance provided by the banks.
The later one shed light on the demographic structure of the women entrepreneurs and
changes in socio-economic conditions of the entrepreneurs before and after availing loans
from various sources.

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References:

1. Nawaz, Faraha (2012), Problems of Woman Entrepreneurship Development in

Bangladesh: A Case Study of RAKUB, Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 20 (3): 601 -
614,

2. Chowdhury, M. and M. Rashid (2011), Emerging Women Entrepreneurs in SMEs.

The Daily Star, Monday, April 4th.

3. Chowdhury, Naeem (2006) Creating a Gender Action Plan for Women

Entrepreneurship: Stanching Financing, Marketing, Technology, and Mindset
Gaps, presented in the First National SME Women Entrepreneurs Conference,
August 8, pp 4-5.

4. Fahmida, Khatun, (2014), Access to Credit by Women Entrepreneurs in

Bangladesh: Challenges, Obstacles, and Way Forward, Seminar paper presented at
Bangladesh Bank Training Academy Auditorium, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

5. BB-BARD, Joint study, (2013), The Role of Banks in Promoting Women

Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh, Chief Economist Unit, Bangladesh Bank and
Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), September 2013

6. Parvin, Lovely, JiaJinrong; M.WakilurRahman, (2012) Women entrepreneurship

development in Bangladesh: What are the challenges ahead. African Journal of
Business Management Vol. 6(11), pp.3862-3871, 21 March,

7. Information Brief Micro Entrepreneurship Development for Women and Youth,

REOPA- CST Project,UNDP, www.reopabd.org;

8. Chowdhury, Naeem (2010), A Gender Action Plan: Minding, Financing,

Marketing, Technology and Mindset Gaps, June 2010, pp 25.

9. Sogra K.Z (1994), Women in management Champions of change, University

press limited, pp 108-124.

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Annexure:
Questionnaire:
Banks finance to the women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

Name: 1. Age:
2. Education:
a) No Formal Education b) Up to S.S.C c) Up to H.S.C d) Graduate e) Post
Graduate

3. Profession:
a) Business c) Service b) Student d) Housewives e) others

4. Marital Status:
a) Single b) Married c) Separated d) Widow

5. Business type:
a) Fashion House/ Boutiques / Handicrafts b) Beauty Parlour / Saloon/Spa
c) Agri-farms / Poultry farms d) Manufacturing organization

6. Average Monthly Income:

a) up to 15000BDT b) up to 30000 BDT
c) up to 50000 BDT d) upto75000 BDT
e) up to 100000 BDT

7. Did you receive Bank Loan at the first attempt for your business?
a) Yes b) No

8. How many times have you tried to receive a bank loan financing for your business?
a) 1-5 times b) 6-10 times c) 11-15 times d) More than 15 times

9. Have you ever failed to repay your loan?

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a) Yes b) No
10. Do you think being a women entrepreneur is a problem/ privilege (tick here) to receive
bank loan?
a) Yes b) No
b)

Thanks a lot for your valuable time & cooperation.

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