Scotiabank Group Jamaica, seeing a need to lend more support to female entrepreneurs, has initiated and launched the Scotiabank Women’s Initiative (SWI).

Although more women are taking management positions in Corporate Jamaica and starting their own ventures, many do not make it to the very top, sit on board and invariably struggle to find financing and guidance for their businesses.

Scotiabank Jamaica’s Group CEO Audrey Tugwell-Henry sort to address these matters during her presentation at the launch of the SWI held at the AC Marriot Hotel in Kingston on Friday (January 7).

Full speech below:

“On behalf of the Scotia Group, I want to first start by wishing everyone here and those joining online a safe, peace-filled, and prosperous 2022. 

This morning, I feel particularly privileged to be here on this important occasion for Jamaican business and in the history of Scotiabank in Jamaica. 

We have been operating in Jamaica for more than 130 years. During this time, we have contributed significantly to both the economic and social development of the island. 

We have helped countless businesses, both large and small at various stages of their development and still do so through a wide range of products and services to support their continued growth. 

I feel a personal connection to the cause that we will be advancing today and so it is with a special sense of pride that I am here to share details of The Scotiabank Women Initiative, that we are confident will provide welcome financing options, business-related education and advisory programmes for women-led and owned businesses in Jamaica. 

S-W-I is a bold initiative that will aid women as they continue to help Jamaica transition from a developing to an innovation and knowledge-based economy. 

One that will allow them to build more social enterprises, focused on transformation while still yielding profit as well as to create more environmentally conscious companies, that will benefit our region for years to come. 

A look at the data 

According to data analysed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), nearly 60 per cent of managers in Jamaica are women, including those who work for companies and those who own their own businesses. 

While this does sounds fantastic in isolation, when you consider some broader contexts, we also see where female-owned or led businesses are also more likely to fail. 

In fact, the Latin American region and the Caribbean has the second-highest rate of bankruptcy among female-owned companies in the world.

Anecdotally, we see where more than two-thirds of start-up businesses which are formed in Jamaica, fail within the first two years. 

Of those that survive, many struggle to persevere beyond the five-year mark. 

While all entrepreneurs experience challenges in starting a business, women have been found to have additional obstacles to overcome. 

One of the key issues that has been identified as a reason for failure, is the lack of adequate funding. 

While the region has higher rates of women entrepreneurship and a smaller gap in participation between men and women entrepreneurs than other regions, only 17 per cent of women are entrepreneurs in the formal economy. 

In the context of the larger corporations in the Caribbean, women comprise just 27 per cent of CEOs, 25 per cent of board members and only 18 per cent of board chairs. 

Practices and cultural norms often restrict women’s advancement in the workplace and most of the products and services available to them continue to be designed by and for men. 

At current rates of progress, it will take 74 years to achieve gender parity in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap report. 

We cannot afford to wait that long, especially within the context of a pandemic, which continues to have a disproportionate impact on women. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated worsening inequalities for women who – tend to earn less, have lower amounts of savings, and are highly represented within both the informal economy and service sectors, which have been hard-hit by the pandemic. 

Scotiabank’s position 

Scotiabank has been a strong and longstanding proponent of women in business both in the Caribbean and across our global footprint. 

Today represents another deliberate step to increase opportunities for women to achieve success in business. 

We are also committed to Jamaica and to offering strong financial support to drive our economic recovery. 

Today, we are taking steps to address critical statistics that will help to correct the issue of under-representation of women “where it matters.” 

We believe that all of this creates a significant and timely context for us as a leading financial institution within the region to respond in a powerful way and to help to address some of these inequalities so that our women can unlock their greatest potential. 

With all this considered, today, we proudly announce the Scotiabank Women Initiative! 

The programme was launched by Scotiabank in Canada in 2018 and has since assisted over 5,000 programme participants to advance their businesses. 

Jamaica will be the first country outside of Canada to launch this initiative. 

The Scotiabank Women Initiative 

The Scotiabank Women Initiative is a three-pronged programme which will comprise financial education and training, advisory services and mentorship and most importantly, access to capital. 

Under access to capital, today, we are committing to a significant and ambitious undertaking of providing a loan fund valued at three (3) billion Jamaican dollars for the next three years. 

The Scotiabank Women’s Initiative Loan fund will give businesses access to a special launch rate of seven per cent. 

The fund will be available immediately with the education and advisory 

components to be offered later in 2022. 

SWI’s education programme will offer bespoke, specialized training, resources, tools and workshops aimed at boosting financial education and technical expertise. 

In terms of advisory assistance, we will be working to further empower and mentor women in business in areas such as governance and commercial board readiness through holistic advisory services and mentorship. 

We will be offering women-centric advice & connecting women with like-minded peers, tailored development opportunities, and expert mentors. 

All of these educational and advisory services will be offered to participating businesses with the cost fully underwritten by Scotiabank. 

We are making our 130 years of experience and our team of highly skilled and trained professionals available to our nation’s women who are boldly navigating the world of business and entrepreneurship and we are saying “Scotiabank is here to support you”. 

For several years, Scotiabank has pioneered and implemented programmes geared at various categories of businesses at varying stages of their development. 

We have a record of accomplishment in delivering business success stories for those we have had the privilege to impact through previous initiatives like the longstanding Scotiabank Vision Achiever programme for SMEs, Brad Sugars 30X for Business and partnerships programme like JAMPRO Exportmax, and the DBJ Credit Enhancement Fund. 

As a female leader, I know too well the demands and expectations faced by women in business and today I am proud to be a leader in an organisation that acknowledges the challenges that women face and is taking deliberate action to address them. 

We truly believe that by elevating women in business and by supporting diversity in leadership, we will also directly benefit Jamaica’s economic development and overall productivity. 

When you elevate women not only does their business become more successful, but their families flourish and the wider community also thrives. 

Scotiabank has promised to be the bank for every future and today marks another important milestone for us in this journey. 

On behalf of the entire team, I want to thank you all for being here. I hope that through the Scotiabank Women’s Initiative we have outlined today we will, inspire and renew the passions of our strong, talented, and capable Jamaican women to take another bold step towards achieving even greater things.”