Businesswomen in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) are leading the way to exploit the power of the digital economy to succeed and grow despite the gender gap and social challenges.

In a new search for MasterCard, small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in the region believe that there are enormous advantages of a safe economy for their activities.

According to the first MasterCard MEA SME Confidence Index, 81% of female entrepreneurs in the region have digital businesses in their companies, compared with 68% of male colleagues.

In terms of the digital footprint of female entrepreneurs in the region, social media (71%) leads, followed by company websites (57%). In the Middle East and North Africa, more women entrepreneurs (71%) own websites than social media (55%).
These survey results are in line with Mastercard’s global commitment to connect 25 million women entrepreneurs to the digital economy by 2025.

“Women-owned companies are well represented in entrepreneurship around the world, but it is estimated that they can only get 210% of financing from commercial banks. Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President of Market Development for the Middle East and Africa of Mastercard, said that this reflects the great potential of female SME entrepreneurs because we have accelerated their access to financial and digital tools, thereby achieving greater in the business ecosystem. Gender equality.

According to the MasterCard survey, trust in digital transactions is high, because 30% of MEA women entrepreneurs have no difficulty in accepting more digital payments compared to cash.

In the MasterCard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) 2020, there is already evidence showing how women entrepreneurs can respond with new confidence and adaptability to the new world of work, open up new business opportunities or adjust their business models to adapt to the new Consumer behaviour and local or global demand