The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has launched its inaugural mentorship initiative, the ‘Inspiring Future Female Leaders Programme’, aiming to develop the next generation of female finance leaders in the Middle East.

The new Future Female Leaders Programme will pair prominent women in the finance sector with aspiring members and students, to encourage them to share their experiences and insights – ultimately aiming to direct more women into leadership roles.

ICAEW’s programme hopes to enhance aspiring members’ leadership skills, expand their professional network, and improve their business decision-making skills through confidential group discussions and workshops. Sessions will address challenges for women in the industry, including building a career, leadership, taking risks, resilience, personal branding, work/ life balance, and the role of sponsors, coaches and mentors.

The Middle East region grapples with gender equality, with the largest gap to close standing at 62.6 per cent, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Global Gender Gap Report.

Globally, women hold just 23 per cent of c-suite level positions in finance, contrasting with 49 per cent representation in entry-level positions.

Increasing the number of female finance leaders is also beneficial for business and the economy alike. A number of studies highlight how a higher proportion share of women, particularly in senior positions, boosts innovation, resilience, and financial performance. It also contributes to greater economic empowerment for women by providing opportunities for career advancement, financial independence, and closing gender gaps in income and wealth.

Creating an ‘ecosystem where women can empower each other to thrive’

Amanda Line, non-executive director at Vestey Holdings, Sana Khater, executive director of finance at ALDAR, as well as Jaimi Raikundalia, partner at Deloitte, are three of the mentors confirmed for the programme’s first cohort.

Amanda Line commented: “By offering a platform for seasoned female finance leaders to share their experiences and insights to emerging professionals, ICAEW is helping to create a supportive ecosystem where women can empower each other to thrive. It’s through women supporting women in finance that we will move closer to bridging the gender gap within our industry.”

Sana Khater also shared her enthusiasm for the initiative: “It’s imperative to encourage and enable young women to enter the finance sector with the right toolkit and skillset to thrive in an ever-growing complex, cross-border, and multidisciplinary business landscape where they can confidently add perspective, participate in financial decision making, and lead teams and organisations. ICAEW’s programme is a grassroots initiative focused on fostering the female finance leaders of tomorrow.”

Jaimi Raikundalia also said: “The evidence is clear: gender-diverse workforces correlate with more profitable companies. Despite increased awareness among corporate and government leaders for diversity as a driver of economic growth, women remain underrepresented in financial sectors.

“Our research shows that in companies where the CEOs were women, the percentages of women on boards and in senior management were double that of peer companies. That’s why women-led initiatives, like ICAEW’s programme, are essential for driving change at a grassroots level.”

ICAEW’s first Inspiring Future Leaders programme will run from 24 April to 24 July, with limited capacity. Interested members and students can apply via the ICAEW website, with applications closing on 22 April 2024.

Earlier this year, Innovate Finance identified that just 10 female-founded (or co-founded) companies completed venture deals in the first half of 2023. The figure takes female-driven fintechs to represent just 2.2 per cent of venture investment in the UK, compared to 4.9 per cent in 2022.

Vivi Friedgut, founder and CEO of Blackbullion, the free financial advice platform, analyses the steps needed to close this alarming investment gap as we go into 2024. 

Getting investment ready in 2024 – Investment tips for female fintech founders

With International Womens’ Day around the corner, brace yourself for the usual LinkedIn party of female -focused panels and corporate back-patting…

Now let’s look at the actual picture, on the ground. Recent figures from Innovate Finance, found that in the first half of 2023, just 10 female-founded (or co-founded) companies completed venture deals. More broadly, this means that female-driven fintechs represent just 2.2 per cent of venture investment in the UK. This is down 50 per cent from 2022’s 4.9 per cent – itself not a particularly comfortable figure.

With the wider macros of the market tightening and the investment cycle slowing down, what are the proactive steps female fintech founders can take to secure funding this year?

Give yourself longer than you think you’ll need

When we launched Blackbullion’s last raise in 2022, I set a very ambitious deadline. While we had a healthy runway, were on track with revenue, and had expanded our market share through an acquisition, the market was just moving slower than I hoped it would. For every positive meeting, I had three disappointing ones.

The 2024 deal environment is set to be tough. And while we’re seeing big funding announcements, this follows exhaustive due diligence and longer lead times, not to mention lower multiples. Allow yourself as long as you can so that you’re not under pressure to take ‘any money’, focusing instead on finding the right investors – and terms – for your business.

Bring it back to the numbers

In a world where Theranos is code for ‘How did that happen?’ investors want you to be forensic with your numbers and with a clear roadmap towards profit. As VCs go back to basics, I’m seeing colleagues in growth fintechs revising forecasts, auditing their headcount, and consistently running the numbers on operational costs. This isn’t about being the next unicorn rather, being able to demonstrate a sustainable path to profit.

