Airtel Payments Bank, Frontier Markets and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth launched ‘She Leads Bharat:Udyam’, an initiative to elevate 1,00,000 women-owned small businesses with resources, tools and opportunities to grow and diversify their incomes. The announcement was made at the Asia Inclusive Growth Forum, an event convening over 100 cross-sector leaders for candid, impact-driven dialogues on advancing inclusive growth in India and the global south.

This initiative will enable 100,000 women-owned small businesses in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in this first phase. They will learn and earn via Frontier Markets’ proprietary, flexible Meri-Saheli platform. 

10,000 of these women small business owners will be further enabled to grow their business by becoming Airtel Payments Bank Business Correspondents (BCs) and unlock additional revenue streams. This is aligned with the Bank’s vision of ‘Empowering India with Accessible and Inclusive Banking.’

‘She Leads Bharat:Udyam’ brings together the private sector, social enterprise, and philanthropy in the banking, financial services, and insurance sectors to demonstrate a digital-first model designed to unlock ways for women-owned small businesses to increase their incomes. 

Anubrata Biswas, managing director and CEO of Airtel Payments Bank, said, “We take pride in welcoming them on board as Business Correspondents, joining hands with our existing network of 50,000 women BCs who play a vital role in taking banking and financial services to underserved rural pockets of the country. We look forward to our journey in building a financially inclusive economy.”

The partners envision 'She Leads Bharat:Udyam' helping to expand access to financial services, delivering a new blueprint for serving rural markets and extending women-owned small businesses with support tailored to their needs. 

“More women entrepreneurs are entering India’s workforce and adding energy to the economy. These business owners can expand and become more resilient when they can access credit and digital tools. That’s good for their families, employees and communities. That’s what inclusive growth is all about,” said Ari Sarker, president of Pacific of Mastercard.

Women-owned small businesses face challenges that often prevent them from achieving their full potential. In India, women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) constitute 20 per cent of all MSMEs yet receive only 5 per cent of the total financing provided by public-sector banks, according to an IFC 2018-19 report.

Oxfam’s Digital Divide report in 2022 noted that these women entrepreneurs are often less digitised and receive less training to build their businesses. However, when properly supported, they are more likely to hire other women, more likely to repay credit and share increased income with their families and communities. These serve as core drivers of inclusive economic growth.

Frontier Markets will implement the program and leverage its cadre of Saral Jeevan Sahelis—women entrepreneurs—to identify and onboard women-owned small businesses onto their Meri-Saheli platform. In partnership with Airtel Payments Bank, it will onboard eligible women-owned small businesses as business correspondents and leverage its Saheli network and platform. 

This would increase product and brand awareness and generate leads to maximise their earning opportunities. Additionally, these women-owned small businesses will get access to a suite of tools, resources, and market services available in the Meri-Saheli ecosystem, offering them ways to learn how to run a successful business and earn more revenue. 

“Frontier Markets has built a technology platform investing in the power of women as driving forces for commerce in rural India. Thanks to the leadership of Airtel Payments Bank and support from Mastercard, we can leverage our ten years of efforts to reach a new level of scale, truly combining the best of global leaders' expertise and resources to support our efforts to deepen the impact that rural women have in building thriving rural markets in India,” said Ajaita Shah, founder and CEO, Frontier Markets. “This partnership strengthens and enables social enterprises like us to thrive and implement our goals at scale.” 

Mastercard Impact Fund will fund 'She Leads Bharat:Udyam', and the financial company will bring the catalytic capital and global expertise of its Center for Inclusive Growth to unlock tools, resources, and networks for women-owned small businesses.

Airtel Payments Bank’s ground force and Frontier Markets’ Sahelis are already working to bring this partnership to life and identify the first tranche of women-owned small businesses eligible for the program.