Summary
The IFC’s Banking on Women (BOW) July 2025 report provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolving bond market focused on women’s economic empowerment. It highlights the critical role that capital market instruments, such as Green, Social, Sustainability, and Sustainability-Linked Bonds (GSSS), play in mobilizing funding for women-led businesses, entrepreneurship, and leadership initiatives.
With the World Bank Group’s ambitious goal of expanding access to capital for 80 million women and women-led businesses by 2030, the report underscores the importance of creating standardized, transparent, and credible bond guidelines to support this growing asset class. By doing so, the market can attract more issuers and investors, ensuring that financing women’s economic participation becomes a sustainable and scalable endeavor.
The report also provides insights into the growth trajectory of women-focused bonds, which have cumulatively reached $160 billion in issuances between 2013 and 2024. It highlights the increasing adoption of gender-related Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLBs) and the strong growth of Social Bonds, which have achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38% since 2020.
Emerging markets have been a significant beneficiary of these bonds, receiving the majority of proceeds, while private sector financial institutions and corporates dominate issuance volumes. The report calls for coordinated efforts among stakeholders to enhance the credibility and impact of these bonds, ensuring that they effectively address the credit gap faced by women and drive sustainable economic growth. Through these efforts, the IFC aims to shape the market and foster a robust ecosystem for financing women’s empowerment globally.
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