Women Business Prize Afghanistan
The first award for Afghan women entrepreneurs under Taliban rule
The roots of this initiative date back to 2020, when NOVE successfully organised the Daring Women in Business Prize in Kabul to encourage Afghan women entrepreneurs to withstand the severe recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2021, the Taliban seized power and the second edition of the Prize was cancelled. However, NOVE continued negotiating with the de facto authorities until it obtained authorisation to relaunch the Prize, renamed Women Business Prize – Afghanistan, held in Kabul on July 7, 2025, in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Why offer an award for women’s entrepreneurship in Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, where millions of women are in desperate need of food, medical care, and protection from abuse and horrific violence?
Because against all odds, Afghan women still manage to create and run businesses. And while many remain at a subsistence level, some grow enough to provide employment for other women and support entire families.
The competition is open to all women residing in Afghanistan who run a business or have a viable business idea. Following the nationwide launch of the call for applications, more than 140 candidates from 11 provinces applied within just a few days, some submitting handwritten applications from remote areas.
The Jury awarded the first prize of 3,500 USD to Nahid Neda and her Trading and Construction Company, a logistics and construction firm based in Kabul, which has introduced women into key sectors traditionally dominated by men.
The second prize, worth 2,000 USD, was awarded to Nasrin Mawlany of Mazar-e-Sharif, who — considering the high prices, poor quality and significant environmental impact of disposable sanitary pads — presented a business idea for producing reusable ones.
My life has been hard, but I have no regrets because it made me stronger. Today I no longer want to do “special” things, as I dreamed of as a child. I want to be a businesswoman who earns money and can help poor women and children. I know how painful it is to be rejected by society simply because you are poor.
Nasrin Mawlany
The third prize, worth 1,400 USD, was awarded to the business idea of Shahdin Nili from Daikundi: a women-led preserved food production chain designed to create jobs and income for women in rural areas.
Fondazione Avvenire funded a fourth special prize, awarded to Asfaneh Arfin, for founding a tech company in Herat that offers IT training, digital services and employment opportunities for women through the local production of technological components.
NOVE also offers the winners a three-month mentoring program to help them launch or consolidate their businesses and develop growth strategies.
Women’s Entrepreneurship in Afghanistan
The 2024 UNDP report “Listening to Women Entrepreneurs in Afghanistan” outlined the main challenges faced by Afghan women seeking to start a business:
- Limited financial access: women are forced to rely on personal savings or informal loans due to high collateral requirements, mobility restrictions, and the absence of a Sharia-compliant banking system.
- Licensing barriers: only 28% of women-led businesses hold licences, significantly limiting their access to markets and funding opportunities.
- Declining export opportunities: logistical restrictions and reduced international demand have forced women entrepreneurs to focus on domestic markets, where profit margins are lower.
The same UNDP study found that, despite these challenges, 66% of the 3,122 women-led businesses surveyed across 18 provinces had recorded business growth over the past year, driven largely by donor support, improved product quality and the ability to adapt to changing market conditions.
According to the Afghan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI), in 2025, more than 56,000 women-led businesses were active across the country, though the majority operated outside formal financial and regulatory systems (among the 17,639 businesses surveyed, 95.7% were not officially licensed).
The Prize led to She Means Business, a peer learning circle offering Afghan women entrepreneurs a safe virtual space to share their experiences, discuss challenges, and work together toward concrete solutions.
The Women Business Prize Afghanistan is more than a competition; it is a meeting point and an exchange of female energy. NOVE’s goal is to repeat it periodically, in order to generate lasting opportunities and foster real development for Afghan women.
The second edition of the Prize is currently in the planning stages.
2025 Jury Members: Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, sponsor of the Prize; Savvitas; Lara Ponti, CEO of Ponti and Vice President for Environmental Transition and ESG Goals at Confindustria; Teresa Masciopinto, President of Fondazione Finanza Etica; Francesca Vecchioni, Founder and President of Fondazione Diversity; Beatrice Lucarella, President of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Brindisi-Taranto; Antonella Mariani, Editor-in-Chief of Avvenire; Cristina Di Silvio, Legal Advisor to the Human Rights Commission of the International Institution for Diplomatic Relations (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) and Director of Legal Affairs and Treaty Compliance at GOEDFA.