I can’t stress this point enough. Know your numbers and you can take out the emotion in a challenging conversation, hold your own and be crystal clear on the return you’re offering.

Showcase your team

In our last raise, I was asked the same question in every investor meeting: tell me about your team.

As founders, it’s on us to develop and grow a team investors want to invest in. You need to show how you’ve invested in your people to foster a talented and engaged team. How they have grown – and will continue to grow – with the business at this next critical step. Be the founder that acknowledges your team’s part in your business – that says more about you as a leader than any number of slides will

Have a vision that’s bigger than you

With ESG the metric all businesses need to prioritise, investors want to back businesses that are grounded in the collective good. How does investing in your business support their ESG goals?

With consumer – and employee – consciousness leaning into ethical practices and sustainability more than ever, you must be able to demonstrate a wider mission – how the solution you’ve created supports that wider ESG objective. For Blackbullion, financial inclusion, and the transformative impact this has on a student’s life chances has always been a mission that we communicate at every possible touchpoint

Be the founder your company needs

Securing investment is a full-time job. One you have to do alongside your day job of growing your business, lead your team, develop new products. Think: late nights, investor dinners, Zooms across multiple time zones. You can’t perform at this level from a half-empty cup for long.

Which is why it’s essential to manage your own wellbeing too. As founders, leading raises, working to a mission, it’s hard to separate our work from the personal. So being intentional about rest, self-care -whatever that looks like for you- and sustaining your relationships is essential.

I can’t realistically get to the gym every day – nor do I want to. But I can build in a daily walk, book a weekend escape, sneak in a cheeky theatre matinee. Whatever lights you up.

The key is headspace and thought time, as well as rest. Because here’s what nobody tells you about securing investment: the work really starts when you get it.

On this week’s episode of News & Views, The Fintech Times Podcast team speak about the hype regarding BNPL and whether it’s dying out, how high-interest rates and a challenging financial landscape are negatively impacting female-owned businesses in the UK and how G10 Bank works as a fintech, with Dock technology, to provide digital banking services to Brazilians in favelas.

Expanding upon their conversation from Episode 141, the Podcast Team continue to discuss buy now pay later (BNPL) – this time exploring the hype around the technology. The trio speak about what is more important: regulation or education in order to keep the BNPL hype alive.

The conversation then turns towards the low funding female founders are getting in the UK. Bignell, Bleach and Harrison exchange views on whether this is because of the current economic climate or because of something else entirely. They then try and work out if there is a viable solution to the problem.

Finally, Dock and G10 Bank’s collaboration to bring financial services to Brazilian favelas is discussed. Understanding the importance partnerships have on democratising finance, all three members of The Fintech Times Podcast team agree efforts like these reflect what fintech really stands for.

Listen to News & Views Podcast on your favourite platform:

    

Read the articles discussed in this episode:

Industry Voices That “BNPL Is Definitely Not a Dying Trend” as Hype Remains

High Interest Rates Negatively Impact 74% of Female Business Owners in the UK, Tide Reports

Dock Opens Digital Bank Branch to Democratise Access to Digital Banking in Favelas

Female business owners are putting growth plans on hold due to high interest rates, according to the latest survey by Tide, the UK-based business financial platform.

As interest rates in the UK continue to sit around the five per cent mark, Tide reveals that around 38 per cent of female business owners have put growth plans ‘on ice’. The findings emerge from Tide’s Female Business Owners UK Index, which examines the challenges that women in the UK face when launching and expanding their businesses.

Overall, of 458 female founders surveyed, 74 per cent explained that high interest rates had negatively impacted their business during the last six months. Of these, 40 per cent struggle to plan for the long term alongside the current macroeconomic conditions – with 21 per cent using all of their profits to repay business loans.

Inflation (38 per cent), energy costs (25 per cent) and difficulty accessing finance (25 per cent) emerged as the biggest factors negatively impacting their businesses in the last six months.

While challenges and barriers remain across the UK for female business owners, 74 per cent still expect revenue to grow in the coming year – with 18 per cent believing this growth will be significant.

Tide supporting female founders in the UK

Female-led businesses make up just 20 per cent of all new businesses in the UK. Despite progress, overall only 5.6 per cent of women in the UK run their own business – much lower than developed economies such as Canada (15 per cent) and the US (11 per cent).

Heather Cobb, SVP member engagement at Tide, commented: “In the UK, participation of women in entrepreneurship remains stubbornly low compared to other advanced nations.

“Our research shows high interest rates create additional barriers for fledgling female entrepreneurs already struggling with issues like childcare and low self-confidence. I’m delighted to see that Tide’s female members are positive about 2024, however, we’re also calling on the UK to do more to encourage and nurture female entrepreneurs – especially as major political parties prepare for an election year.”

