The next 10.000 businesswomen

CULTURE & SOCIETY

by THE OLBIOS TEAM

Goldman Sachs has created a partnership to increase access to capital for women entrepreneurs. The partnership, which deepens 10,000 Women’s commitment to women entrepreneurs, will aim to spur lending in developing countries through the first-ever global finance facility for women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility will be seeded by the Goldman Sachs Foundation and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and will raise up to $600 million in capital through investments from additional public and private co-investors to enable approximately 10.000 women entrepreneurs to access capital. “This new initiative will create opportunities for tens of thousands of female entrepreneurs to thrive and prosper,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. “At the World Bank Group, we are committed to providing opportunities to aid women as leaders, business owners, employees, and stakeholders. We cannot afford to exclude half of the world’s population from their rightful role in helping to change the face of the global economy.” As a matter of fact, a wide range of surveys show access to credit is the biggest constraint on growth for all SMEs and women-owned businesses face an even larger credit gap than their male counterparts. IFC estimates that about 70% of women-owned SMEs in developing countries are either unserved or underserved by financial institutions, resulting in an estimated $285 billion credit gap for women-owned SMEs. If the credit gap is closed by 2020, by 2030 incomes per capita could be on average around 12% higher across the BRICs and Next 11 countries. This gain could be as large as 25-28% for Brazil and Vietnam, where the credit gaps in the formal SME sectors are currently widest. By the end of 2013, 10.000 women from across 43 countries had been reached through a network of 90 academic and non-profit partners. According to the International Center for Research on Women’s independent assessment, graduates attribute changes in their business performance and increased confidence to 10,000 Women. Graduates report immediate and sustained business growth. Thirty months after completing the program, 82% of surveyed 10,000 Women graduates increased their revenue and 71% added new jobs. On average, graduates doubled the size of their workforces and revenues increased nearly fivefold. Goldman Sachs_ 10000 Women_website Website: http://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000women/index.html Dina Habib Powell

 

Watch more

STAY IN TOUCH

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
AND RECEIVE OUR LATEST STORIES