IFC
Financial Institutions Group (FIG)

Banking on Women

Industry Context
Financing women is critical to accelerating sustainable• Some studies estimate economic gains in the order ofprivate sector growth. Women, and especially women$5-6 trillion if women started and scaled new businesses

entrepreneurs, face barriers in accessing capital and otherat the same rate men do (World Bank 2023).

financial services and are under-served at all levels of thefinancial system. While women-owned micro, small andmedium enterprises (WMSMEs) represent about one-thirdof all MSME businesses in developing countries, they facean estimated financing gap of $1.6 trillion (SME FinanceForum). In addition, women comprise the majority of
the world’s unbanked population, with 730 million adultwomen in developing economies without a bank or mobile
money account (Global Findex Database). However, thefinancial sector is increasingly recognizing that women
form a valuable, large and growing market that presents
significant economic opportunities:• Closing the gender employment gap could raise longterm GDP per capita by nearly 20% on average acrosscountries (World Bank 2023).
• Integrating more women into business operations canincrease companies’ profitability and environmental
sustainability. Research has correlated higher net profit
margins and lower CO2 emissions for firms with more
women in decision-making roles (World Bank 2023).
• Women are valuable banking customers: they havelower non-performing loan ratios, they are an importantsource of deposits, and they are more likely than men
to increase financial institutions’ brand and footprint
metrics such as net promotor scores (IFC 2024).

SME Finance

CUMULATIVELYSINCE 2012, IFC’SBANKING ON
WOMEN BUSINESSOver the past 12 years, IFC's Banking on
Women (BOW) business has provided
ﬁnance and expertise to 268 emerging
market ﬁnancial institutions in 81 countries
to ﬁnance women and women-ledenterprises.

AND INVESTED$8.6 BILLION

Insurance

IN EMERGING
MARKET FINANCIAL
INSTITUTIONS TO
FINANCE WOMEN
AND WOMEN-LED
MSME BUSINESSES.

Trade & Supply Chain Finance

Housing Finance

FIG's cumulative ﬁnancing for
women's mortgages surpassed $1billion in FY24.

HAS MOBILIZEDCapital Markets

The BOW business has launched andinvested in nine gender bonds in eight
countries for over $1.7 billion.

IFC's SHEforShield report identiﬁed a $1.7
trillion women's insurance market globallyby 2030.

Microﬁnance

IFC has a long history of ﬁnancing women
microentrepreneurs through investment
vehicles, and more recently throughplatforms such as the Base of the Pyramid
Facility. At end-June 2024, IFC committed
67 BOP projects totaling $979 million, outof which $599 million with a gender lens.

Investment
Services

Advisory
Services

Actionable
GenderData

The 3-year BOW-GTFP Initiative has
guaranteed more than $285 million intrade ﬁnance for women entrepreneurs.

FintechIn FY24, IFC invested in digital ﬁnancetransactions that target womencustomers and women-led businesses.

Gender-Inclusive Climate Finance

In FY24, FIG's Gender-Inclusive Climate
Finance portfolio featured the first four
projects with a fully integrated use ofproceeds for gender and climate acrossthe regions.

IFC Strategy and Portfolio
IFC’s Banking on Women business provides a full rangeand in-person training platforms, business coaching, andof investment, advisory expertise, and actionable data

mentorship services for customers;

to financial institutions in emerging markets to catalyze
sustainable financial services for women and womenowned businesses. Through Banking on Women, IFC:
• Invests in emerging market financial institutions to build
shareholder value, expand opportunities, and develop
tailored value propositions for women customers andwomen-led businesses in areas such as household andMSME finance, housing finance and insurance, genderinclusive climate finance, and gender-lens capital markets
finance;• Provides advisory expertise in areas such as strategic• Originates action-oriented market research and data
analysis for financial institutions.
Initiatives like the Small Loan Guarantee Program (SLGP),
the Working Capital Solutions (WCS) Facility, the BOWGlobal Trade Finance Initiative, and the Base of the Pyramid
platform, alongside valuable partnerships such as the Women
Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF) and the Women
Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), have enabled IFC’s
Banking on Women business to expand its reach and provide
much needed financing to women and women-owned

planning, customer segmentation, value propositionbusinesses amid a time of fiscal uncertainty and growing risk

design, market positioning, credit and risk analysis, productaversion. In the years ahead, IFC will continue to expand its

positioning and staff training to help financial institutions

gender-inclusive finance footprint through emerging market

profitably serve women customers. This also includes

financial institutions, while leveraging IFC’s capital throughworking with financial institutions to address demand-capital markets investors and mobilized lenders.

side barriers through non-financial services such as digital

Project Examples
SUSTAINABILITY FINANCE THROUGH

EXPANDING FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR WOMEN-GENDER BONDS IN BRAZILOWNED BUSINESSES IN AFRICA

IFC invested $200 million in a Gender Bond issued by ItaúSupported by the Base of the Pyramid platform, IFC

Unibanco to support the bank’s lending program to women-

provided $47.5 million in debt to the Baobab Group as part ofowned small and medium enterprises in Brazil. The projecta multi-country facility to scale-up financing to women-represents the first Gender Bond issued by a private bankowned micro and small enterprises in Burkina Faso, Cotein Brazil. Gender Bonds aim to promote positive economicd’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Mali,

outcomes by being exclusively dedicated to help achieveand Senegal.

gender equality.
WOMEN’S MSME FINANCE IN EUROPE
GENDER-INCLUSIVE CLIMATE FINANCE

IFC invested EUR 50 million in the European Fund ofIN ROMANIA

Southeast Europe SA. SICAV-SIF (EFSE), a structured debt

IFC committed a senior loan of EUR 20 million (~ US$21.7million) to Motoractive IFN S.A. (also known as Garanti
BBVA Leasing Romania). The proceeds from the loan will
be used for on-lending to SMEs, including at least 20% towomen-owned SMEs, in the form of financial leases, withvehicle which channels long-term capital for on-lending toMSMEs through qualified banks, MFIs, and other NBFIs in 15
countries in the region. The proceeds from IFC’s investment
will support the fund’s on-lending to MSMEs, including 40%
to women-owned MSMEs.

the proceeds targeted to climate-related projects, including
electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids, renewable energy(solar photovoltaic installation), and biomass and biogas
as well as energy-efficient technologies for upgrades inmanufacturing and other economic sectors.

WOMEN’S HOUSING FINANCE IN CHILE
IFC committed a senior loan of $200 million to Santander
Chile to support the expansion of the bank’s mortgage
portfolio, with 100% of the proceeds to be used for women’s
housing finance. The financing aims to address Chile’s
housing finance gap by enhancing access to housing loans
for women, addressing the housing deficit, inadequate
living conditions, and gender disparities in financial access.

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