Growing Women’s Businesses in Kyrgyzstan
When Aida Batyrova moved from Osh to the town of Batken so that she and her husband could care for his elderly parents, it was immediately clear that life in this southernmost corner of Kyrgyzstan would be very different from what she was used to. Batken is not an easy place to live and work. Compared to the city of Osh and certainly to the faraway capital Bishkek, infrastructure is practically non-existent. The province of Batken borders both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and insecurity is not an abstract word here. Skirmishes at the unclearly delimited borders are an almost daily occurrence and it is not unusual for people to go missing or be left homeless. Economic opportunities are limited and, as is often the case in poverty-stricken regions, so are the energy and imagination to create new ones. The standard solution is to leave for Russia on a doubtful quest for employment, leaving families separated and often destitute.
Having worked for a private company and a government tax office, Aida had some basic business knowledge and was unafraid of trying something new. She decided to try starting her own small enterprise – something that would cater to the needs of the women she saw struggling to keep their families afloat. She loved teaching and decided to develop training courses in sewing and pastry-making for women and girls. Learning these life skills could enable them to contribute tangibly to the family household and at the same time heighten their chances for gainful employment, be it in Kyrgyzstan or abroad. To develop her project, she received valuable help from the OSCE-supported Entrepreneurship Support Center (ESC) in Batken.
OSCE support
The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek has been providing support to small enterprises since 2017 when it opened the first ESC in Osh, in which trained business specialists and lawyers provide advice to local entrepreneurs. It currently manages a network of five ESCs across the country. Women made up a significant percentage of the clients from the start. But the sex-disaggregated data collected by the Office showed that they were not profiting from the programme as much as they could.
“Women were typically interested in learning business techniques but often lacked the resources to put what they learned into practice,” says Kalyskan Khasanova, who manages the entrepreneurial support programme at the OSCE Programme Office. We did an assessment of support currently available to women entrepreneurs in the country and saw that there was a need for more practical assistance in actually getting businesses off the ground.
On the basis of these findings, Kalyskan and her team devised the Women’s Economic Empowerment Component (WEEC) of the Office’s programme. Launched in Batken in 2019, the WEEC offers threefold support to women like Aida. Firstly, professional business consultants and lawyers provide business training and assistance in developing a business plan and teach them how to pitch their idea. When Aida approached the ESC with her idea of opening a training centre, for example, the advisors explained to her how to obtain a license and the required accounting documents, how to draw up a business charter, employee contracts and a business agreement with clients. All of this help she received free of charge. But what sets the WEEC apart is that the support does not stop there. A small in-kind grant of equipment assists with the investment of resources needed to get a new business start or existing one going. And, finally, the programme provides mentorship during the difficult starting period that can make or break a business. “During the first year, we conduct strict monitoring of the use of equipment and provide regular coaching on the implementation of business plans. We donate equipment only once it is clear that beneficiaries use the provided assets for operational purposes in accordance with their business plan,” Kalyskan explains.
Aida opened her training centre in November 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek provided her with three sewing machines, a straight-stitching machine, machine that sews jersey and one that sews five-thread overlock. Also, for the pastry-making courses, a refrigerator and baking equipment. Together with two hired teachers she offers classes 3 times a week – taking into account that the rural lifestyle does not allow for daily classes. On the basis of her ongoing consultations with the ESC she was able to forge a connection with the Asian Development Bank and signed a contract whereby the bank’s skills development fund finances women’s participation in her courses.
From Batken to Issyk-Kul
The WEEC programme started in the economically underdeveloped south but was expanded this year to the more affluent northern province of Issyk-Kul. Aigul Asakeeva runs a traditional cafe called Dastorkon in Karakol, the province’s capital city located near the eastern shore of Issyk-Kul Lake, a favorite tourist destination. Her business was already going well, but she needed assistance in promoting it through the internet and on social media. The ESC in Karakol helped her to develop a strategic business plan based on an internal assessment of strengths and weaknesses, management style and quality of service as well as market research. Aigul and her team were trained in efficient online sales and developed new methods for taking online orders and organizing deliveries.
Thanks to their social media and internet marketing, they obtained feedback from their clients and responded to it. They soon noticed that both the number of walk-in clients and online orders increased significantly. After six months, customer flow had increased by 30 per cent and the engagement rate on their social media platforms by 40 per cent. In September 2020, Aigul was able to expand the café space by opening an outdoor seating area. She managed to actually increase the café’s revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, and also created new jobs in the community. It is the most successful café in Karakol in the meanwhile.
Hands-on management
The WEEC, which piloted in Batken with 24 women last year, is now supporting 45 women in Batken and Issyk-Kul. Grant committees have been created in Issyk-Kul and Batken and transparent criteria of selection and evaluation of applicants’ business plans have been developed. The ESCs and the WEEC are closely managed by Kalyskan and her team of three advisors who are in regular contact with the business consultants. “To enhance the quality of work and services provided by the OSCE, we regularly organize discussions and retreats. There are 15 consultants in all – each has her/his own terms of reference and deliverables and provides a report at the end of each month,” Ulukmyrza Osmonov, one of the advisors, explains.
One of the innovations of the OSCE’s entrepreneurial support that have benefited many women is the mini-MBA. Whereas an MBA course of study usually takes one year, the OSCE offers a compact course that takes a little less than one month, making it accessible to men and women juggling busy schedules. The course, taught by experienced experts who have their own businesses, covers strategic management, financial management, human resources, and marketing and sales. Since 2020 it is being offered online – the first online Mini-MBA course in Kyrgyzstan.
“We have seen numerous cases where the Mini-MBA has brought results,” says Ulukmyrza. “For example, a Jalal-Abad supermarket owner, whose business was challenged when a big supermarket chain from Bishkek came to Jalal-Abad, was able to apply the Blue Ocean business strategy, which aims to unlock hidden markets rather than competing head-on in existing ones. She started selling products especially for kids and moms and managed to retain and even grow her clientele”.
A priority of the Swedish OSCE Chair
Sweden, OSCE Chair in 2021, attaches great importance to the role women’s economic empowerment plays in achieving gender equality, inclusive social development, prosperity and stability. It dedicated the year’s OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum to the topic. Aida Batyrova was invited to present her experience at the concluding meeting of the Forum in Prague in September. She was able to tell about how her courses have already made a difference to the lives of the 70-some women who have graduated with a qualifying certificate. Some have found employment as seamstresses and in a large commercial bakery in Batken, many are selling their baked goods at local markets, a few have been able to land well-paying jobs in Russia on the basis of their acquired expertise in making pastries and creams. One of the graduates of the sewing course has specialized in sewing car seat covers and is opening a business in parallel with that of her husband who sells spare car parts.
Aida herself is full of plans for the future: she wants to offer computer courses that will teach basic computer skills and social media marketing. “In the age of new technologies, there is an absolute lack of IT qualification in Batken. I have already discussed my plan with the lawyer at the Batken ESC and am preparing documents to comply with the licensing regulations and to be able to issue IT certificates,” she says.
For Aida – there is no question of why women should go into business. “A woman is an equal member of our society; in entrepreneurship matters people should not be divided into men and women. A woman is obliged to develop herself – to set an example to the next generation – just like a man.”
Kalyskan Khasanova was nominated for the 2020 OSCE Gender Championship Award. More information on the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek’s entrepreneurial support programme can be found on the Office’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, @OSCEBishkek and on the ESC’s website and social media pages.