cat/womens-entrepreneurship-finance
A virtual roundtable summary.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many banks and development finance institutions (DFIs) are exploring new ways to support MSME clients lacking business or marketplace access. For women-owned micro-businesses, which comprise some of the hardest-hit sectors, their needs in response to the crisis go beyond simply needing loan moratoriums or restructuring.
A virtual roundtable summary.
“When women do better, economies do better.” (Christine Lagarde)
Promoting good practices in women entrepreneur financing has always been an important focus of the SME Finance Forum. Financial inclusion for women has always been challenging, particularly in emerging and developing markets where women entrepreneurs have lower access to capital, which severely restricts their progress and ability to contribute to the national economies. The COVID-19 crisis makes financial inclusion for female entrepreneurs even more challenging as it poses serious threats to the financial stability of SMEs, and especially to women entrepreneurs.
Featuring Santander, BRAC Bank, and BHD Leon experiences
By invitation only
The GPFI’s stocktaking of data available on financing for SMEs, both at the country level and at the client level of the major international development finance institutions, reveals serious gaps. Annual aggregate data is captured annually for only a minority of the world’s countries by the IMF, OECD, and others. Little if any data is available at a country level on financing for women entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs or other key segments of interest to GPFI’s Financial Inclusion Action Plan.
In 2019, the SME Finance Forum launched its second annual competition of the Global SME Finance Awards competition. The Global SME Finance Awards were created by IFC and the SME Finance Forum to celebrate the exceptional achievements of financial institutions and fintech companies in client delivery for SMEs. The awards are endorsed by the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI).
My participation in the We-Fi MENA Regional Summit – Dubai 16-17 February 2020
The SME Finance Forum’s team had the privilege to attend a presentation on Social Commerce and Women's Financial Inclusion in Bangladesh organized by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). Mr. Pia Islam, Managing Partner at pi STRATEGY, was invited to share his key insights on the booming social commerce (s-commerce) sector in Bangladesh. S-commerce entails businesses showcasing and selling their products and services through popular social media platforms. Mr.
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) announced that its next regional summit will focus on women entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa region and will be held in Dubai from February 16-17, 2020.
