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 tailored to women
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 centres across the country. Women have 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 assessed the 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 launched the Women’s Economic Empowerment Component (WEEC) of the Office’s programme in Batken in 2020. It offers threefold support to women like Aida. 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, 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 for free.
But what sets the programme apart is that the support does not stop there. The WEEC offers 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. In 2021, the WEEC supported 46 women entrepreneurs and 51 received in-kind grants in 2022.
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 and a refrigerator and baking equipment for the pastry-making courses. Based on 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.
In addition to the guidance and grants, the programme provides mentorship during the difficult starting period that can make or break a business.
Expanding from south to north
The WEEC programme started in the economically underdeveloped south but has been expanded to the more affluent northern provinces of Issyk-Kul and Jalal-Abad. Aigul Asakeeva runs a traditional cafe called Dastorkon in Karakol, Issyk-Kul’s capital city located near the eastern shore of Issyk-Kul Lake, a favourite 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 and 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 currently the most successful café in Karakol.
Mini-MBA
One of the innovative ways the OSCE has complemented its existing entrepreneurial support it through offering a 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 OSCE adviser Ulukmyrza Osmonov. “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”.
Keep developing
120 women have completed Aida's sewing course to date. Around half are now employed as seamstresses in Batken province. One of her former students has specialized in sewing car seat covers and is opening a business herself. Of the 90-some graduates of her confectionary course, some have found jobs in a large local bakery and many are selling their baked goods at local markets.
But Aida is not one to rest on her laurels. This year, she launched computer certificate courses that teach basic computer skills and social media marketing. “In the age of new technologies, there is an absolute lack of IT qualification in Batken,” she says. She has also received a licence to teach massage courses and enrolment is currently underway.
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,” she says.
In July 2022, Kalyskhan and her team at the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek received the OSCE Gender Equality Champion award in the “project” category for their work to empower women entrepreneurs in Kyrgyzstan.
This story was first published in December 2021 and war updated in August 2022. 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.