Latest news with #Women'sWorldBanking
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
2025 Asia Grassroots Forum in Bali Draws Global Investor Interest in the Grassroots Economy
Robust attendance at the 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum in Bali on May 22, 2025 reflects growing global interest in impact investing in Asia, and highlights the potential of the grassroots economy. BALI, Indonesia, May 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum hosted by Amartha in collaboration with Accion, Women's World Banking and Maj Invest concluded today in Bali. Themed "Scaling Impact, Pioneering an Entrepreneurial Society," the event brought together over 700 investors, policymakers, changemakers, and innovators from more than 15 countries to spotlight the potential of Asia's grassroots economy. "The grassroots economy holds immense untapped possibilities in ASEAN and the Global South," said Amartha Founder and CEO Andi Taufan Garuda Putra. "We know this from our experience at Amartha, empowering over 3.3 million rural borrowers in Indonesia over the past 15 years. Together with our partners and the delegates here today, it is inspiring to see that so many stakeholders, including global players, are increasingly aware and willing to take action." According to the 2024 Impact Investing in Asia Report, global investors are increasing their focus to Southeast Asia, with 49 percent planning to expand their allocations throughout 2025. The report also reported that 89 percent of Asia-focused impact investors surveyed reported that their financial returns were outperforming or performing in line with expectation.[1] Over a full day of dynamic discussions among thought leaders, policymakers, investors, startups, NGOs, innovators and academics, participants explored how to catalyze bottom-up growth, along with its opportunities and challenges. Speakers at the 2025 Asia Grassroots Investments included impact investing representatives from Accion, Women World's Banking, Maj Invest, BEENEXT, LeapFrog, Abler Nordic, UOB Venture Management and Teja Ventures, as well as global banks such as Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank. Also in attendance were policymakers, venture capital firms, BNI Ventures, Mandiri Capital Indonesia, microfinance, fintechs, academics, changemakers and innovators, and more. Njord Andrewes, Managing Partner, Accion Digital Transformation, said, "Companies like Amartha are unlocking the potential of the grassroots economy in a sustainable way, showing that serving this segment can deliver social impact and financial returns. With small businesses vital for the continued growth of emerging markets, there is now global interest in the potential of the grassroots economy. We are partnering with Amartha to provide both strategic support and growth capital, as they connect businesses across Indonesia to responsible financial services for the first time using digital technologies." Within the ASEAN grassroots economy, MSMEs make up 97% of the private sector, contributing to 85% of the labor force, 45% of regional GDP, and 10–30% of exports.[2] However, many MSMEs In emerging economies and developing countries still face significant barriers, the more so for women. For example, women-owned businesses in these areas face an $1.9 trillion financing gap, highlighting the significant barriers women entrepreneurs face in accessing financing.[3] Sanjay Sehgal, Managing Director & CIO of Women's World Banking noted, "We believe gender-lens investment is essential to promoting inclusive growth. Partnering with organizations like Amartha, which shares our commitment to reaching women in underserved rural areas, allows us to design and scale solutions that are truly inclusive. By embedding gender-intentional strategies into financial services, we can close the gender gap and build more resilient, equitable economies for all". Addressing this gap, Amartha's success in using tech to serve rural female micro-entrepreneurs at scale has attracted the support of global institutional investors including IFC, Women's World Banking, Accion, Community Investment Management, and many more. "The aim of the 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum is to build interest and cross-sector partnership from investors and other stakeholders, including policymakers and innovators, to harness technology and capital towards inclusive growth for all," finished Taufan. [1] In Focus: Impact Investing in Asia 2024 [2] Investing in ASEAN: Investment Report [3] MSME Finance Gap Report About Amartha PT Amartha Mikro Fintek (Amartha) has a mission to improve the welfare of the grassroots segment, through digital financial services for the grassroots segment. Founded in 2010, Amartha is now growing to build a microfinance ecosystem through capital loan, risk segmentation and payment services. Amartha advances the bottom of the pyramid by increasing the competitiveness of MSMEs. Thus, we empower more women's MSMEs, create jobs and build more inclusive economic growth. As of September 30, 2024, Amartha, which is licensed and supervised by the Financial Services Authority (OJK), has disbursed working capital loans of more than 35 trillion rupiah to 3.3 million MSMEs, of which more than 90 percent are led by women, spread across more than 50,000 villages throughout Indonesia. About The 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum The 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum, hosted by Amartha, is a critical meeting place for entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and innovators across Asia to address the most pressing challenges in emerging markets. The forum will be held on 21 - 23 May 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua Bali, with the aim of accommodating concrete ideas from stakeholders to generate innovations that drive the progress of the grassroots economy in Asia. Visit View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Amartha Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
