IFC Helps Women in Emerging Markets

IFC is working with clients in emerging markets to create opportunities for women and achieve a greater impact on private sector development. World Bank Group research has established that women are more likely than men to contribute additional income to reducing household poverty. Giving more women access to credit and increasing their economic power is also more likely to translate into improved livelihoods for a wide cross-section of society, and women entrepreneurs are more likely to employ other women.

IFC Gender Entrepreneurship Markets was launched in late 2004 to leverage the potential of women in emerging markets so that they can have a greater impact on private sector development. In collaboration with other IFC programs and with an initial focus on Africa and the Middle East, activities include:

• Increasing access to finance for women
• Adding value to IFC investment projects
• Addressing gender barriers in the business enabling environment

Sub-Saharan Africa

Nigeria. Nigerian businesswoman Monu Shonibare started her Interior Options business with family members. She had opportunities to expand, but not the business structure or skills. IFC's $15 million loan to Nigeria's Access Bank, for extending lines of credit to women entrepreneurs, allowed the bank to offer her the help she needed to grow her business.

The loan has become a model for other investments and advisory programs for women entrepreneurs. To date, Access Bank has disbursed about $4.7 million to over 30 women-owned businesses.

On a recent visit to Nigeria, IFC Executive Vice President Lars Thunell met with the bank's representatives and discussed expanding the credit facilities and advisory services that benefit women. And lending to women is only part of the story. IFC GEM consultants will train the bank’s staff in market positioning and gender sensitivity and will advise on new product development, such as insurance services for women. IFC has also organized training workshops across the country to help women entrepreneurs with financial literacy, business planning, and management skills.

Tanzania. IFC recently granted a $5 million loan to Exim Bank, Tanzania, for financing women-owned businesses. This will allow it to become the first bank in the country to dedicate lines of credit to women entrepreneurs that operate small and medium enterprises. IFC GEM will train the bank's representatives to help them reach out to women. Courses in business planning and management will also be offered to women entrepreneurs.

Tanzania's regulations require banks to use land as collateral for loans. Because men generally inherit the land, obtaining a bank loan is almost impossible for women. Thus, the IFC loan is an innovative alternative and a special opportunity for women.

Uganda. With IFC's help, the dfcu Group, Uganda’s largest domestic bank, recently completed its first training program for women entrepreneurs. The program was launched in October 2006, with IFC providing the dfcu Group a $6 million loan, $2 million of which has been used to extend financing to women entrepreneurs. By combining access to finance and professional training, IFC and dfcu expect to increase women’s contribution to the economy. The training program covers banking requirements and processes, financial literacy, networking, and mentoring. Bank officials have also received training on customer care and gender issues.

As in Tanzania, women face major barriers, and dfcu is using creative solutions to provide financing. This includes leasing and the use of equipment and machinery, instead of land, as collateral for loans.

Middle East and North Africa

IFC GEM launched a "Women Get the Business Edge" project to support women in the Middle East and North Africa. Here, despite relatively high levels of education, women’s participation rates in the labor force are the lowest in the world.

Based on Business Edge, IFC’s international range of management training products, a series of workshops have offered customized training for women entrepreneurs. Training recipients have included small business owners and managers from difficult-to-access areas such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen. The project is part of a regional effort to improve the performance, productivity, and profitability of growth-oriented, women-owned enterprises.

A workshop held in Amman, Jordan, in June 2006 helped about 25 Iraqi women entrepreneurs develop marketing and pricing strategies for their businesses and establish networks with other women, including valuable cross-border business relationships with women SME owners in Jordan. Women who attended the workshop have recently started an organization in Iraq to provide support to businesswomen. They plan to establish a regional office in Amman.

The success of the workshops and the demand for more training for women entrepreneurs has led to the development of a longer-term project in Yemen. The project enables IFC-certified Business Edge providers to understand the training needs of women entrepreneurs and offers customized training on a sustained basis. Lessons learned will help meet the training needs of women elsewhere in the region.

The Global Banking Alliance for Women
Since 2005, IFC has hosted the secretariat of the Global Banking Alliance for Women, a consortium that identifies and shares global best practices in delivering financial services that help women accelerate their growth in business. Thanks to IFC's efforts, the alliance now includes 15 members from Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.

The alliance held its fifth summit in November 2006, where IFC presented the first research study on access to finance for women entrepreneurs in South Africa since the end of apartheid. Commissioned by the country's Department of Trade and Industry, the study found that black women are more likely to be self-employed than any other segment of the population, yet have the least access to financial services—only 38 percent participate in the formal banking system, versus 94 percent of white men.

Local banks like Exim in Tanzania and dfcu in Uganda increasingly face competition from international banks and are actively looking for niche markets. With help from IFC and the Global Bank Alliance for Women, these banks are finding that women entrepreneurs are very good clients and that lending to them is a good niche.

Adding Value to Clients

Among other benefits, IFC GEM's services allow clients to: Create more sustainable and involved communities in which women's voices are represented Increase diversity in their operations Maximize development impact Practice good corporate governance

For additional information contact:

Lucie Giraud
Communications Officer
Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Tel: (202) 458-4662
E-mail: LGiraud@ifc.org

Daniel Musiitwa
Communications Officer
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel: 27-11-731-3175
E-mail: DMusiitwa@ifc.org

Riham Mustafa
Communications Analyst
Cairo, Egypt
Tel: 20-2-461-9150
E-mail: RMustafa@ifc.org