Ex-Ante Evaluation Report
1. Name of the ProjectCountry:
Project:

ASEAN countries and the other Asian countries
Japan ASEAN Women Empowerment Fund
(Investment project under the Private Sector Investment Finance)
Agreements signed on: September 7, 2016
Investee: Japan ASEAN Women Empowerment Fund
2. Background and Necessity of the Project
In developing countries, the gender inequalities is one of the cause for challenges
women face, such as poverty, limited educational opportunities, forced childmarriage and high maternal mortality rates. Consequently, the Sustainable
Development Goals established by the UN sets “Achieving gender equality andempowering all women and girls” as one of its goal. Under the circumstance,
providing microfinance service for women is crucially important not only for assuring
gender equality but also for poverty reduction and development effectiveness throughpromoting women’s participation to market economy.
In the Priority Policy for Development Cooperation FY2016, providing assistancefor Gender (women’s protection and empowerment) is stated as key area ofcontributing by Japanese Government. Also, Development Strategy for Gender
Equality and Women’s Empowerment, which is formulated on May 20, 2016, based on
the Development Cooperation Charter (February 2015) says that Japan will work for
women’s economic empowerment through supporting women entrepreneurs,providing small-scale financial services, such as microfinance, including deposit andinsurance services, and promoting women’s participation in local industries and One
Village One Product campaigns. Furthermore, due consideration will be given to
creating and expanding social capital and human networks for ensuring women’ssocial participation and building of resilient local communities.
Considering abovementioned situation, this project aims to improve women’s
access to financial service in order to contribute to poverty reduction and women’sempowerment.
3. Project Description(1) Project Objective
This project aims to contribute to the empowerment of women through theimprovement of financial access for low-income women in the region by expanding
financing to MFIs focusing on the empowerment of women in Asia, particularly in
ASEAN countries.
(2) Project Site/ Target Area
ASEAN countries and the other Asian countries1(3) Project Outline
1)
2)

Investment Amount: No more than 30.0 million US dollars
Outline of Project Plan: To support MFIs focusing on the empowerment ofwomen in Asia, particularly in ASEAN countries.
3) Fund Manager: BlueOrchard Finance S. A. (“BOF”)
4) Targeted Fund Size: 120.5 million US dollars(4) Expected Schedule
Investment Period: September 2016 ~ March 2023
Term Closing: September 2024
(5) Environmental and Social Consideration/ Poverty Reduction/ Social Development
1) Environmental and Social Considerationa)b)2)

3)Category: C
Reason for Categorization: The Project is deemed to have minimal
adverse impact on the environment as specified in the JICA Guidelines
for Environmental and Social Consideration (April 2010).
Promotion of Poverty Reduction: This project is designed to support poverty
reduction through providing to invest MFIs which contribute to theempowerment of women, and especially to the improvement of financial
access for low-income women.
Promotion of Social Development: Gender equality is expected through thisproject which provides financial support to MFIs to contribute Women’sEmpowerment.
(6) Collaboration with Other Donors
This project is invested together with Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
(7) Other Issues:None
4. Targeted Outcomes(1) Quantitative effects
1) Equity IRR for JICA: 2.25%
2) Performance Indicators (Operation and Effect Indicator)
Baseline (FY2016)

Target (FY2024)【Actual Value】【Term Closing Year】

Fund IRR (%)*

-5.5%

Women clients’ percentage of
total Investment (%)-60.0%

Specific MFIs’ percentage ofMFIs invested by JAWEF**-30.0%

Indicator* Equity IRR means that the IRR after Fund Operational Expenses is deducted (based on US dollars)** Specific MFIs means that MFIs which have over 75% Women Clients of whole amount of investments2(2) Qualitative effects:
This project expects to improve women’s financial access and poverty reduction
through supporting MFIs that contributes to women’s financial inclusion in theregion.
5. External Factors and Risk Control(1) Risk factors in the project implementation and management:
The Fund Manager has accountable experiences in the relevant field as well as has
broad networks within the targeted sector. In addition, the pipeline list provided
by the Fund Manager sufficiently exceeds the target fund size. Based on thosereasons, the risk in project implementation is mitigated.
(2) Exit Strategy:
JICA will exit the investment at the time of term closing.
6. Lessons Learned from Past Projects
In accordance with Ex-post Evaluation of JICA’s previous fund investment projects,
it is advised to check Fund Manager’s long-list of pipeline in order to confirm in orderto ensure there is a sufficient feasibility in the timely investment allocation. In thisproject, the pipeline list was reviewed in JICA’s appraisal mission and confirmed that
there is a sufficient accumulation of potential project in pipeline.
7. Plan for Future Evaluation(1) Indicators to be used
1) IRR (%)2) Women clients’ percentage of total Investment (%)3) Specific MFIs’ percentage of MFIs invested by JAWEF
4) Other Indicators ( to be decided for each investment project)(2) Timing
Term Closing year (FY2024)
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