Islamabad opens first women-only marketplace in G-11

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad has inaugurated its first marketplace reserved exclusively for women entrepreneurs in G-11, in a move aimed at narrowing the gender gap in business participation.

The Women Enterprise Market was opened by MNA Farah Naz Akbar during an event organised by the Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The initiative is focused on creating commercial opportunities for women in a business environment where their participation remains significantly lower than that of men.

According to the figures cited at the event, only 1 per cent of women are entrepreneurs, compared with 21 per cent of men. The new market has also been established as a fully cashless commercial space, a step that links the project to broader efforts to improve women’s access to formal financial services in Pakistan.

Cashless model and financial inclusion

Imtiaz Ali, Senior Deputy Chief Manager at the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), said the digital payments model would support women entrepreneurs by helping them develop practical financial skills and strengthening their access to formal banking channels.

JazzCash has joined the project as its technology partner. The initiative is aligned with the SBP’s 2024-2028 financial inclusion strategy, which seeks to bring down the gender gap in banking access from 30 percent to 25 percent.

The launch comes at a time when women-owned businesses continue to face major barriers in obtaining financing. The 2025 WECON Policy Report found that only 3.2 percent of SME loans in 2022 were extended to women-led firms. The same report said 91 percent of women remained reluctant to use institutional financing channels.

Limited access to business finance

Official data also points to the limited footprint of women in the small and medium enterprise sector. SBP data shows that women own only 8 percent of Pakistan’s more than 5 million SMEs.

The new marketplace has been presented as one response to these structural gaps, combining a dedicated commercial space for women with a digital payments framework intended to encourage greater financial inclusion.

The event highlighted the wider challenge of improving women’s participation in entrepreneurship and formal finance. With women receiving a small share of SME lending and many still hesitant to engage with institutional financing, the G-11 market represents an effort to create a more accessible business environment for female entrepreneurs in the capital.

By linking women-led businesses with cashless transactions and formal banking systems, the initiative also reflects the policy direction set out in the central bank’s current financial inclusion strategy.