2023-08-26 08:23:20
Women-led businesses in Morocco face challenges in financing, digitizing and seeking advice, according to a survey of women entrepreneurs by Visa, the global leader in digital payments.
The survey follows Visa’s efforts to empower women entrepreneurs in Morocco by launching its She’s Next global grant program, in partnership with Société Générale Maroc and the accelerator and innovation center Techno Park.
She’s Next, powered by Visa, is a global advocacy program that aims to support women-owned small businesses through funding, training and mentorship. Until September 25, 2023, female entrepreneurs from all industries and sectors in Morocco can apply to She’s Next for the chance to be one of three winners who will receive a grant of up to USD 20,000. , in addition to a tailor-made training program and access to She’s Next Club resources such as a workshop library and a community of entrepreneurs.
She’s Next really comes into its own in Morocco, where women entrepreneurs face the challenge of finding a support system and a role model/mentor to help them grow their business.
Sami Romdhane, Managing Director of Visa International in Morocco, commented: “We are proud to bring our global ‘She’s Next’ program to Morocco, in partnership with Société Générale Maroc. Women entrepreneurs face unique challenges such as limited access to capital, lack of mentorship, and gender stereotypes, which result in them being viewed as less capable of handling high-pressure situations. Access to these factors as well as a strong digital infrastructure is essential for women entrepreneurs to thrive and grow their businesses. She’s Next highlights this vital shift in digitalization, embraces the potential of female entrepreneurs and enables them to thrive through support and innovation. »
The survey of women entrepreneurs in Morocco revealed key aspects of their entrepreneurial journey and helped identify themes that could foster empowerment. These look like this:
A challenging entrepreneurial environment
Women in Morocco are eager to start their own business, citing job creation (33%) and fulfilling a dream (32%) as the main motivations. However, these entrepreneurs say that financing is a serious challenge for running their businesses. The Visa survey reveals that 80% of women draw on their personal savings to finance their business, while 52% of respondents use bank loans.
Advice from fellow entrepreneurs
Women entrepreneurs in Morocco are eager to learn from their peers, according to Visa’s survey. All respondents (100%) said they needed advice, with many women entrepreneurs wanting specific assistance on how to overcome issues when running their business (51%), developing online sales ( 51%), and raising funds/financing their activity (36%).
Visa’s survey also revealed that businesswomen are highly interested in developing online sales, with 82% wanting to take payment training. A proportion of participants (32%) seek advice on how to form a team of employees and what types of payments are accepted by customers (30%), while the most common topics for workshops are creating online store (27%), crisis management (25%) and maintaining work-life balance (24%).
Digitization, an opportunity for growth
She’s Next is part of Visa’s efforts to support the digitalization of women-owned businesses and features the launch of Visa’s first Women-Owned SME Digitalization Index. The index rates companies on five metrics: online presence, digital payments, payment security, customer engagement and customer retention.
As a market historically dominated by cash, the survey revealed that 3 out of 5 Moroccan women entrepreneurs claim to have a good knowledge of the digital world, with 93% of respondents having plans to digitize their business by focusing on the digital world. digital marketing, business leadership, AI and automation, software implementation, and analytics tools to generate insights and means for customer engagement and retention. The survey also revealed that female entrepreneurs want to leverage digitalization to move to a cashless business, as more than half of respondents (51%) found it difficult to secure financing for their business. digitization.
Aware of the cyber threat landscape, 71% of women entrepreneurs use both cash and electronic payment methods, with cash payments taking precedence over electronic payments in both online and offline sales platforms.
Ahmed El Yacoubi, Chairman of the Management Board of Societe Generale Morocco, said: “Thanks to our partnership with Visa, the She’s Next initiative is unlocking the potential of women entrepreneurs and is already helping competent and ambitious women achieve their goals. . We are very proud to support She’s Next, which empowers talented women to take their businesses to the next level and create new opportunities within our community.”
Since 2020, Visa has invested approximately $3 million through more than 250 grants and coaching for female SME leaders through the She’s Next grant program worldwide, including the United States, Canada, India, Ireland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Morocco.
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