cat/womens-entrepreneurship-finance
Financial institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of providing digital non-financial services (NFS) in helping SMEs and particularly women entrepreneurs to succeed. As the largest bank in Brazil - a country with over 7 million women-owned enterprises - Itaú realized that developing digital solutions is the most effective way to increase reach and generate high impact.
Crunchbase has released a report on the amount of funding that flowed to companies with at least one female founder in the first quarter of 2019. The author says that 17 percent of venture dollars representing $8.1 billion in the first quarter went to companies with at least one female founder. Of that, two percent was invested in only female founders, and 15 percent was garnered by companies with male and female co-founders. In contrast, 83 percent went to only male founders.
SME Finance Forum partner Women's World Banking has released "Acquisition and Engagement Strategies to Reach Women with Digital Financial Services." In this publication, Women’s World Banking outlined how they applied different approaches in Nigeria and Pakistan to increase both the acquisition of women customers as well as women’s engagement with digital financial services.
Globally, two billion people remain unbanked and women lag behind men in terms of access to formal accounts, credit and savings products. 80% of women-owned SMEs have unmet credit needs, resulting in a credit gap of up to $320 billion. Closing the gender gap in financial inclusion could help reduce poverty and foster economic growth worldwide.
It is important for all stakeholders to take action to deliver the significant benefits of mobile and the internet to women, their families, communities and the economy. Mobile can help empower women, making them more connected, safe and able to access information and services. Closing the mobile gender gap also represents a significant commercial and economic opportunity.
To inform this action, this report presents an update to the findings of previous GSMA research on the mobile gender gap conducted in 2015 and 2018, including:
Egyptian women who constitute half of the population, represent tremendous economic potential, while contributing to only 22.5 percent of total labor force - offer an estimated credit demand of USD283 million among female-owned SMEs.
This report – developed jointly by the OECD, ASEAN and national stakeholders – seeks to better understand the causes behind these persistent gaps and advances policy solutions to help close them. It is structured around three chapters: Chapter 1 provides an overview of progress made in achieving gender equality in employment and education, analyses women’s overall participation in economic activity, and highlights the remaining challenges to reduce outstanding gaps in a wide range of labour market outcomes.
Join Women's World Banking to celebrate 40 years of building a more secure and prosperous future for women, their families and communities.
During this festive occasion, they will honor the leaders, organizations and partners who have contributed to our rich history and will share what the future looks like when women thrive, businesses grow, and economies flourish.
IFC’s latest study shows that a more diverse panel of asset managers may be the key to bigger profits. Henriette Kolb, Head of IFC’s Gender Secretariat, said an ideal mix of at least 30 percent of women in an investment team can lead to substantially bigger yields for the company. BusinessWorld reports.
Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) is a collaborative partnership that seeks to address financial and non-financial constraints faced by women-owned/led small and medium enterprises in developing countries. This webinar will provide audiences with both a general overview of the program and various ways they can collaborate with IFC through We-Fi to help women in developing countries gain increased access to the finance, markets, and networks necessary to start and grow a business.
