Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) form the backbone of emerging-economy labor markets, but they need targeted financing and tailored support to grow.
One of the biggest challenges for SMEs in most emerging markets is a lack of access to finance, which limits their ability to invest in growing their businesses and hiring additional employees.
Women face numerous challenges to accessing markets, financing, owning and growing a business, including access to capital and technology, lack of networks and knowledge resources, limited market linkages, challenging social and cultural norms, as well as legal and structural barriers.
Although banks in some markets are starting to move into SME lending, some segments are still underserved. This includes SMEs in fragile and conflict-affected markets, women-owned businesses, education and health-care SMEs, and firms in rural markets.
SME and Gender blended finance facilities offer guarantees to lower the risks faced by financial institutions moving into SME markets. They also provide dedicated credit lines to reach specific segments—including women-owned SMEs—and performance incentives to motivate financial institutions grow their SME portfolios.
Global SME Finance Facility
Focused on helping to close the financing gap faced by SMEs in emerging markets, the Global SME Finance Facility (GSMEF) is a global blended-finance partnership. GSMEF was launched in 2012 in response to a G-20 call for expediting SME financing and growth, and aims to generate one million new jobs in the SME sector. To support this growth, the facility provides investment, risk mitigation and advisory assistance to financial institutions. This helps institutions expand lending to the most underserved SMEs in challenging markets and segments, including SMEs in fragile countries, climate-smart SMEs, and women-owned SMEs. In addition, the Facility aids governments to improve their countries’ financial infrastructure, thus enabling capital to flow more efficiently to SMEs.
GSMEF is funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the government of the Netherlands.
Expected Impact
From inception until FY 2025 IFC has leveraged Donors’ contributions of $155 million to crowd-in nearly $2.3 billion thereby encouraging financial institutions to make:
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1,101,924 #SME Loans, of which 105,556 loans to WSMEs
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$51.3 Billion in financing to SME Loans, of which $3.2 billion to WSMEs
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217 #Projects, of which 28% are in FCS and 83% are in IDA countries
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46 #Countries with Investment & Advisory projects
Donors
Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi)
As an implementing partner of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) IFC uses We-Fi funds to support private sector clients with investment and advisory services to expand financial services and market access for women-owned/led firms, as well as increasing the capacity of women entrepreneurs to run high-growth businesses. The We-Fi program is a collaborative partnership among 14 governments that have made financial contributions, six multilateral development banks that serve as implementing partners, and other public and private stakeholders. We-Fi was formally established in October 2017 as a Financial Intermediary Fund hosted by the World Bank.
The We-Fi Secretariat granted IFC a total of $69.15 million to provide investment and advisory support, complemented by global research to support WSMEs across three funding rounds. Learn more
- Round I. Creating finance and markets for all (US$49.4 million)
- Round III. Enhancing seed capital, technology, and value chain solutions for WSMEs (US$8.8 million)
- Round IV. Leveraging Finance, Data and Technology Solutions to Grow Women Entrepreneurs (US$10.95 million)
Note: IFC did not receive funding from We-Fi for Round II
The IFC We-Fi program is implemented under three thematic pillars as follows:
1. Strengthening Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Fostering an inclusive legal, regulatory, and policy framework for WSMEs; supporting women entrepreneurs at every stage of growth through training, mentoring, and peer networks; champion investments through funds, incubators, and accelerators that expand access to capital for women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses.
2. Expanding Financial Services: Supporting banks, fintechs, and insurance companies with blended finance investments to reach more WSMEs; providing advisory services to design and deploy products and services for women entrepreneurs.
3. Improving Market Access: Integrating WSMEs into domestic and international value chains and producer networks; increasing procurement opportunities for WSMEs.
Insights & Reports
Overall IFC We-Fi Targets
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87,920 women entrepreneurs reached
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$1.6 Billion financing to women-owned small and medium enterprises (WSMEs)
Stories of Impact
Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (IFC WEOF)
In partnership with the Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women initiative, IFC launched the WEOF in March 2014 - the first-of-its-kind global facility dedicated to promoting access to finance for women-owned SMEs (WSMEs) through financial institutions.
IFC uses WEOF funds to provide investment and advisory support, in line with Blended Finance principles. These efforts are enriched by global research and partnerships. Leveraging the resources, reach, and expertise of IFC and Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women, WEOF was created to expand and deepen financing for WSMEs in developing countries, empower women entrepreneurs through access to capital and expertise, and demonstrate the commercial viability of investing in women by attracting external investors.
Stories of Impact
Gender Equality, Resilience, Opportunity, and Inclusion Worldwide (GROW)
Supported by the Government of Canada, GROW is a facility designed to address inequalities that prohibit women’s economic participation as leaders, employees, investors, consumers, and community members, with an intentional expansion to all business industries, in addition to continued support for women’s entrepreneurship.
Contacts
Last updated: April 2026