Understanding Micro- and Small-Growth Entrepreneurs in Vietnam, Pakistan and Peru

Despite recent progress in addressing challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, the COVID-19 pandemic has put the fragility of many of these gains into the spotlight by disproportionately impacting women workers and women-owned enterprises (WOEs). These enterprises now face new challenges that will need to be addressed if economies are to regain their losses in an equitable way. The ability and will of governments, financial institutions and various
support organizations to address those issues will determine how close we come to unleashing the true economic potential of women entrepreneurs.

The Ignite program, supported by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, is an opportunity to help make strivers, or growth-oriented businesses, more resilient in Pakistan, Peru and Vietnam. Understanding the emerging unmet needs through market assessments and insight research was the first step in this process, and this report provides an overview of “the current state of strivers” across these countries. The insights presented here have been triangulated with other qualitative exercises to develop programming that responds to these needs.