"IFC is in the business of making markets work.

The exclusion of women from business opportunities is one of the greatest market failures of all. It cuts across every sector of the economy in developed and developing countries."
Lars Thunell, Executive Vice President and CEO, IFC
IFC is the worlds largest private sector development institution, offering a distinctive combination of financing and advice to create opportunity where it is needed most. Supporting women in business is an important part of this effort. IFC is part of the World Bank Group.

Creating Opportunities
For Women and BuSIneSS

www.ifc.org/gender

International Finance Corporation 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20433 USA E-mail: win-info@ifc.org Web: www.ifc.org/gender

Women mean Business and development

Supporting Financial Institutions to Better reach out to Women-owned Smes

Financial institutions can profitably expand services to women entrepreneurs in developing countries when their programs respond to womens needs. IFC has helped prove this. Common constraintssuch as a lack of collateral or inexperience with the requirements of financial institutionscan be overcome. With assistance from IFC, IFC clients such as Access Bank in Nigeria, Ecobank in West Africa, and BII in Indonesia are using a new approach to capitalize on this opportunity. Targeted products and services, a specific outreach strategy, financial and management skills courses, and even dedicated bank staff are all part of their efforts. IFC builds capacity within financial institutions, assists with market segmentation, and demonstrates what works for women and for business. We support product development and repositioning to make it easier to finance womens SMEs. We are also a lead sponsor of knowledge sharing in this area through the Global Banking Alliance (GBA) for Women.
Julian omalla, Ceo of delight uganda, Ltd., took her small company international with finance and training from dFCu, assisted by IFC.

making the Investment Climate Work for everyone

National policy reforms aiming to boost the private sector and alleviate poverty must enable entrepreneurs to efficiently start and operate their businesses. SME owners are often slowed or stymied by legal, regulatory, and institutional barriers. Women entrepreneurs can face even more obstacles than men. The economic cost is high. IFCs investment climate specialists work with governments and the private sector to ensure that entrepreneurswomen as well as men can more easily register their businesses, pay taxes, resolve disputes, and trade across borders. Together with our World Bank Group colleagues, we provide practical recommendations for change in these areas. We also address specific topics such as how to ensure that women can take advantage of special economic zones. More generally, IFC provides replicable and scalable tools to promote reform, such as our step-by-step guide called Gender Dimensions of Investment Climate Reform. IFC and the World Bank also publish an extensive database comparing how men and women are treated from a legal perspective when it comes to entrepreneurship and employment in many countries.

IFC supports the participation of women in business as an important part of its mission to foster sustainable private sector growth in developing countries. Womens businesses represent an untapped market for financial institutions and a valuable, underutilized resource for economic development. As entrepreneurs, women contribute significantly to national economies and job creation. They

accomplish this despite a frequent lack of access to financial services and other business support. What if these entrepreneurs were better served? IFC provides world-class expertise and best practices to clients who recognize this strategic opportunity. We are unlocking economic potential by increasing access to finance and reducing gender-based barriers to investment. It makes good sensefor business, for women, for development.

Uganda Finds a Competitive edge

aCCessing CommerCial JUstiCe: pakistan

IFC Investment

IFC Advisory Services

New Business for IFC Clients and Women Entrepreneurs

DFCU Bank in Uganda has built a successful portfolio of business loans, leases, mortgages, and other products targeting women entrepreneurs. The effort began in 2007 after IFC research showed that Ugandan women owned nearly 40% of registered businesses but were receiving less than 10% of commercial credit. Lack of information on these businesses was a key barrier. Working with IFC, DFCU started emphasizing equipment leases over traditional loans to help build credit history. Group borrowing was introduced, as well as a land loan to enable women to acquire collateral. Financial training and business support completed the picture, helping DFCU develop its new clientele. DFCUs Women in Business program has focused its outreach on a previously invisible market segment. It has disbursed more than $16 million to womens SMEs since 2007, with a lower average rate of nonperforming loans than in its mens portfolio. Other banks are now following DFCUs lead.

In Pakistan, mediation is an effective alternative to litigation in resolving the business disputes of women-owned Smes.

barriers that affect women

IdenTIFY

Contract enforcement through traditional courts can be lengthy and expensive. For SME ownersand particularly for women who may face unclear commercial rights laws and male-dominated legal systems the process can be crippling. IFC is helping break the logjam by promoting commercial mediation. In Pakistan, the Karachi Center for Dispute Resolution (KCDR) has taken care to train women mediators as well as men. Promotional campaigns and Mediation Weeks focused on women have been held to build confidence in the system. Womens use of mediation is now being tracked. About 25% of successful mediation efforts at KCDR have involved women litigants, releasing critical capital that had been tied up for years in family business cases. Mediation saved my day, says Rubina Rehman, owner of Karachis Lifestyle Gym. I feel lucky to have come across KCDR.

women's networks and voice in business

BuILd

laws and regulations to help women as well as men

reForm