SBWC mentoring UAE’s business women to reinvent themselves

Sharjah Business Women Council (SBWC), an affiliate of NAMA Women Advancement Establishment (NAMA), has equipped 48 of its members with the right tools, knowledge and motivation to advance in the business world through a diversified workshop series with the central theme of post-COVID business recovery planning.

Held in partnership with global technology leader Mashreq Bank, Mastercard, and 33Voices, a high-performance learning organisation and business accelerator, the four-part workshop series titled ‘The Reinvention of Business Post-COVID 19’, concluded recently.

Senior executives from Mastercard and Mashreq Bank led the action-oriented workshops that commenced on July 12 to identify solutions and design new frameworks to address the most pressing challenges of conducting business in a post-COVID world, thereby strengthening Sharjah’s entrepreneurial ecosystem for women.

Sheikha Hind Bint Majid Al Qasimi, Chairperson of SBWC, said: “This workshop series, held in collaboration with 33Voices, provided trusted business guidance and education to our members, empowering them to develop long-term strategies to minimise risk and transform obstacles into opportunities for growth. Learning the fundamentals of successful business building from industry stalwarts will enable business women and female entrepreneurs to innovate and adapt through better risk analysis and cashflow strategies while also honing their leadership skills.”

The need to learn, reprioritise and change, was the common thread that ran through the four workshops, helmed by Moe Abdou, Founder and Principal of 33Voices. He said: “There’s no work being done in the region and the world at large that carries more significance than the work of female entrepreneurs and leaders. It’s a deep privilege to have the opportunity to work with the SBWC members’ community to contribute towards their next stage of growth.”

For 80 per cent workshop participants who were unaware of the benefits of digital business banking, the finance-oriented workshop hosted by Vikas Thapar, Head of Business Banking and NEOBiz at Mashreq, led to greater awareness on the tailored digital offerings for SMEs and offered insights into smart risk management steps for growing a business in the post-pandemic era.

Mashreq executive Vikas Thapar commented: “As an active supporter of entrepreneurship and gender diversity, Mashreq is proud to participate in this event, and lend our insights to inspiring women entrepreneurs who are a key part of the UAE’s economy. During the workshop, we had the opportunity to provide women business owners with strategies to manage their finances efficiently and explore ways to raise capital as well as collaborate with banks and other financial institutions. We look forward to participating in similar initiatives in future.”

Even as women entrepreneurs are reshaping market dynamics, SBWC members pointed out that a range of challenges including ‘designing a bigger future’ and ‘attracting and retaining talent’ were preventing them from achieving their business goals or diminishing their ability to get ahead in business.