Round II: Women in Business Program in Central Asia (Women of the Steppe)
This program supports Central Asian women in business in the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It takes a holistic approach to breaking down demand-side, supply-side, and business environment constraints that women entrepreneurs face in accessing finance. The EBRD seeks to maximize impact by providing a unique mix of financing, advisory services, and initiating policy dialogue to create lasting systemic change. Women of the Steppe comprises of the following components:
1. Increasing WSMEs’ access to finance by providing dedicated financing for WSMEs, utilizing risk mitigation instruments to promote increased lending to WSMEs, and providing technical assistance to financial institutions to increase their understanding of WSMEs and improve their offerings to the segment.
2. Building networks and increasing access to know-how for WSMEs through tailored advisory services, training, mentoring, and coaching. This will also strengthen their entrepreneurial skills, performance, access to markets and competitiveness, and financial literacy.
3. Supporting policy reform and advocacy to contribute to creating a supportive ecosystem for women’s entrepreneurship. This includes regulatory and legal reforms, awareness raising, and capacity building of critical state and non-state actors on gender-supportive policy.