WTD 2025: Need for multi-faceted strategies to reduce digital gender divide in India
The theme for World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2025 references the immediate need to address gender inequality in digital spaces, so that women can also benefit from and contribute to digital transformation. The Union Budget 2025-26 indicates a new dawn for rural India's transformation prioritising and ensuring a dignified life for the people of rural India. The budget acknowledges the gender divide and outlines a strong emphasis on gender inclusion, focussing on key areas such as, employment generation, women empowerment and infrastructure development in rural India. A prime example of that would be the Bharatnet Project, which aims to provide unrestricted access to broadband connectivity, ensuring internet access in rural areas. The increased budgetary allocation for rural digital development can be strategised to prioritise digital literacy, specifically targeting women. Bridging the Rural-Urban Divide in Digital India Under the Digital India Initiative, the government has taken several initiatives to connect not only metros but also tier 2 and tier 3 cities as well as rural and remote areas. As per reports, India has over 650 million smartphone users and more than 1 billion internet subscribers, led by the roll-out of 5G and 4G networks, significantly improving internet speeds and connectivity in urban and rural areas. Yet, India continues to have the largest number of unconnected persons that include women, the rural population and children. The exclusion is deeply intertwined with socio-economic factors such as existing disparities in access and opportunities, compounded by issues of limited digital literacy and low per capita income, creating formidable obstacles in the inclusion and empowerment of women in the transformation of digital technologies. Efforts to Empower Women through Technology Technology has democratised access to education and skill development, ensuring women can now acquire new skills and pursue advanced degrees. The eSanjeevani programme has proved one of the most successful undertakings as it has improved quality of life by facilitating quicker, cheaper and high-quality health services, including enabling patients in rural/isolated communities to get outpatient services within the confines of their homes to provide safer 'provider-to-patient' consultations. Digital Tools facilitate Financial Inclusion of Women According to a Women's World Banking report, services like Unified Payment Interface (UPI) have significantly improved women's access to essential services and opportunities, especially by offering a transformative opportunity for women entrepreneurs, fostering financial inclusion. The government has implemented several other initiatives to ensure empowerment of women and girls in educational, social, economic and political spheres through various schematic interventions aiming for digital literacy. The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan under Digital India programme, focuses on digital literacy training, enabling rural citizens to operate computers, send/receive emails and browse internet to empower women. It aims to bridge the digital divide with the rural population including the marginalised sections of society, women and girls by covering 6 crore rural households. At the 2023 UN Session, India announced that about 123 million girls are enrolled in programmes that promote science and technology education in schools, while other initiatives seek to train rural women and those from marginalised segments of society to use mobile phones and other critical tools. Challenges to Transforming India: Exclusion of Women from Digital Spaces Internet usage in India has quadrupled in the last decade. However, this wave of progress has not been gender neutral, as women from India continue to face numerous barriers to online access. Cultural norms and systemic discrimination, including casteism, patriarchy, and economic disparity have all played a role in widening the gender gap in digital access and literacy. As per the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2024, the GSMA reports that mobile phones serve as the primary means of internet access for women in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The report indicates that access to mobile internet has had a transformative effect on women, enabling connectivity and access to essential services such as healthcare, education, and financial resources. The data reports a 14% gender gap in access to mobile internet for women and men in LMICs. However, in the South Asian region, the gender gap is at 32%. As per the United Nations World Population Prospects 2024, statistics indicate that in an LMIC like India, where women form about 48% of the population, their participation in the growth of digital economy is nearly half as that of men, especially in rural India, owing to a pronounced divide in access to the internet for men over women. Opportunities for an Inclusive Digital Transformation To reduce the digital gender gap, a multi-faceted approach is required. The Bharatnet initiative has ensured internet connectivity to even remote villages and rural areas. Initiative like the Digital Subscriber Line network equipment helps deliver high-speed internet connectivity, enabling the delivery of digital literacy and skill training initiatives. In 2023, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women estimated that about $1 trillion could be added to the GDP of a lower-middle-income nation by ending the exclusion of women from the digital sphere. 2.6 billion people, mostly women and girls, remain unconnected due to gaps in access, affordability, and lack of digital skills. Bridging this divide is crucial for economic growth, innovation, and sustainable development. (DISCLAIMER: Views expressed are the author's personal)
