The SEHER programme, an initiative focusing on credit education, was recently launched by the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) and TransUnion CIBIL, aimed at providing women entrepreneurs in India with essential financial literacy content and business skills. This initiative is essential in enabling women to access the necessary financial tools required to further drive growth and employment in the country’s economy.
The Women Entrepreneurship Programme (WEP) is a public-private partnership platform incubated at Niti Aayog, with the aim of creating a supportive ecosystem for women entrepreneurs in India. As part of WEP’s Financing Women Collaborative (FWC), the SEHER programme is a unique initiative focused on accelerating access to finance for women entrepreneurs.
The SEHER programme was officially launched by Ms. Anna Roy, Mission Director, Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) and Principal Economic Adviser, NITI Aayog, and attended by key figures such as Mr. Jitendra Asati, Director (Financial Inclusion), Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance; Mr. Sunil Mehta, Chief Executive, Indian Banks’ Association (IBA); Mr. Neeraj Nigam, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India (RBI); Ms. Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary, Ministry of MSME; and Mr. Rajesh Kumar, MD and CEO at TransUnion CIBIL.
Ms. Anna Roy emphasized the significance of financial awareness in entrepreneurship, highlighting its importance for the growth of MSMEs, which is a priority segment for India’s economic development. She reiterated WEP’s mission to empower women entrepreneurs by bridging the information gap and providing support across various pillars such as entrepreneurship promotion, access to finance, market linkages, training and skills development, mentoring and networking, and access to business development services.
Mr. Rajesh Kumar, MD and CEO of TransUnion CIBIL, expressed pride in partnering with the Women Entrepreneurship Platform to empower women entrepreneurs across different socio-economic categories, age-groups, and geographic locations. He emphasized that business growth is directly tied to credit access, credit awareness, and financial literacy, echoing the programme’s aim to propagate financial knowledge and enhance the skills of women entrepreneurs.
According to estimates from the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), by accelerating women’s entrepreneurship, India could potentially create over 30 million new women-owned enterprises, leading to the generation of 150 to 170 million more jobs. TransUnion CIBIL data insights also revealed a 3.9X growth in the demand for business loans by women over the last five years, highlighting the increasing role of women in the business landscape.
The SEHER programme will play a vital role in offering women entrepreneurs access to personalized resources and tools, including financial literacy content, to equip them with the necessary knowledge for managing and growing their businesses successfully. With a dedicated focus on credit education, the initiative aims to promote financial and credit awareness among women entrepreneurs throughout the country, emphasizing the importance of building a good credit history and CIBIL score to facilitate easier and faster access to finance.
In conclusion, the SEHER initiative represents a crucial step towards empowering and supporting women entrepreneurs in India, ultimately contributing to the sustained growth and expansion of their businesses. By equipping women entrepreneurs with the essential financial literacy and business skills, the programme strives to create a more inclusive and dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem, driving economic progress for the nation.