Through a content programme made up of videos, events and other engagements, Tide is aiming to promote gender equality and remove barriers to female entrepreneurship. The company is also helping 200,000 women in the UK and 500,000 women in India launch new businesses by 2027. Tide had already onboarded 100,000 female-led businesses by early 2023 – 10 months ahead of its 2023 end-of-year target.

Atom Bank, the UK’s first app-based bank, is supporting the ‘Women in Technology’ programme at Durham University by funding two scholarships for prospective female students from low-income backgrounds.

Two Atom-funded scholarships will offer successful applicants £4,000 per annum for all three years of their course at Durham, as Atom and the University seek to inspire future female tech leaders.

Alongside funding the scholarships, Atom will provide mentoring, internship, placement and leadership opportunities to the successful applicants. The bank revealed that it is particularly keen that the scholars also help the University and Atom to promote tech to women and girls across schools and colleges in the North East.

According to Tech Nation, women only represent around 26 per cent of the tech workforce in the UK, while women take just five per cent of leadership roles in technology, highlighting the scale of the challenge and the need for focused initiatives such as this.

In the 2024 Complete University Guide, Durham’s department of computer science ranked fourth for its teaching and joint fourth for the employability of its students. The department has a stated objective of making Durham the number one University in the UK for women to study computer science.

Atom’s support reflects this commitment and is the latest element of a wider programme of cooperation between the bank and the University under their five-year partnership.

‘Targeting the next generation of leaders for Atom’

Edward Twiddy, director of ESG at Atom, explained the decision to support the Women in Technology programme in this way: “Through this funding, we are unashamedly targeting the next generation of leaders for Atom and for the technology businesses of the future.

“Applications for the scholarships are now open, and we are really excited at the prospect of meeting the people who we hope will lead Atom in the future through their engagement in this programme.”

As well as being a signatory of the Tech Talent Charter, Atom also played a major role in supporting Durham University in establishing the Diversity Matters project, promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in STEM across industry and academia. The bank was also one of the sponsors of the highly successful Tech Up programme that Durham University’s Professor Sue Black pioneered with the support of the Institute of Coding.

Professor Matthew Johnson, head of the department of computer science at Durham, also added: “We are grateful to Atom Bank for their generous support as we strive to increase the reach of the highly successful AMI scholarship programme. Their contribution will help us to foster greater participation of talented women in our undergraduate degree programmes. The underrepresentation of women in the field poses a significant barrier to innovation.

“Our department is committed to not only creating a welcoming and inclusive environment, but also one that is vibrant, diverse, and thriving. The scholars participating in this program are called upon to serve as ambassadors for the department. Consequently, the impact of these scholarships extends beyond their recipients, influencing and inspiring a broader spectrum of students.”

Nagad, the mobile financial service based in Bangladesh, has introduced an in-built virtual card number that allows its users to enjoy all services even after hiding their mobile numbers. The aim of this feature is to tackle harassment faced by female customers over the phone. Additionally, it will safeguard their privacy.

In Bangladesh, women have been facing harassment and/or falling victim to fraud over the phone as a result of their mobile numbers being leaked while they made any transaction at an MFS service point. To avoid this issue from escalating, Sadaf Roksana, co-founder and executive director of Nagad, came up with a virtual card number.

This feature works as a stand-in for an actual mobile account number. It prevents Nagad customers from being stalked. Additionally, it acts as another barrier to prevent fraud. As a result, women will be given greater protection and freedom in financial transactions.

Roksana said: “Nagad always prioritises customers’ full protection and their privacy when they make any transactions. Financial freedom always takes centre stage in every product and service design.

“From the very beginning of our journey, we have ensured that our female customers do not face any harassment while using Nagad. We have introduced an in-built virtual number as a substitute for their real number for financial transactions,” she noted.

Creating a diverse team

Roksana and Nagad have over 2,200 agents across the country to ensure women are supported in the best way possible. A large majority of these are women who once suffered hardships. Nagad helps give them the confidence they need to be self-reliant.

The MFS company has shaped the country’s financial market with innovations like electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC). This has led to a simplified account opening process. Coupling this with easy and affordable services has taken financial inclusion to 52 per cent at a faster pace.

Amazon UAE has launched a new leadership programme, designed to accelerate career growth for Emirati talent at Amazon and prepare them for leadership roles. The new ‘Amazon Future Leaders Program – Injah’, also places a strong emphasis on nurturing women leaders.

The two-year leadership talent accelerator programme will equip Emiratis across all Amazon business units from retail, operations, technology and payments with deep knowledge by imparting industry-specific management skills, cultural assimilation and mentorship, to help the participants build global careers at Amazon.

