Women's Entrepreneurship Finance

This World Bank Group report provides a baseline analysis of the status of access to finance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with a particular focus on women entrepreneur' ability and constraints in accessing finance in order to develop and grow their businesses. It is based on a nationally representative survey of 542 enterprises conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) between September 2016 and February 2017.

SME Finance Forum member, FINCA has announced a strategic partnership with Karandaaz Pakistan, a non-profit finance generating organization for small businesses and individual’s financial inclusion.

In conjunction with Women’s History Month, the National Women’s Business Council has released a report under their Access to Capital pillar titled Understanding the Landscape: Access to Capital for Women Entrepreneurs.

This Vuna publication, produced by Value for Women Ltd., is the first in a series of three reports with the goal of guiding small and growing agribusinesses (SGABs) to growth through strategic gender inclusion in climate-smart agriculture (CSA) value chains. The research was commissioned by Vuna, a three-year regional CSA programme funded by UK aid (DFID), and implemented by Adam Smith International in five countries of East and Southern Africa: Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

This North Africa Economic Outlook by the African Development Bank (covering Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia) examines the macroeconomic performance of the region and the outlook for 2018 and 2019 and explores the relationship between food security and rural poverty. Included in the report are details about finance for small and medium-size enterprises. Excerpts are below.

Mastercard hosted two of the most influential women in microfinance, Andrea Jung, President & CEO of Grameen America, Inc. and Gina Harman, CEO of U.S. Network Accion, to talk about women's economic empowerment, the challenges female entrepreneurs face and more.

Mastercard hosted two of the most influential women in microfinance, Andrea Jung, President & CEO of Grameen America, Inc. and Gina Harman, CEO of U.S. Network Accion, to talk about women's economic empowerment, the challenges female entrepreneurs face and more.

IFC committed to expand support for initiatives in South Africa that help address persistent challenges in job creation, especially for young people and women. In a speech to government officials and business leaders in Johannesburg, IFC CEO Philippe Le Houérou said IFC is ready to deliver expertise and new ideas that support policies aimed at addressing record high levels of poverty and inequality in the country.

Although often discussed, there has been limited effort to match venture capitalists’ construction of gender notions with specific facts about the entrepreneurs’ venturing activities. This Journal of Business Venturing Insights study shows how stereotypical gender notions of both men and women entrepreneurs are embedded in venture capitalists’ assessments and analyses as well as explores whether or not these notions have substance based on actual performance.

Today, women continue to make notable headways in the entrepreneurial landscape. In 2016 alone, an estimated 163 million women were starting or running new businesses in 74 economies around the world. The gender divide in entrepreneurship narrows on various fronts. First, an increase of 10% in Women’s Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rates between the 2014 to 2016 period brought the gender gap down by 5%.