UNDP and UN Women have launched a joint financing initiative for Afghan women entrepreneurs, according to a UNDP press release. The initiative will expand access to finance for women seeking to start and grow their businesses.
The Afghanistan Women’s Fund for Resilient Enterprises (AWFRE) will provide Sharia-compliant financing. It will come alongside business development support. That support includes financial and digital literacy training, mentoring, business planning and help to access markets.
What the Fund Offers Afghan Women Entrepreneurs
An initial joint investment of USD 1.7 million will support around 1,500 Afghan women entrepreneurs over the next year. The organizations say it will indirectly benefit more than 14,000 people. They point to stronger businesses, household incomes and economic activity.
UNDP and UN Women are also seeking to mobilize an additional USD 10 million. That would enable another 10,000 women entrepreneurs to access financing and business support. It would indirectly benefit an estimated 70,000 people.
A Major Financing Gap
The initiative responds to a major financing gap facing Afghan women entrepreneurs. Fewer than seven per cent of women in Afghanistan have a bank account or use mobile money services. Many women-led businesses therefore rely on personal savings, loans from family and friends, or the sale of personal assets.
At the same time, Afghan women are increasingly turning to entrepreneurship to earn an income and support their families. More than 10,000 Afghan women now hold business licences. That is ten times the number five years ago. The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce estimates another 120,000 are trading without licences.
Women elsewhere face related finance barriers, as in a planned Romanian barometer on access to finance.
Officials Explain the Approach
“The challenge for Afghan women entrepreneurs is not a lack of enterprise, but limited access to the finance, skills and networks they need to grow,” said Turhan Saleh, UNDP Resident Representative in Afghanistan.
Saleh said UNDP and UN Women are bringing these elements together through the initiative. “Sharia compliant, collateral free financing, practical business support and sustained mentorship” will help women strengthen their businesses, build resilience and create more secure livelihoods for themselves and their families, Saleh said.
UN Women Special Representative Susan Ferguson said expanding women’s access to finance was critical to enable women-led businesses to grow. “Afghan women are finding ways to build businesses, despite the many obstacles they face,” Ferguson said.
“Expanding access to finance can help women entrepreneurs turn their ideas and skills into stronger businesses, more jobs and greater economic security for their families and communities,” Ferguson said.
Moving Beyond Small-Scale Businesses
Structured funding is also helping founders elsewhere, as in young entrepreneurs who secured growth through regional support networks. Lower costs of starting a company are a related theme, as in the global push on business registration costs.
UNDP and UN Women say the next step is to raise the additional USD 10 million. The money would extend the initiative to many more Afghan women entrepreneurs. The release asks media with questions to contact the communications teams of UNDP Afghanistan and UN Women Afghanistan.
