In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the barriers that stood and stand in the way of development of women's entrepreneurship have aggravated and can harm the future of women's business even more.

Therefore, it is even more critical now to look at these barriers and find approaches and tools to mitigate the impact of the crisis on women and female business.

While assessing the past and looking into the future, numerous international institutions and think tanks argue that if women entrepreneurs played a more active role, huge benefits would be achieved in the global economy. Even before the crisis caused by restrictive measures to overcome COVID-19, an analysis by the Boston Consulting Group showed that if women and men participated equally as entrepreneurs, global GDP could rise by approximately 3% to 6%, boosting the global economy by $2.5 trillion to $5 trillion.^[i] These are huge numbers! Now in a pandemic, the issue of economic growth goes by the wayside in many countries, while the issues of gender inequality have taken top lines on the agenda of many countries and economies.

Like most countries in the world, Central Asian countries have committed to support gender equality and women's economic empowerment.[ii] However, data analysis demonstrates that effective tools to expand economic opportunities for women have not been created so far: before the crisis, we could witness a sizeable gap in employment and renumeration, and limited financial inclusion of women in Central Asia, like in many other countries of the world.^[iii]

Table 1 Women in labor force[iv]

Female population accounts for 50% of total on average in Central Asian countries, with Kazakhstan having the largest share of women in labor force (48.4%). The percentage of women in top management roles shows that employers still give preference to men. The figures clearly show that women on their career path face the so-called "glass ceiling" and remain in lower-level positions, which results in lower female involvement in decision-making and representation in senior positions. This trend is partly due to discriminatory attitudes and stereotypical perceptions of women as leaders, as well as to natural selection, when men “choose their own kind.” Here we see the problem of disparity in employment and promotion, resulting in a high female representation in the informal sector of the economy^[vi].

Even in times of no crisis, female mobility, career advancement and entrepreneurial success are limited due to time constraints that women fact because of household chores, caring for children and elderly relatives, which inhibits their growth, self-development and business development.[vii]

The circumstances described above impede the development of women's entrepreneurship in Central Asia. And, as a result, when women start their own business, they mainly invest in specific enterprises, which often have lower profitability levels than men's enterprises.^[viii] Given all of the above factors, it is not difficult to conclude that the level of financial inclusion of women in business, too, is lower than that of men.[ix]

The all-encompassing wave of COVID-19 has had a negative impact on both female and male businesses.

According to forecasts, as a result of the virus-containment measure, the global economy will decrease dramatically by 3% in 2020, which is much worse than during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.[x]

The current crisis has an unprecedental impact on enterprises of all types and sizes around the world, and the countries of Central Asia are no exception. Many firms were forced to suspend or shut down their business. All over the world we are witnessing an increase in unemployment, which, in turn, leads to a drop in the consumption of goods and services (people have no payment capacity), and, as a result, is detrimental to the economic prospects of enterprises.

Businesses that continue operations face lower turnovers, lower profits, or even operate at a loss. In such an environment, many enterprises will increasingly encounter difficulties in servicing their obligations to financial partners (including financial organizations).

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are particularly affected. On the one hand, it is easier for them to adapt, since they are usually more flexible (especially small and medium-sized enterprises when it comes to cost-cutting, finding new suppliers, new sources of profit, etc.). However, at the same time, they are especially vulnerable because they tend to have lower levels of productivity, fewer assets and more limited cash reserves they could rely on in a crisis. And then, such factors as the lack of necessary business and practical experience, a minimum of know-how, a low level of financial literacy, and limited access to finance, which negatively affect the growth and development of MSMEs even during crisis-free times.

For women who run a business, the situation is exacerbated by the traditional burden of caring for children and relatives (especially taking into account quarantine measures to close schools, kindergartens, and other institutions). And, as a result, women more than men come to the fore and / or factors such as an acute lack of time to take anti-crisis measures and conduct business are compounded. Considering that, compared to men's, women's business is often smaller and / or concentrated in low-profit areas, many women's enterprises which also have an additional burden may simply not have the knowledge, skills, time, financial capabilities to respond in a timely manner to the crisis and return to normal activities.

Response of the state, international and financial institutions

• Most Central Asian countries have developed specific economic measures to support entrepreneurship. Conditions have been created for businesses to increase liquidity, and access to credit lines has been streamlined. In addition, current loan repayment terms have been extended or suspended. Some banks and other financial institutions granted deferrals on loan repayments. Among other measures, the governments of the Central Asian countries have provided tax incentives and tax holidays to SMEs, postponed the deadlines for submitting tax return forms and tax payments, suspended tax audits or exempted most enterprises from social contributions. Social protection measures have been taken, subsidies and food baskets provided to the most vulnerable.
• Countries in Central Asia received emergency funding to mitigate the direct economic impact of the virus. For example, Kyrgyzstan was the first country to receive funds from the IMF in the amount of 120 million US dollars. In Tajikistan, the IMF approved an immediate write-off of the government debt, and the EU provided assistance in the amount of 48 million euros. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has proposed concessional financing measures for SMEs and emergency financing mechanisms to protect banks' liquidity for countries of presence. Many other international organizations that are present in the countries of the region have quickly reacted and reconfigured their technical assistance programs, focusing on combating the impact of the crisis on the population, enterprises and the economy as a whole.

