Change in mindset must to accept women as bosses

The participation of women in the formal sector of the economy in Bangladesh has increased than before, but still, they are treated as workers only, said Sangita Ahmed, senior vice-president of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

“For example, our garment industry depends on the labour of women. But when a woman becomes the owner of a factory, various problems arise,” she said in an interview with The Business Post on Women’s Day.

“The mindset of the country’s people is yet to be changed to accept women as bosses of males. We, women, are still workers. I can walk alongside men as a worker, but cannot be a man’s boss,” Sangita said.

Talking about the reasons behind such a mindset, she blamed the lack of women’s skills and the non-implementation of policy support at the marginal level.

Sangita said the big problem is not increasing women’s skills. The government is initiating various policy supports for women but the situation remains unchanged as those policies are not implemented fully due to the lack of monitoring.

This woman entrepreneur, who started business at the age of only 20, was involved in making clothes at home and her buyers were the neighbours.

“Now women are entering the mainstream business market, but the problem is they lack the necessary skills needed to compete in this market,” she said.

“In order to do business in the formal market, women need to know the accounting system and open a bank account. They also need a trade license and TIN number even if her income is not taxable. After running a business for two or three years, she will be eligible for bank loans. But if women cannot get these things, then how will they be eligible for bank loans?” she asked.

This woman entrepreneur thinks that to mitigate the skill gap the banks have to come forward and should be more women-friendly.

“As per a Bangladesh Bank policy, 15 per cent of the SME loans have to be disbursed among women entrepreneurs. But that is not being practised by the banks,” she claimed.

“The reality is that small and medium women entrepreneurs are not getting bank loans. If they go to the bank, the bank officials say that the collateral-free loan is over. Ironically, when questioned about the issue, the banks say that they are not getting qualified entrepreneurs,” she added.

Talking about how this situation can be changed, Sangita said, “The monitoring over the implementation of policies has to be increased. Head offices of the banks, as well as the Bangladesh Bank, should monitor how many women entrepreneurs are coming to various branches of the banks, how many of them are rejected, and why.”

“If we don’t monitor, we will hear the same talks repeatedly. The banks would say that they are not getting qualified entrepreneurs, and women will say that they are not getting loans,” she said.

“Besides the bankers should point out what is the problem with loan-seeking women entrepreneurs. Is there any problem with the documents submitted by new entrepreneurs? Do they lack any documents? When banks identify then we can solve the problem,” she said.

Sangita Ahmed said that the Women Chamber has been working for two decades to solve these types of problems. “We are providing all the necessary documentation and training to make the business sustainable for women. So far more than 50,000 women have been trained,” she said.

In response to a question, she said that not only the rural ones, but the urban women entrepreneurs also do not get bank loans as capital for starting a business. There are still many types of complications here.

This woman business leader said, “In my opinion, bankers need to change their attitude towards women entrepreneurs. They need to be more women-friendly. Separate desks should be maintained for women entrepreneurs in remote rural branches.”

Informing that the Asian Development Bank has provided a fund to provide low-interest collateral-free loans to women entrepreneurs, she said, “But that fund is not being used at all. The fund must be used properly to disburse loans among women entrepreneurs.”