Upskilling women entrepreneurs during COVID-19 via digital empowerment

• An innovative digital program by IFC, in partnership with Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) and Women’s International Foundation (WIF), supports Sri Lankan women entrepreneurs during COVID-19 

As the economic shocks of COVID-19 ripple across different industries in Sri Lanka, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) – especially those women-owned were the worst-hit. As part of the move to help ensure businesses could adapt and survive, IFC – under the IFC-DFAT Women in Work program – designed an innovative training concept.  

Given the travel restrictions across the country, the IFC program was purely rolled out as a virtual training in collaboration with Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) and Women’s International Foundation (WIF) – two institutions with a strong focus on empowering women. The 15-week program covered an array of modules including entrepreneurship, taxation, marketing, supply chain, digital finance and financial literacy. 

“Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka have been grappling with the pandemic for more than a year. These businesses make up a large part of the country’s economy. Helping them pivot or restructure business models, and most importantly, prepare them for future shocks is crucial,” said IFC Acting Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Victor Antonypillai. “This one-of-a-kind-online training program was therefore a timely effort and will equip women-owned businesses to build back better and scale up their operations.”

WCIC and WIF each expertly selected the first cohort of women entrepreneurs representing different business lines. The program was deployed keeping in mind the participants’ time poverty and with handholding to make them comfortable using digital mediums. The expert trainer panel chosen by the two institutions with IFC assistance were made aware of ensuring a gender sensitive delivery. 

The unique bi-weekly mentoring sessions post each module, provided guidance and assistance when the participants needed support the most. This re-enforced the lessons learnt and contributed to building a community of support, paving the way to convert knowledge to action – an aspect most appreciated by the participants. “We didn’t feel abandoned during COVID-19. The training was held regularly and at a time convenient to us in the evenings. The continuous engagement by our coordinator was a comfort and encouraged us not to miss even one session,” said Thanuja Dharshini a participant member of WCIC.

“The women entrepreneurs for the program were selected through a competency-based pre-assessment so that the most suitable were enlisted for the program. Each session was constantly evaluated to better understand the participants’ needs and provide them with the know-how to move forward in this new normal,” said WCIC Chairperson Indrani Fernando. 

“This was led by WCIC board member and capacity building pillar lead Anoji De Silva, with some of our board members like Tusitha Kumarakulasingham, Gayani de Alwis, Renuka Senanayake and Nayana Karunaratne as well as other industry experts like Chaaminda Kumarasiri (Chairman HCP Consulting), Shiham Marikar (CEO – National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka) and Dilshan Rajapakse (Director DSI Samson Group) volunteering their time for this effort.”

“Women entrepreneurs have always been facing many constraints, and with COVID-19, things have been ever more challenging. Upskilling them with the right knowledge and skills through innovative programs would have a lasting impact. We need to get our women entrepreneurs ready for the growth decade and ready for the new normal operations. We are committed to helping them. This is why we went a step ahead and invited even the Export Development Board to conduct a session,” said WIF Chairperson Seroshi Nandasiri. 

“The uptake has been positive, some of our participants are now embracing new digital solutions like Quick Response (QR) payments as well as digital marketing via social media for the first time. We too are very thankful to some of the industry experts like Damitha Silva (AVP-NDB), Sujeewa Dahanayake (Legal Consultant) and Saman Dissanayake (Snr. Deputy Commissioner, Inland Revenue).”

The program is well-aligned with the recently launched National Financial Inclusion Strategy – a multi-stakeholder effort led by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka with technical assistance from IFC, under the IFC-DFAT Women in Work program. The participation of WCIC and WIF, starting from the consultation process of the NFIS to particularly bring in the women’s voice, is reinforced via this training program, contributing proactively to moving the needle on this national agenda.