Where We Work

Global

• Doing Business. The Doing Business project is a joint World Bank and IFC program that comprises a series of annual reports investigating the scope and nature of regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. The World Bank Group has recently endorsed donor requests for a specific 2-year work program for the Doing Business project to address gender issues. This will entail both inclusion of new gender analysis in the Doing Business reports for 2009-10 and a stand alone publication. This commitment is mentioned in this year's 2008 Doing Business publication, published in September 2007, as a "two year research program on reforms that improve the job and career opportunities for women". The analysis will involve the identification of laws and regulations that discriminate against women in the context of the current Doing Business indicators, as well as expand the scope to include other legal and regulatory issues that also impact on women's ability to fully participate in, and benefit from, private sector activity.

• Gender and Growth Methodological Toolkit. IFC's Gender Program is developing a methodological toolkit for Gender and Growth Assesment-type work. This toolkit is intended to support Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) and IFC staff, as well as other agencies, to integrate gender issues systematically into the products and advisory services that are provided as part of investment climate reform programs. The toolkit will focus on implementation support issues, including in countries where Gender and Growth Assessments have already been completed, so as to strengthen in-country capacity to carry out gender-responsive reforms.

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Banco Uno. Under this project, diagnostic market research was conducted for Banco Uno to enter the micro, small and medium-sized (MSME) segment, with a special focus on women.

Middle East and North Africa

• The Center for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR). IFC and the Private Enterprise Partnership (PEP) MENA are partnering with CAWTAR, and research and business centers in five countries in the region, to conduct a survey of women business owners. The project aims to strengthen research on women's entrepreneurship in the region, with accompanying capacity building to equip research centers with up-to-date tools and networks.

• Siwa Oasis Sustainable Development Initiative. The IFC-supported Siwa Oasis Sustainable Development Initiative is implementing a number of commercial ventures to help preserve the delicate environmental and cultural balance of the oasis' threatened ecosystem. The project includes a women's artisanship component under which 300 women were trained in embroidery skills through on-the-job apprenticeship with experts as well as more formal training with trainers. Forty trained women are already producing for export, their products being sold by international haute couture.

• Commercial International Bank's (CIB) Outreach to the Women's Market. IFC's gender program is an integral part of IFC's SME Banking Advisory Service that enhances CIB's SME and retail outreach to women customers. CIB, a recognized leader in the retail women's market, joined the Global Banking Alliance for Women as its first member from the Middle East and North Africa in June 2006.

• Jordan Microfund for Women. IFC's Gender Team aims to build and strengthen Jordan's Microfund for Women's (MFW) position as the "Lender of Choice for Jordanian Women". The project will be based on MFW's needs and findings of a market assessment that will result in recommendations for the development of new financial products, services and marketing strategies. This initiative is being viewed as a pilot for replicability in other countries. The gender project is part of a larger advisory services program to MFW, which includes leasing and risk management training. The Program is geared to helping MFW improve its competitiveness, efficiency and profitability as it moves towards its transformation into a commercial enterprise.

• Women Get the Business Edge is a business skills training series designed to enhance the management performance of women-owned and managed SMEs in the Middle East and North Africa. The training series aims to improve women's access to management training and to provide women business owners and managers with the support necessary to compete in the mainstream business world. In Yemen, the initiative aimed to build capacity for Business Edge partners to diversify their products and reach potentially lucrative women's enterprise training markets in Yemen. Business Edge partners were provided with concrete tools for developing training packages that meet market needs for women customers. The capacity building enabled implementing partners to conduct market research and tailor Business Edge courses for women's market segments.

Sub-Saharan Africa

• Gender Analysis of the Legal Framework. A gender focus is being incorporated into the World Bank Group's advisory program in DRC, which aims to strengthen the country's investment promotion agency, to improve the tax regime, and to identify "quick wins" along the Doing Business agenda. IFC's team is undertaking a rapid baseline gender analysis of legal and regulatory obstacles to entrepreneurship with a view to informing the overall reform agenda for the country.

