Mastercard & USAID Partners to launch Project Kirana to empower women through financial inclusion
- Mastercard and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have collaborated under Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP) to launch ‘Project Kirana’, to help women entrepreneurs grow and thrive.
- Project Kirana is a two year programme, and initially it will be rolled out in select cities of Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, Kanpur and Varanasi.
- The programme will be implemented by DAI Digital Frontiers and ACCESS Development Services.
- Objective:
- Build financial and digital literacy skills;
- improve basic business management skills including inventory management, accounting, budget management and customer loyalty;
- addressing cultural and other barriers to women becoming successful kirana entrepreneurs;
- It will work to increase revenue streams, expand financial inclusion and digital payments adoption of kirana shops that are owned or operated by women.