Neha Juneja, CEO & Co-founder, IndiaP2PFor... ... International Women's Day 2024 Live Updates: Women Leaders on "Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress."

Neha Juneja, CEO & Co-founder, IndiaP2P

For India to become a wealthy, prosperous nation more women must join the formal workforce. Indian women's participation in the labour force is one of the lowest amongst our peers. To fix this there is great hope in enabling our thriving women-owned businesses. India is primarily a country of small, high-potential businesses many of which are run by women; 80 million by some estimates.

The primary deterrent for the growth of these businesses is capital or credit. In this regard, women are strangely disadvantaged. Despite better credit scores and proven prudent financial behaviour women's access to credit is just about a quarter of their male counterparts. We must consciously accelerate funding more women-owned businesses of all sizes not just for social progress but for better returns and economic growth as well.