Women-Owned Enterprises Amid COVID-19: Strategies to Support Their Survival, Revival, and Recovery

COVID-19 has posed an existential crisis for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). However, more women (69 percent) reported reduced income as compared to men (58 percent). The pandemic also caught many young entrepreneurs unprepared, who had to either face losses or shut shop altogether.

With this background, MSC hosted the interactive "Inspiration, Insights and Learning (I2L)" webinar. This webinar highlighted the challenges women entrepreneurs faces due to the pandemic and called for concerted action. The webinar featured a conversation with three young women entrepreneurs from across Africa and Asia to provide ground-up insights, and lessons learned while navigating their enterprises through COVID-19.  It also involved a discussion with an expert panel of gender-focused chief executives of philanthropic organizations that work to advance financial and social inclusion for low- and moderate-income populations.

The webinar aimed to:

• Highlight the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women entrepreneurs and their coping strategies, 
• Discuss lessons learned during the pandemic to inform strategies and policies to “build back better”
• Deliberate on ideas that would enable all segments of women entrepreneurs to operate in the new normal and build resilience to such crises
• Define the role of key stakeholders, such as governments, donors, and financial service providers, in aiding a post-COVID recovery.