“We can and have to do more to support women in the business sector”: this is the warning from Anna Tavano, the Head of Global Banking for HSBC Italy, after the results showed by “She’s the Business”, a global report on gender inequality in entrepreneurship.

Anna Tavano: HSBC global report “She’s the Business” shows the gender gap in entrepreneurship

“We can and have to do more to support women in the business sector”: the Head of Global Banking for HSBC Italy, Anna Tavano, comments on the results emerged from the report “She’s the Business”. The research was conducted for the first time in the world, involving more than 1,200 entrepreneurs in Europe, Asia, Mexico, the Middle East, and the United States, and showed the difficulties that female entrepreneurs face in raising funds to start and sustain their business. The report was commissioned by HSBC in order to highlight the challenges that women have to face in setting up a business. “What this global research clearly shows is the presence of gender inequality to disadvantage of women even in enterpreneurship, to such an extent that they find it more difficult than men to raise capital” said Anna Tavano, the Head of Global Banking for HSBC Italy: the research showed that more than one third of businesswomen are victims of gender inequality during the capital raising stage. The same trend emerges also from the investment assessment stage, during which women are asked questions aimed at verifying their credibility as entrepreneurs.

Anna Tavano pushed for enhancing and supporting entrepreneurial initiatives for women

The “She’s the Business” report – which the Head of Global Banking for HSBC Italy Anna Tavano commented on – showed the persistence of remarkable differences among markets regarding gender inequality. The highest levels of inequality are found in the Western and mature markets of the United Kingdom (54%) and the United States (46%). The lowest percentage of inequality emerged in mainland China (17%). Despite this, if on the one hand female entrepreneurs from Hong Kong (68%) and Singapore (59%) are less likely to get funded, on the other the investment pitches of women from the US (65%) and from France (62%) are more likely to succeed. This is also due to a further issue that can be faced during the pitching process for new investments: almost two-thirds (61%) of businesswomen are evaluated by teams almost exclusively composed of male investors. Moreover, the funds granted to women in the world are 5% less than those raised by men. The greatest differences can be found in the United States (8%), France (7%), and in the United Kingdom (6%). As a consequence, 58% of female entrepreneurs fear that gender differences may compromise the capital raising stage. The situation that emerges, therefore, is not really positive. Great efforts are needed to reverse the trend, as stated by Anna Tavano: “HSBC works with entrepreneurs all around the world, and our intention is to help women grow their businesses through fundraising, networking and mentorship opportunities. We are very proud of our partnership with AllBright, as it allows us to support networks of women”.