Govt is Giving Up to RM150,000 in Funds to Empower More Women to Become Entrepreneurs

Running a business can be difficult, especially when your business is a fairly small one competing against much larger and more established enterprises. On top of that, it’ll also definitely hurt to be a woman in the male-dominated business industry.

This is why the Ministry of Finance and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) want to champion and give female entrepreneurs a helpful boost towards building their businesses and brands via the Skim Pembiayaan Perniagaan Khas Wanita (DanaNITA).

The main purpose of this initiative is to encourage more female participation in entrepreneurial activities while empowering businesswomen who are already hustling through financing for business expansion.

With a financing limit of RM150,000, DanaNITA aims to assist businesswomen through working capital and purchasing of machinery and equipment necessary for women to build their brand.

Interested in participating? Here are the requirements: 

• A Malaysian citizen and a Bumiputera
• Aged 18 to 60 years old
• Have experience and knowledge in the field of your business venture
• Have a valid Business Registration (SSM)
• Have a business premises (except for online businesses)
• Have a license/permit/letter of permission (to run your business) from the Local Authority (PBT)
• Running the business full time
• The business must be in operation for not less than 6 months
• Have an active savings account for the last 6 months
• The business must be Syariah compliant
• Be free from any MARA blacklists

They are also open to certain relaxations of their terms and conditions if:

• The majority (51%) of your shareholders are women
• You have a bank account statement for a period of three months (online statements are accepted)

For financing of RM50,000 and below, you are entitled to certain relaxations of the terms and conditions if:

• You are registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) or have the relevant Business License of Sabah and Sarawak
• You have a Local Authority (PBT) License Exemption
• You have Exemption for Quotation Modification/Purchase for machinery and equipment

One of the relaxations includes a breathing period for repayments of up to 12 months.

Financing under DanaNITA will run from a year to 10 years depending on the needs of the applicant, and for those who are receiving loans of RM50,001 and above, certain guarantees are required:

• One or more guarantors who have a fixed monthly income of not less than 3% of the amount applied for, or
• Land security with a Forced Sale Value of at least 10% of the amount applied for, or
• Both of the above, or
• an Islamic Fixed Deposit (General Investment Account) which is based on 10% of the financing value.

But fret not for they’ve promised a profit rate of 3.5%.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s about time for us girls to step up and become the #GirlBosses we all know we have within us.

For more information on DanaNITA and to submit an application, look no further than here. To learn more about Budget 2022, visit their website here.

Which male-dominated business industry would you like to see more women in? Let us know in the comment section!