• Increasing access to markets for women. The project assisted African businesswomen in Madagascar, South Africa, Swaziland, and Uganda in the art, craft and gift sector to have a better understanding of the dynamics and requirements of the export market and to improve direct linkages with international buyers based on the "Uniquely Approach." The project strengthened women's business management skills, and improved design and quality of their products.

• Newmont Gold Ghana Limited (NGGL) is an IFC mining investment, for which IFC's gender program is providing expertise and funding in promotion of women's entrepreneurship through the IFC Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Linkage program, as well as advisory support on issues relating to community outreach and female employment in the mine's operations.

• The Pan-African Women Invent and Innovate Conference (PAWII) was sponsored by IFC in 2005, providing exposure, networking opportunities, knowledge transfer, business training and international recognition for over 300 African women entrepreneurs. PAWII rewarded and recognised the achievements of women entrepreneurs and helped create future business opportunities for the attendees.

• Gender and Growth Assessment (GGA) and Voices of Women Entrepreneurs. The GGA examines the extent to which government policy and regulations impede female entrepreneurship, and it develops a prioritised reform agenda to address those barriers. Voices of Women Entrepreneurs is a complementary advocacy tool profiling successful women entrepreneurs. Accompanying training aims to strengthen the women's ability to advocate for needed reforms.

• Gender and Growth Assessment (GGA) and Voices of Women Entrepreneurs. Completed in May 2006, the GGA demonstrated the linkages between gender and economic growth, identified legal and administrative barriers to women's entrepreneurship, and made recommendations on steps to remove these barriers. The accompanying Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Kenya advocacy tool profiles successful women entrepreneurs.

• In partnership with IFC's Africa MSME Program, IFC's gender program will begin providing advisory services during 2008 to NBS Bank Malawi, aimed at expanding the bank's female SME loan portfolio and at building the capacity of the female clientele.

• Générale de Banque de Mauritanie (GBM) Technical Assistance Program will provide training to women's associations to increase their business knowledge and enable them to access a planned IFC line of credit. Our assistance will include business skills training and capacity building, resulting in more loans given to women and stronger women's business associations.

• ACTIVA – Mozambican Women's Business Association. IFC's gender program worked jointly in 2006-07 with Private Enterprise (PEP) Africa's Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Development Initiative (SME-EDI) to complete a survey of the principal business women's organisation in Mozambique, ACTIVA. Based on the survey, SME-EDI is now implementing a capacity building program for ACTIVA and has replicated the approach with the principal business women's organisations in Angola.

• Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs in Mozambique. During 2008, IFC's gender program and SME-EDI Maputo anticipate undertaking a diagnostic study on Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs in Mozambique, along the lines of a similar study completed in South Africa in 2006. This study should underpin a program to be undertaken in cooperation with Africa MSME and BCI Fomento Bank in Mozambique aimed at increasing the bank's lending to female entrepreneurs.

• GEM Access Bank Nigeria Technical Assistance Program. In support of a first-ever US$15 million IFC line of credit to Access Bank Nigeria for on-lending to women entrepreneurs, We are providing technical assistance to increase Access Bank's ability to service women customers, while increasing women entrepreneurs' business skills to enable them to access the line of credit.

• Gender and Enterprise Development Workshop. On invitation of the Rwandese authorities, IFC's gender program held a workshop on Gender and Enterprise Development in Kigali in October 2007. As follow-up to the workshop IFC has begun exploring the relationship between the business enabling environment and women entrepreneurs in Rwanda. This work is being undertaken together with IFC's investment climate team in Rwanda, and will also result in publication of a Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Rwanda.

• GEM/PEP Africa Senegal. The program will enable local financial institutions to better serve growth-oriented entrepreneurs by increasing their access to finance and upgrading business skills. The program will combine credit to financial institutions with technical assistance for them and their clients.

• The Sierra Leone Investment Forum was a one-day workshop, sponsored by IFC's gender program, and organized by The Commonwealth Business Women's Network. The forum provided a platform for over 100 women entrepreneurs, government representatives and civil society to discuss key concerns relating to women's economic empowerment and the peace building process. A task force was formed to take forward the recommendations from the event.

