Global digital payments provider Visa has launched the third edition of the She’s Next initiative in the UAE, in collaboration with PublisHer. This international organization aims to tackle persistent gender disparities and promote a global agenda for change within the publishing sector.
Empowering female publishers
Empowered by Visa, She’s Next is a worldwide advocacy program designed to support women who are working to finance, manage, and grow their small businesses. This latest edition focuses on empowering female publishers by offering networking opportunities, mentorship, training, and funding to help them succeed in the publishing industry. Moreover, the broader UAE publishing community has rallied behind She’s Next, with Sharjah Publishing City as a licensing partner and the Sharjah Book Authority and Emirates Publishing Association as support partners.
Application and incentives
Starting August 28 and running until October 1, 2024, women publishers in the UAE can apply for the She’s Next program. One selected winner will receive a grant of $50,000, a customized training program, and access to resources from the She’s Next Club, which includes a library of workshops and a community of entrepreneurs. This year’s initiative will highlight four areas: Publishing, with later focuses on Fashion, Food, and Entrepreneurship.
Addressing challenges for women entrepreneurs
Dr. Saeeda Jaffar, senior vice president & group country manager for the GCC at Visa, expressed that She’s Next is focused on supporting the growth of women-owned businesses. She noted that this year’s partnership with PublisHer aims to reinforce this mission. According to their Women SMB Digitalization Index, a significant number of women entrepreneurs—42 percent—identify partnership and networking opportunities as a major challenge for business growth, a trend that has remained consistent over the years. With the current edition of She’s Next in the UAE, she emphasized their commitment to tackling these challenges by providing extensive networking opportunities, as well as funding, mentorship, and resources to empower women-owned businesses in the publishing sector and help them succeed in a competitive market.
Read more: Emirati Women’s Day: Celebrating the driving forces behind Abu Dhabi’s SME growth
PublisHer represents a call to action led by women in publishing to confront gender imbalances in their industry and to push for meaningful change on an international scale. The initiative further aims to cultivate a supportive community of creative entrepreneurs and provide effective solutions to the longstanding gender-based inequities within the sector.
Commitment to empowerment
Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, founder of PublisHer, stated that the organization is committed to empowering women in the publishing industry and enhancing opportunities for women to grow and succeed globally. She highlighted that publishing combines creativity and entrepreneurship, and emphasized their goal of providing women with platforms to showcase their skills and talents. Sheikha Bodour further mentioned that the partnership with the Visa She’s Next initiative offers such a platform, bringing much-needed attention to local publishing talent, and expressed excitement about collaborating with Visa in support of their mission.
Insights from the Women SMB Digitalization Index
This edition of She’s Next will also see the launch of Visa’s second Women SMB Digitalization Index. Moreover, this Index evaluates businesses based on five criteria: online presence, acceptance of digital payments, awareness of payment security, customer engagement, and customer retention. Key findings from the Index include:
- Over half of respondents (51 percent) wish to explore new markets or industries to grow their businesses.
- Nearly half of women-owned businesses surveyed (46 percent) aim to expand their product offerings.
- About 42 percent of women entrepreneurs cite securing partnership and networking opportunities as a significant challenge.
Expanding impact and sustainability initiatives
Additionally, this year, Visa aims to broaden the impact of She’s Next, aspiring to uplift a larger number of women entrepreneurs across various sectors. In a significant move towards sustainable development, Visa is partnering with Emirates Nature-WWF to enhance commitments to climate action and sustainability, leveraging critical industry knowledge and expertise in environmental conservation. Also, upcoming programs will support women entrepreneurs in fashion, food, and other fields, reinforcing Visa’s commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and sustainable climate initiatives. The ‘She’s Next in Food’ program is set to launch in November.
Support for women-led initiatives
Furthermore, Laila Mostafa Abdullatif, director general at Emirates Nature-WWF, remarked that women bring diverse perspectives and experiences that lead to more inclusive strategies and solutions benefiting all of humanity. In addition, she expressed the organization’s enthusiasm for supporting women-led businesses and initiatives in conservation, sustainability, and other areas through guidance and impartial mentorship.
Notable achievements in 2023
In 2023, Visa GCC’s initiatives, including She’s Next and SheTrades, trained 340 women across six countries, benefiting over 12,000 women employees in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC). With 96 percent of participants reporting enhanced skills and 97 percent experiencing increased self-confidence, this year’s She’s Next will collaborate with Microsoft Philanthropies to further develop women entrepreneurs’ business and digital skills, enhancing their export competitiveness, market access, and financial inclusion.
Investment in women entrepreneurs
Since 2020, Visa has invested approximately $3 million in over 250 grants and coaching opportunities for women SMB owners through the She’s Next grant program, with efforts spanning the U.S., Canada, India, Ireland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Pakistan, Kenya, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, and Morocco.
Application deadline October 1, 2024. Click here to learn more.
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