The range of products could be expanded to include equity co-investments in startup accelerators and early-stage funds that target women-led businesses (Liaplina and Sierra-Escalante 2022). It could also encompass trade credit, guarantees, and insurance for exporters. Currently, there is limited evidence on the effects of trade and supply chain finance, private equity or venture capital funds, accelerators, and crowdfunding on the performance of women-led businesses (Argidius Foundation 2021, Siegrist 2022). A relevant complementary intervention is an investment readiness program, which aims to prepare firms to be open to considering equity, to make necessary changes, and to pitch to investors. Cusolito et al. (2021) evaluated such a program in the Western Balkans and found that it significantly increased the likelihood of receiving external funding for smaller firms and teams with at least one female founder.

# 4.5 Secure and convenient savings instruments

Globally, the proportion of adults who report saving to start, operate, or expand a business is lower among women than men, which is also the case for access to savings accounts at financial institutions.<sup>23</sup> The absence of reliable savings mechanisms, coupled with the challenge of accessing convenient formal saving products, can exacerbate credit constraints and hinder business growth (Blattman et al. 2014). An early influential experiment in Kenya demonstrated that providing basic savings accounts to women market vendors working near a bank had substantial impacts on their business investments (Dupas and Robinson 2013). In a study spanning three countries, Dupas et al. (2018) examined a broader sample and observed limited average effects from access to basic savings accounts. They suggest that more tailored products with lower transaction costs, along with complementary interventions, may be necessary. For instance, when microfinance loans were disbursed by default into digital savings accounts earmarked for women’s business, there were noticeable improvements in business performance (Riley 2024).<sup>24</sup> Mobile banking can significantly reduce transaction costs (de Mel et al. 2022). Moreover, combining access to savings instruments with additional interventions, such as incentives to register or training, has proven to be effective.<sup>25</sup> Further research is required to understand the impact of savings products on larger firms.

# 4.6 Insurance

In various contexts, research has found that women tend to be more risk-averse than men, which may lead to less risky investments in their businesses and a tendency to diversify their entrepreneurial activities. Additionally, there is evidence that women generally have lower confidence than men in financial decision-making and investments, potentially deterring them from seeking formal financing

> 23 Based on the author’s own calculations using the World Bank Gender Data Portal and the 2017 Global Findex Database. The 2021 Global Findex data indicate that the gender gap in account ownership across developing economies decreased to 6 percent from 9 percent, where it had remained stable for several years.

> 24 Default effects can serve as a catalyst for encouraging savings. The RCTs by Somville and Vandewalle (2018) and Field et al. (2021) demonstrate that savings tend to increase more when funds are directly transferred into accounts rather than when participants are given the option to deposit the funds themselves.

> 25 Campos et al. (2023) found that combining monetary incentives for business registration with access to banking services significantly improved business performance for both male and female entrepreneurs in Malawi. Buvinic et al. (2020) showed that an intervention that combined financial training, business training, mentorship, and incentives to promote agent banking savings accounts had significant effects on women-led business in Indonesia. Additionally, Batista et al. (2022) observed significant effects in Mozambique from combining a short rule-of-thumb training with mobile saving accounts.

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