• First National Bank (FNB). The program provided technical assistance to enable FNB to better service women clients. Using expertise from the Global Banking Alliance for Women, we provided information on how other banks have targeted the women's market for profit, assisted with interpreting research results and developing strategic next steps, and provided advice on staff training.

• Strategic Framework and Access to Finance for Women Study. We assisted the Department of Trade and Industry's (the dti) gender unit in preparing South Africa's Strategic Framework on Gender and Women's Economic Empowerment for presentation to Cabinet and conducted an Access to Finance for Women diagnostic study (2006), with support from the Finmark Trust. The aim was to increase awareness of challenges and opportunities facing women entrepreneurs, and secure stakeholder commitment to addressing the identified barriers.

• Thandi Farms. This IFC project provides for land transformation and commercialization of up to 30 farms in line with South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment initiatives and in partnership with the Capespan Group. IFC is providing technical assistance to ensure that female as well as male farm workers benefit from the program that will transform workers into commercial shareholders running their own farms.

• Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT). IFC's gender program sponsored OWIT South Africa to launch workshops, hold capacity building programs, and facilitate networking and educational opportunities for women entrepreneurs, including participation for over 30 women at the Pan-African Women Invent and Innovate conference in Ghana.

• Lonmin PLC. As part of a wider capacity building program, IFC is providing advisory services to Lonmin PLC, a leading platinum producer, to enable them to better integrate gender dimensions into their operations and meet their increased hiring targets, as per the South African mining charter requirements.

• Exim Bank. In support of a US$5 million IFC line of credit to Exim Bank, IFC's gender program is providing technical assistance to enhance the bank's capacity to lend to women, as well as training to build the capacity of the bank's female clients to access loans.

• Gender and Growth Assessment (GGA) and Voices of Women Entrepreneurs. The GGA examines the extent to which government policy and regulations impede female entrepreneurship, and it develops a prioritised reform agenda to address those barriers. Voices of Women Entrepreneurs is a complementary advocacy tool profiling successful women entrepreneurs. Accompanying training aims to strengthen the women's ability to advocate for needed reforms.

• Gender and Growth Assessment. Completed in 2005 at the request of the Minister of Finance, the project involved diagnostic and solution design in close collaboration with women entrepreneurs and civil society in Uganda to assess the constraints facing women in business. A follow-up project is focusing on implementing recommended solutions.

• DFCU Technical Assistance Project. IFC made an investment of US$6 million in DFCU Limited, $2 million of which was used to establish an access to finance program for women entrepreneurs. This project will enhance DFCU's capacity to lend to women entrepreneurs, thereby increasing women's access to finance. IFC and DFCU also collaborated to develop a financial literacy program for women entrepreneurs.

• Gender and Growth Assessment (GGA) Coalition. The GGA Coalition is an initiative of seven civil society organizations in Uganda involved in advocating for the implementation of the reforms identified in the Uganda GGA. IFC's gender program has provided funding as well as oversight for this initiative, which is coordinated by the Council for Economic Empowerment for Women in Africa – Uganda Chapter (CEEWA-U).

Europe and Central Asia

• MI BOSPO is a microfinance institution targeting low-income women in the post-conflict environment of Bosnia-Herzegovina. IFC's gender program is working with Women's World Banking to design training in customer service for MI BOSPO's staff, to help increase their capacity to serve more customers and broaden the number of products and services they provide. A customer service training manual is being developed for use in other countries, as well as a publication highlighting the success stories of women in business in Bosnia.

South Asia

• First Microfinance Bank (FMBA). Following a feasibility assessment and recommendations for increasing outreach to women, First Microfinance Bank of Afghanistan (FMBA) introduced group lending as a new product that aims to expand access to finance to women entrepreneurs, particularly in Afghanistan's urban areas.

East Asia and the Pacific

• Survey of Women Business Owners and Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Vietnam. We collaborated with the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF) to conduct a survey-based report on women's entrepreneurship and a Voices of Vietnamese Women Entrepreneurs report. The project also provided inputs into the drafting of the Gender Equality Law and organized advocacy workshops to raise awareness about gender and private sector development.