As BRICS calls for turning the proposed Fund into a concrete initiative, the larger question is: what should meaningful financial advancement for women really look like?
Have you ever met a woman who has almost everything needed to build something of her own? A skill. An idea. Discipline. Courage. Perhaps even a few customers. Except one thing: ACCESS. Yet, just when she wants to grow, she stops.
· Where will the money come from?
· Who will trust her without collateral?
· Where will she find bigger buyers?
· Who will explain packaging, certification, digital selling or export procedures?
That is why one line from the recent BRICS discussions deserves more than passing attention: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called upon BRICS members to make the proposed Women’s Advancement Fund a concrete initiative.
He also highlighted three familiar barriers for entrepreneurs entering international business—access to credit, access to buyers and markets and predictable business rules.
But there is one word in the proposed Fund that interests me even more than “Fund”.
It is “Advancement”.
Because women do not only need help to begin. They need support to move forward.
So, if BRICS is to make this Fund concrete, perhaps the first question should be:
What should “advancement” actually mean for a woman?
A Women’s Advancement Fund should not become merely another Women’s Loan Fund.
A loan asks: How much money does she need?
An advancement approach asks: What is preventing her from reaching her next level?
Perhaps the real question is not only how much funding reaches women, but how effectively that funding helps them move from starting small to growing with confidence, visibility and access.
For one woman, it may be capital. For another, packaging or technology. Someone may need certification or simply visibility. Another may already have a good product but no access to buyers. Yet another may need mentoring simply to understand pricing or international markets.
This is where a practical BRICS initiative can make a difference.
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Different support for different stages. A woman starting from home cannot be assessed in the same way as an established exporter. A special small-ticket window could ensure that micro and first-generation women entrepreneurs are not left outside a large international initiative. The Fund could recognise different stages: Start → Stabilise → Scale → Export.
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Not collateral alone—look at potential. Assessment too could look beyond property and collateral. Orders, invoices, digital sales, transaction history and actual business progress can sometimes tell us more about a woman’s potential than the assets she owns.
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Finance should come with market access. The Fund could connect women with BRICS exhibitions, buyer-seller meets, women-led business delegations, digital marketplaces and international trade platforms. And perhaps we need another simple ladder: Local → National → BRICS Market → Global
Imagine a woman producing spices, handloom, food products, handicrafts, wellness services or digital solutions in a small Indian town. Why should her enterprise be expected to leap directly into international trade? Let the ecosystem help her climb one step at a time.
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Simple one-window digital platform. This could further help women understand eligibility, apply, track their applications and discover market opportunities without getting lost in complicated paperwork. It can be made easy to access, simple to understand and practical to use, especially for women who are taking their first steps in business.
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Not just Money, Include Mentoring, Guidance on packaging, pricing, certification, digital marketing, taxation and export documentation.
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Measure whether women actually advance. Most importantly, let us not measure success only by the number of loans sanctioned.
Ask instead:
· Did her income increase?
· Did her enterprise survive?
· Did she reach a new market?
· Did she employ another woman?
· Did she eventually create opportunities for others?
For a woman with ability but limited access, advancement may begin with capital; but it should not end there. It should help her grow, move forward and become more confident in building her own enterprise. The real success of such a Fund will be visible when she moves from needing an opportunity to creating opportunities.
Because the ambition should not merely be: “Give her a loan.”
It should be: “Help her advance.”
That is when financial inclusion begins to become truly Women-led Development.
Jyotsnaa G Bansal is a Reiki Grandmaster, Numerologist, IKS Learner, Researcher, Corporate & Emotional Intelligence Trainer, Crystals Guide, Author, Counselor & Managing Editor (ASMITAA International IKS Magazine)
