Facebook is expanding its #SheMeansBusiness program in Pakistan to equip women entrepreneurs with the knowledge, connections, skills and technology required to build and grow their businesses online.
In partnership with the Universal Service Fund (USF) in Islamabad and the Punjab IT Board (PITB) in Lahore, #SheMeansBusiness will provide digital skills training with a focus on small business development and online safety in 80 cities across Pakistan, connecting with around 8,000 aspiring women entrepreneurs. The PITB partnership includes a three month digital literacy program offered as part of PITB’s ‘Herself’ initiative that will reach 150 trainers and 12,000 participants across Punjab.
Since its beginnings on International Women’s Day in 2016, #SheMeansBusiness has established an active presence in 21 countries, including Pakistan, and has trained more than 42,000 women entrepreneurs.
The global #SheMeansBusiness program is unified by a vision that acknowledges that when women do better, we all benefit, with women employed, more role models created and achievement of stronger diversity.
Women are doing amazing things on Facebook around the world with the support and encouragement of the #SheMeansBusiness community. Pakistan couple Ayesha Hammaad and her husband started their Facebook and Instagram marketing solutions business, SwishTag, in December 2017. From small beginnings they today support clients from around the world in the fashion and beauty industries with expert online marketing advice. Another successful entrepreneur is working mother Nazia Nasreen who has quickly established Ibraheem Toy House as the world’s leading online Islamic toy store, distributing Islamic toys and books and other educational products globally. Inspired by the difficulty in finding good quality Islamic toys and books for her children, she embraced Facebook small business solutions to reach a global market.
We hope that our partnerships in Pakistan with USF and PITB will help inspire and empower more Pakistani women to follow in these and other successful women entrepreneurs’ footsteps.
Women currently account for more than 43% of the 80 million active small businesses Pages on Facebook globally, up more than 21% since last year. This level of growth is fuelling our drive to establish new partnerships in countries such as Pakistan where there is a fresh focus on digital inclusion and empowering women.
The difference the program can make in countries like Pakistan is supported by Facebook’s Future of Business survey that we carried out with the World Bank and OECD. The survey found that businesses run by women are more likely than those run by men to leverage online tools to drive success and that higher rates of entrepreneurialism are found among women in less developed markets. Women in these economies are driven to pursue entrepreneurial paths to provide for their families, generally through basic types of consumer-focused products and services businesses. By doing so, they can become a real engine for their local economies.
The same research says that realising the potential of women entrepreneurs generates benefits ranging from job creation and economic growth, to a more diverse small business community. That’s because entrepreneurs create jobs for themselves and enrich the lives of people including employees, investors, suppliers and the organizations they work with.
The program runs for the rest of this year and will kick-off in Islamabad on 13 September and in Lahore on 14th September 2018.
Visit SheMeansBusiness Pakistan: https://shemeansbusiness.fb.com/pk/
SheMeansBusiness Pakistan stories
SwishTag: Ayesha Hammaad and her husband started their co-branded, certified Facebook and Instagram marketing solutions business, SwishTag, in December 2017. From small beginnings they today support clients from around the world in the fashion, beauty, FMCG and heavy machinery industries with expert advice and support to get the most from Facebook’s marketing solutions, from campaign concept and design through to launch. It is the first business of its kind in Pakistan and has quickly grown to a team of 10 great marketing minds.
Ibraheem Toy House: Working mother Nazia Nasreen established Ibraheem Toy House as the world’s leading online Islamic toy store, distributing Islamic toys and books and other educational products globally. Inspired by the difficulty in finding good quality Islamic toys and books for her children, she was motivated to fill the gap in the market and embraced Facebook small business solutions to reach a global audience. In a short time, the company has grown from a handful of products to an impressive online store sourcing and distributing hundreds of products from suppliers all over the world.
Aniething: Fellow entrepreneur, Aine Fatima, works alongside Nazia Nasreen, as Performance Marketing Manager with a passion for Digital Marketing, Online Branding, and Digital Analytics. After working in corporate roles for more than five years, Aine decided to become a work-at-home Mum because she wanted to give more time to her daughter. As well as running her own women focused eCommerce store Ainething, she works as an Account Director for a UK based creative agency Brand786 where she manages end-to-end digital marketing for Ibraheem Toy House and other global brands. She is also Head of Training at SkillsFirst where she teaches digital skills to young students and fresh graduates.
Sheops: Founded by Nadia Patel Gangjee, Sheops is Pakistan’s first women-only online marketplace with 2,700 entrepreneurs and 90,000 members. It provides ambitious women a curated platform to buy and sell products from and to each other. Sheops wants to empower women in Pakistan to establish themselves as entrepreneurs and grow their businesses by connecting them to the right people in a safe and secure environment.