Many women in Bangladesh, especially those in the capital, have started their own businesses with the help of Facebook, with more online businesses being created during the pandemic.
According to Meta, a new company brand for Facebook apps and technologies, more than 70% of women-led businesses were set up using Facebook in Bangladesh since the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
There has also been an increase of more than 65% in Instagram-based businesses owned by women, as per the information recently shared by Meta on the eve of Women’s Day.
According to the tech giant, 40% of Facebook groups about entrepreneurship in Bangladesh were created by women last year.
According to the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), around 300,000 people — about half of them women — in the country are running their businesses with the help of Facebook.
"These entrepreneurs earn between €100 and €1,000 per month," former president of the association Syed Almas Kabir told Dhaka Tribune.
Businesses via Facebook have multiplied during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is sort of a blessing in disguise, Kabir added.
According to the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB), the sector saw at least 100,000 new entrepreneurs joining the online market, and 98% of all the e-commerce and f-commerce sellers have been playing by the book.
For the past few years, Bangladesh's e-commerce business expanded rapidly, with women entrepreneurs increasingly starting their online-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through Facebook.
Bangladesh currently has 2,500 e-commerce sites and a huge number of unofficial online shops run by women selling items worth over $2 billion, making it the 46th largest country in terms of e-commerce sales globally, according to news reports.
Furthermore, according to the Industrial Development Leasing Company of Bangladesh Limited's monthly business assessment (2019), Facebook is used by more than 300,000 Bangladeshi retailers.
Women own more than 50% of these businesses.
Bangladesh's internet business scene has been revolutionized by Facebook and other social media platforms. In the country, the social networking platform has 30 million members and 50,000 company sites.
According to e-CAB reports and industry insiders, online sales rose about 70% in 2020 from the previous year, and the market size of the industry stood at nearly $2 billion as of August that year.
Sahab Uddin, vice president of e-CAB, estimated that the valuation of the sector in 2021 might have crossed Tk20,000 crore — about $2.32 billion.
By 2023, the market is predicted to reach a size of $3 billion.
It would be essential to ensure that such a growing sector, with all its barriers that are unique to the market, has a policy-regulation framework that ensures the sustenance of the businesses, e-CAB sources told Dhaka Tribune.
In this regard, Meta plans to launch their flagship #SheMeansBusiness program in Bangladesh.
#SheMeansBusiness is a training event that provides women entrepreneurs with the digital skills needed to grow their audience and business.
Over the last year, Meta has partnered with 18 community organizations and government partners to conduct more than 275 training sessions for over 20,000 women entrepreneurs in the Asia Pacific.
Meta is also encouraging people in Bangladesh to participate in the #BuyFromHer campaign on Facebook and Instagram to inspire others to shop from local women-owned businesses.