Women’s social entrepreneurship and access to finance

Abstraksi

Women-led social enterprises are an increasingly strong presence in Indonesia’s start-up ecosystem. However, there are specific barriers and challenges that limit their growth and potential to profit, particularly in the areas of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and technology. Social entrepreneurship, defined as enterprises that are mission-driven, innovative and financially sustainable, is an emerging trend in many countries of the world. Globally, eliminating barriers and creating new opportunities for women-led enterprises, could result in US$12 trillion added to global GDP by
2025 (McKinsey). In Indonesia’s encouraging start-up environment, social entrepreneurship has powerful potential to advance economic growth, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s new study reveals the specific barriers preventing women-led social enterprises from accessing the finance they need to grow in Indonesia. These barriers include negative perceptions and discriminations limiting their confidence to compete in the marketplace. In addition, medium-sized enterprises that are growth-oriented quickly become too large for most micro-grants, however they remain too small most investors. This market segment has been coined ‘the missing middle’, an enormous proportion of enterprises and untapped potential for advancing sustainable development. Based on this study, recommendations include informed and strategic outreach to women-led social enterprises, improved gender-disaggregated data, bundling of financial services, data synergies and the provision of information technology.