Amazon developed ‘Amazon Future Leaders Program – Injah’ as part of its multi-year talent strategy to upskill and train Emirati employees for leadership roles across the region. The new programme begins on Emirati Women’s Day and is open to all Emirati employees at Amazon.

Ronaldo Mouchawar, vice president of Amazon in the Middle East and North Africa, discussed the programme’s launch: “Amazon continues to invest in cultivating future leaders who share a common vision of building the most customer-centric company in the world.

“This transformative programme in the UAE will empower Emirati talent to unlock innovation, solve complex business problems and assimilate into Amazon’s customer-obsessed culture to drive meaningful change. ‘Amazon Future Leaders Program – Injah’ has been created specifically for the UAE, in support of the ‘We the UAE 2031’ vision to continue the country’s progress towards economic prosperity, social well-being and development of human capital.”

Progressing “towards a gender-balanced workforce”

Tailored to develop essential leadership skills, the immersive programme offers on-the-job training, cross-functional exposure, one-to-one mentorship, and regular meetings with business leaders, required for a progressive career at Amazon.

Participants will apply the company’s management and leadership principles to conceive, design and launch innovative solutions for customers, placing them on an accelerated path towards leadership roles.

Bikram Walia, director of human resources at Amazon MENA, also commented: “We are excited to roll out ‘Amazon Future Leaders Program – Injah’ that aims to build a robust pipeline of Emirati leaders, including women leaders.

“The UAE has made phenomenal progress towards a gender-balanced workforce and this programme has been created with the UAE’s gender balance goals in mind.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we believe this programme’s personalised approach will empower Emirati women to build enriching careers at Amazon.”

Reem Aldhaheri, retail programme manager at Amazon UAE, also said: “I am excited to sign up for ‘Amazon Future Leaders Program – Injah’ because it will allow me to explore various aspects of our business, identify my strengths and hone my skills.

“It is a unique opportunity to meet with senior leaders and understand how Amazon’s leadership principles and customer-centric culture drive the company’s success.”

Since its launch in the UAE, Amazon has been investing in the country, supporting the UAE’s economic and social development goals. Committed to developing talent for the digital future, the new programme will further equip Emirati talent for the global economy.

Digital payments leader and the exclusive ‘Payments Technology Partner’ of FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023, Visa, has launched a new campaign to celebrate the power of ‘support squads’ in helping elite female footballers and entrepreneurs achieve their professional goals, both on and off the pitch.

New research commissioned by Visa found that female small business leaders who have a very strong ‘support squad’ (a group of friends, family or colleagues) are almost twice as likely (67 per cent) to report business revenue growth in the last year than those who felt their ‘squad’ is not strong at all (32 per cent).

Meanwhile, 91 per cent of women small business leaders surveyed in the UK said their support network is key to achieving their professional goals, with 78 per cent saying their business wouldn’t be where it is today without one.

Highly decorated England international and Chelsea midfielder Fran Kirby is taking part in the Celebrating Squad Goals campaign to highlight the importance of support networks in life, in business and on the pitch.

“My own support network has been instrumental in my journey, celebrating my successes and picking me up during the tough times, such as my current injury,” Kirby explained when commenting on the initiative.

“It’s so rewarding to see the women’s game going from strength to strength and be that powerful platform for promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls to achieve their dreams. That’s why I’m partnering with Visa to put ‘support squads’ at the heart of this celebration of women on the world stage.”

Visa’s $500,000 funding reward for female-owned small businesses

Trustworthiness (51 per cent), honesty (42 per cent) and positivity (40 per cent) emerged as the three top attributes female business leaders look for when building their ‘support squad’, the Visa research reveals. Diversity of thought is also key, with 78 per cent of women business leaders saying that they value different perspectives and viewpoints when it comes to achieving their professional goals.

Visa’s new Celebrating Squad Goals campaign underscores its commitment to elevating women while driving excellence, equality and inclusion across the whole economy. As part of this, Visa is putting small business owners centre-stage, highlighting the important role they play in powering our economies.

Supporting this, Visa will use its sponsorship of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Player of the Match Award to recognise women-owned small businesses. Visa will announce the winners at the athlete trophy presentation across 64 matches awarded with $500,000 in total grant funding.

Mandy Lamb, managing director in the UK and Ireland at Visa, discussed the payment leader’s previous and continuing efforts in the space: “When it comes to women’s football, Visa has been in it for the long game, championing women every step of the way – during their playing career and in life afterwards.

“As our research shows, support networks are really the unsung heroes of the economy and for this reason, we’re urging everyone to join us in putting the individuals that help them thrive in the spotlight.

“We at Visa are determined to grow the sport at all levels, driving acceptance, increasing visibility, and future-proofing the women’s game, and by celebrating squad goals, we hope to elevate their success in business, sport and life.”