Women's Empowerment Creates Cascading Impact
The empowerment of disadvantaged women undertaken by PT Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM) not only impacts the economic improvement of individual clients, but also creates broader social change at the family and community levels.
Women’s empowerment in the ultra-microfinance sector is essentially a process of lighting small lanterns within society. These lanterns serve as symbols of hope and strength for women to improve their families’ lives.
Since its establishment in 1999, PNM has committed to providing financing access and mentorship support for ultra-micro entrepreneurs, particularly disadvantaged women. Through services such as PNM Mekaar and ULaMM, the company not only disburses business capital but also provides training, mentorship, and business character development covering disciplines such as honesty and hard work.
To date, the PNM Mekaar programme reaches more than 22.9 million clients organised into approximately 909,000 women’s groups across Indonesia. The service operates in 36 provinces, 451 districts/cities, and 6,165 sub-districts, positioning PNM as one of the largest drivers of financial inclusion in the ultra-micro segment.
“The impact of empowerment is not measured solely by numbers. Women who previously struggled merely to survive now begin to serve as economic drivers for their families and even their communities,” stated PNM Company Secretary L Dodot Patria Ary during the PNM Iftar Gathering with Media: Light in Meaning.
In this empowerment process, PNM has witnessed the emergence of grassroots women’s leadership. In each Mekaar group, there is a group leader who motivates other members. They learn to organise meetings, maintain group discipline, and ensure all members develop together. This role indirectly builds women’s leadership at the community level.
Group leaders become not merely drivers of small businesses, but role models who cultivate solidarity, mutual cooperation, and economic self-reliance in their surroundings.
This empowerment impact is strengthened by the Ultra Micro Holding ecosystem that integrates PNM, BRI, and Pegadaian services. Through this ecosystem, clients have the opportunity to upgrade their status with access to broader financial services.
Dodot emphasised that women’s empowerment has a cascading effect far exceeding individual economic improvement. “When a mother gains access to financing and mentorship, what changes is not merely her business. What changes is her family’s life, her children’s education, and the economic dynamics in her surroundings. This is what we call the multiplier effect of women’s empowerment,” he stated.
According to Dodot, PNM believes women represent one of the crucial keys to grassroots economic development. When women are empowered, they not only strengthen their family’s economic resilience but also create strong networks of social solidarity within society.
“Therefore, PNM does not merely disburse financing but builds an empowerment ecosystem that allows mothers to continue developing and creating impact for those around them,” he added.
PNM believes major change often begins with small steps. Like a lantern that may appear simple, when lit together, that light can illuminate a long path.
Through millions of Mekaar women clients, these lanterns of empowerment now continue to shine from villages across Indonesia, bringing new hope to families and communities around them.