EBRD sponsored report "Roadmap for a Gender-Responsive Investment Climate" launched in North Macedonia

A report titled "Roadmap for a Gender-Responsive Investment Climate" that was sponsored by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and focuses on promoting female entrepreneurship in North Macedonia, was officially unveiled on 25 May in the country’s capital today.

Kreshnik Bekteshi, the Minister of Economy for North Macedonia, gave the opening remarks at the inaugural ceremony. The EBRD, the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, decision-makers, corporate leaders, and members of civil society were all there.

The roadmap, created by Marija Risteska as part of the Western Balkans Women in Business (WiB) project, will provide policymakers and other stakeholders with information on how to promote female entrepreneurship. It particularly suggests:

• Gender mainstreaming in investment policy is giving direct support to industries where women-led and women-owned businesses operate as well as incorporating gender objectives and criteria into investment plans.

• creating support services for businesses owned and managed by women, such as incubators and accelerators for start-ups that include a gender perspective into their operations or offer specialised services for women-driven and women-owned firms

• Increasing the availability of capital and markets for women-led and -owned businesses may involve steps like digitalization, gendered taxation, the inclusion of gender criteria in grant and loan programmes, as well as the opening of a window for these businesses in the nation's new Guarantee Fund, which supports financing for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and traders.

"The new Roadmap adds to the work previously done by the National Bank and other financial regulators during preparation of the first National Strategy for Financial Education and Inclusion 2021–2025, which detected gender-related and other gaps in financial education and inclusion and identified action points," said Aneta Krstevska, Chief Economist at the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia. “Together with partners, North Macedonia is committed to enhancing possibilities for female entrepreneurs.”

Andi Aranitasi, the head of the EBRD's operations in North Macedonia, repeated these remarks: The Roadmap demonstrates how the EBRD approaches policy engagement with the goal of enhancing the environment for women entrepreneurs. More specifically, the EBRD will collaborate with partner financial institutions to assist them strengthen sex-disaggregated data collecting, analysis, and awareness-raising, as well as create capacity to challenge gender preconceptions in lending, in an effort to shrink the financial gender gap.

The roadmap notes that women are still underrepresented among North Macedonia's business leaders, controlling barely a third of the nation's firms, despite the nation's well-developed regulatory and legal framework. Additionally, women-owned firms are typically smaller and underrepresented in industries with higher development potential. They are also frequently confined to the category of small and micro businesses, where they make up a very tiny portion of important economic activities like trade and services.