A growing body of evidence points to the recognition that empowering women economically is essential not only for women to realise the full range of their rights and freedoms, but also for economic growth and poverty reduction in society as a whole. Indeed, as the argument goes, empowering women is smart business—or to be specific it is ‘smart economics’. It spurs economic growth, leading to an increase in a country’s GDP. This rhetoric has led to the rise of women’s economic empowerme