National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF), a subsidiary of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), is collaborating with Meta to train and up-skill Pakistani women entrepreneurs with an aim to foster sustainability and resilience of women-led businesses in the country.
The program is being implemented under the ‘Business Resilience through Financial Education (BRFE)’ component of Meta’s flagship women empowerment program ‘SheMeansBusiness’. SheMeansBusiness was introduced in Pakistan in May 2020 in partnership with the SBP and USAID to bolster financial inclusion and resiliency of women-led businesses. The primary aim of the program is to strengthen women’s understanding on business financial and help them grow their businesses for enhancing their socioeconomic standing and role in the society.
Riaz Nazarali Chunara, Managing Director NIBAF appreciated the contribution made by SheMeansBusiness. He emphasized on the importance of financial empowerment as one of the key drivers of women empowerment. He pointed out that collaboration with Meta would strengthen the financial literacy and digital skills of Pakistani women.
Ruici Tio, Policy Program Manager, Meta, explained how collaboration with NIBAF would foster financial education and training for Pakistan women entrepreneurs. He identified financial education as crucial for sustainability and resilience of small and medium enterprises, especially when combined with digital skills. He added that this arrangement with NIBAF would make a significant difference for women led businesses in the country.
Under the partnership, Meta and NIBAF will be jointly hosting a series of online training sessions to up-skill 3,000 women entrepreneurs who are part of NIBAF’s National Financial Literacy Program for Youth (NFLP-Y).