ASTANA — Global digital payments company Visa and Halyk Bank will launch the fifth wave of the She’s Next global initiative in Kazakhstan, aimed at supporting and developing women’s entrepreneurship, Visa’s press service reported on March 5.
Photo credit: Visa Kazakhstan
According to the Ministry of National Economy, as of December 2025, more than one million women headed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kazakhstan, accounting for 48.1% of all SMEs in the country.
Since 2021, more than 40,000 women from Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries have taken part in the She’s Next program. In 2024 alone, more than 16,000 businesswomen registered for the fourth wave, with 2,000 submitting business plans for evaluation by an expert commission. Thirty participants with the strongest projects advanced to the finals.
The finalists gathered in Almaty for a two-day business intensive called She’s Next Camp, where they attended educational sessions, mentoring meetings and networking events with leading Kazakhstani entrepreneurs. On the second day, participants presented their projects to a jury comprising representatives from Visa, Halyk Bank, and the business community.
Seven winners were selected and awarded grants to support the development of their businesses.
This year, the program will expand with the introduction of a new Inclusive Business category, in addition to the existing Start-up Business, Active Business and IT Business categories, allowing more women from diverse sectors to apply for grants.
Halyk Bank Chairwoman Umut Shayakhmetova said supporting women’s entrepreneurship is part of the bank’s long-term strategy to promote economic development.
“Partnering with Visa on She’s Next allows us to combine education, mentoring and access to finance into a single ecosystem of opportunities. Expanding the program through the Inclusive Business category is designed to give even more women the resources they need for growth,” Shayakhmetova said.
Vice President and Regional Manager of Visa in Kazakhstan and Central Asia Sanjar Suleymanov noted that the global initiative has been bringing together women entrepreneurs worldwide, including in Kazakhstan, since 2019.
Over previous waves of the program, 14 winners in Kazakhstan received grants totaling 46.5 million tenge (US$94,477), helping them launch and expand their businesses.
