Financing Virtual Migration - Freelancing Incubation in North Bangladesh

Funding authority - Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL)

Project Partner - Sarah Institute Of E-Generation

Project Duration - 12 Months. 

Project Period - March 2021 – February 2022

The northern region of Bangladesh is not well-connected with the large, urban labor markets of the capital city and has the lowest participation rate in the labor market. 

Bringing employment growth and entrepreneurship creation to this area is a top priority for MOMODa FOUNDATION, especially for females, who have few job opportunities, particularly in rural areas, given patriarchal social norms, purdhah restrictions, and family obligations that hinder active labor force participation. 

MOMODa FOUNDATION and researchers from Oxford, Florida International University, and IFPRI are currently trailing an online freelancing platform that can enable many rural youths, especially women, to enter into online-based micro-entrepreneurship – the freedom to work from home and access to global clients to earn a competitive wage. 

Sarah Institution of E-Generation, a local implementing partner, is executing this project. 

The project-specific components are: 

1. An intensive online freelancer training program on employment, earnings, and other household outcomes of rural youth in North Bangladesh. 

2. Creation of an "online freelancer incubator," which provides post-training further mentoring to students through an extended internship and in particular to assist them in navigating the online marketplace and building their 'reputation'

3. An income-sharing contract, in which clients repay the cost of training via income-sharing during the post-training internship.

4. The research will be conducted based on a randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology. 

In a previous pilot experience, MOMODa has developed expertise in implementing such a project, working with a local microfinance NGO and a local IT company with expertise in online-based freelance marketplace training. 

The project will continue up to 28 February 2022.  

For more information about the project, check the following links:

https://pedl.cepr.org/content/financing-virtual-migration-incubation-and-income-sharing-north-bangladesh-0

https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2021/04/25/online-freelancing-in-bangladesh-constraints-there-potentials-overriding