The capital city has launched the Women Enterprise Market in G-11. MNA and Parliamentary Secretary Farah Naz Akbar inaugurated the facility in a ceremony that was organized by the Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry in partnership with the Capital Development Authority, Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad, and JazzCash.
The marketplace initiative responds to stark gender disparities in Pakistan’s business sector, where women constitute only 1 percent of entrepreneurs compared to 21 percent for men. The facility operates entirely on cashless transactions, designed to integrate female business owners into formal financial systems and enhance their digital literacy.
Imtiaz Ali, Senior Deputy Chief Manager at the State Bank of Pakistan, explained that the cashless model aims to strengthen women entrepreneurs’ practical financial capabilities and their connection to formal banking channels. JazzCash serves as the technology partner for this digital payment infrastructure.
The initiative aligns with the State Bank’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2024-2028, which targets reducing the gender gap in banking access from 30 percent to 25 percent. Recent data shows women’s financial inclusion has risen from 4 percent to 52 percent, with the gender gap narrowing from 47 percent in 2018 to 30 percent in 2025.
Women-owned enterprises face substantial obstacles in accessing capital, with only 3.2 percent of SME loans in 2022 going to female-led firms, according to the 2025 WECON Policy Report. The same report revealed that 91 percent of women remain hesitant to use institutional financing channels. Women currently own just 8 percent of Pakistan’s more than 5 million small and medium enterprises.
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