Visa creates "She's Next" Program to Assist Women-Owned Enterprises in Qatar

For the first time in Qatar, Visa, the industry pioneer in digital payments, announced the start of its worldwide “She's Next” project to support the country's female entrepreneurs. A worldwide advocacy programme called She's Next, backed by Visa, attempts to help women-owned small companies by providing finance, mentorship, and training.

Women entrepreneurs in Qatar from all fields and industries have until June 23, 2023, to submit an application to She's Next. A bespoke training programme, a grant of USD 50,000, and access to She's Next Club tools including a workshop library and entrepreneurial network will all be given to one winner.

"As Qatar's digital economy experiences a boom following one of the biggest sporting events, we are thrilled to launch our global She's Next initiative for the first time in Qatar to support local women-owned businesses," said Shashank Singh, Visa's general manager for Kuwait and Qatar.

The launch of Visa's first Women SMB Digitalization Index, which assesses digital maturity using 5 key indicators including online presence, acceptance of digital payments, payment security awareness, customer engagement, and customer retention, is a feature of She's Next, a Visa initiative to support the digitalization of women-owned businesses. According to the report, women-owned firms in Qatar fared best in terms of online visibility, client retention, and digital marketing.

To apply for the Visa She's Next Grant Programme, candidates must complete an application form that includes information about their company and online presence.