To cope with the current crisis and its consequences, all MSMEs need support, and women in business especially need support, given the specifics of doing business and the circumstances that restrict activities even in stable economic conditions. Government organizations, international investors, and financial institutions can play an important role in overcoming the crisis.

Financial institutions, public and private companies to minimize the impact of the crisis on business (in particular, female business)

• Financial institutions can adapt tools and approaches to assessing current business needs based on the current realities. Many experts talk about debt restructuring, additional business lending, etc. But such measures must be customer-oriented, economically feasible and competent, since a new loan or deferred repayment is not always the best solution for a business. The crisis leads to a further increase in high debt burden, and for many entrepreneurs, an increase in the debt burden can become economically disastrous.
• It is important to learn to make a quality assessment and analysis of the business situation and offer tailored and feasible, rather than standardized
• Design and implement subsidizing and financial support programs for businesses that had to suspend operations under the crisis impact. Especially, programs for women who are more exposed to the crisis and suffer more because of their traditional roles in the family.
• Initiate and establish discussion and information-exchange platforms, which is critical for any business, and, in particular, for women who, even under normal circumstances, have fewer business and social contacts for exchanging experience than men have. Such platforms will help to disseminate information faster about various business support measures to overcome the crisis, share ideas and know-how that will help overcome the impact of the pandemic.
• Conduct educational/informational programs and events for entrepreneurs and enterprises.

Such measures can be aimed at helping firms to forecast key indicators in the times of uncertainty, teach and help them to pivot their business, bring new services and products to the market. These can also be events on improving financial literacy or on more specialized topics, such as accounting, marketing, IT, etc. Given the specific barriers that women face, namely: lack of time for self-development and lack of knowledge and skills, initiate and create special training programs specifically for women to give them a boost and support in these difficult times. In the conditions of restrictions, they need advice, more than ever, in the field of business skills development, delegation of authority, and business management.

• Promote the development of special business support programs in the field of information technology. E-commerce is efficient and has many advantages during the crisis of overall distancing, and many businesses need to reconfigure their activities. For women, this turns out to be more difficult than for men, since they lag behind men in this area.^[xi] Therefore, it is important to promote training in special skills for the MSME sector as a whole and at the same time to break female gender stereotypes in the field of IT.
• Develop infrastructure for the care of children, elderly and sick relatives.
• In a broader sense, it is necessary to create leadership support systems where men and women have equal rights and opportunities, before the next crisis breaks up. This can be done by equipping women with skills, training and opportunities to take leading positions, both at the head of enterprises and among business enterprises in which women are owners and managers, and by advocating for the changes that have been discussed in this article.

If both male and female businesses enjoy equal opportunities, and even the smallest companies are more competent, it will be easier for them to keep their business afloat, plan for the future, or even start a new business.

The conditions in which the world finds itself due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus give us the opportunity to implement changes that can protect the business from the most severe blows: going out of business today and in the future.

Everyone has a long and hard way to go. But this path can be fair if men and women have equal access to opportunities!

Additional sources of information:

[i]  https://www.bcg.com/publications/2019/boost-global-economy-5-trillion-dollar-support-women-entrepreneurs.aspx

[ii] https://eca.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2015/09/30-countries-in-europe-and-central-asia-have-stepped-it-up.

[iii] The Global Gender Gap Report 2018, World Economic Forum (см. «List of Countries»)

[iv] The Global Economy.com serves researchers, https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/economies/

[v] World Bank, https://www.enterprisesurveys.org/en/data

[vi] Maltseva, Irina. (2007). Gender equality in the sphere of employment. Dushanbe: United Nations Development Fund for Women.

[vii] ILOSTAT, ILO Department of Statistics, 2020, https://ilostat.ilo.org  [accessed 7 May 2020]; ILO: A quantum leap for gender equality: for a better future of work for all (Geneva, 2019). Before the crisis caused by COVID-19, every day 16.4 billion hours were spent on unpaid care work around the world, with more than two/thirds being performed by women.

[viii] Zbierowski, P. (2017). The Aspirations of New Technology-Based Firms in CEE and CIS Countries. Foresight and STI Governance, vol. 11, issue 3, pp. 50-60. Kazakhstan is an exception: women account for 52.1% of workforce in high-tech enterprises and for 49.1% - in low-tech enterprises. But for countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, low profitability and productivity of female businesses remains a real problem, due to the fact that most companies owned by women are small and employ fewer employees.

[ix] The World Bank, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/smefinance. Even before the crisis, according to the estimates of the World Bank experts, women-owned MSMEs around the world face a $ 1.7 trillion funding gap (of which 103 billion US dollars - in Central Asia and Europe).

[x] International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Reports, World Economic Outlook, April 2020: The Great Lockdown, https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/04/14/weo-april-2020

[xi] According to the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency, women use and have access to digital technologies less often than men (for example, in 2019 the share of women with access to the Internet was 48% vs 58% of men worldwide).

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