Business Desk :
Bangladesh has bottom-ranked among 58 economies in the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs for 2020, meaning the country is among the toughest places for female business owners.
Although the country slipped one notch from last year’s 57th, its overall score improved to 36.4 out of 100 from 35.4 a year ago.
Economies such as Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have weaker scores of 40 to 50. Bangladesh, Algeria, and Egypt have also exceptionally low scores of 30 to 40 points, said the report, which was released yesterday.
“In these economies, women continue to be held back by deeply rooted socio-cultural as well as economic and financial constraints such as lack of work opportunities, government support, and access to funding and capital.”
The index provides an analysis of how women in business are progressing globally, highlighting the socioeconomic factors propelling and inhibiting their success, and providing a performance ranking for the 58 economies measured.
Drawing on data sources from leading academic institutions, including International Labour Organisation, the World Bank, the Unesco, the World Economic Forum, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the OECD, the index assesses the working environments of the economies, representing almost 80 per cent of the world’s female labour force.
The ranking is based on an analysis across 12 indicators and 25 sub-indicators spanning advancement outcomes, knowledge assets and financial access, and supporting entrepreneurial conditions, according to a press release from Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry.
The index ranked two countries from South Asia: India and Bangladesh. India advanced three notches to 49th with a score of 50.99 points.
Bangladesh ranked 57th among the economies in the Women’s Advancement Outcomes component, just ahead of Algeria.
The component is a proxy of women’s progress and degree of marginalisation economically and professionally as business leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs and labour force participant.
The report said across regions, women’s representation in the business and economic landscape remains low compared to men, especially in terms of business leadership.
