Capital for Women Entrepreneurs
In 2008, based on a growing body of research to support the economic opportunity of investing in women, Goldman Sachs launched 10,000 Women to provide women entrepreneurs around the world with business management education, mentoring and networking, and access to capital. To date, the initiative has reached over 10,000 women from across 56 countries and resulted in immediate and sustained business growth for graduates of the program.
In 2014, Goldman Sachs worked alongside the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help address one of the biggest obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs around the world – lack of access to capital to help grow their businesses. IFC estimates that as many as 70 percent of women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries are unserved or underserved by financial institutions – resulting in a credit gap of around $285 billion.
Goldman Sachs and IFC created the first-ever loan facility for women-owned small-and-medium enterprises to enable 100,000 women around the world to access capital. Two years later, this public-private partnership, spurred by private sector innovation, has catalyzed new investments from both the public and private sectors and reached more than 30,000 women in 17 countries.
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VIDEO: Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women to Raise up to $600 Million to Support Women Entrepreneurs |
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VIDEO: Access to Capital for Women Entrepreneurs |
Since its launch in March 2014, the "10,000 Women" – IFC Facility has attracted major new investments from commercial investors as well as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).
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July 2015 – OPIC Joins 10,000 Women and IFC in Committing Capital to Help Close the Credit Gap for Women Entrepreneurs |
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May 2016 – AP2 Announces $30 Million Investment in the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility |
To date, the "10,000 Women" – IFC Facility has made commitments to banks, in 17 countries to expand lending to women entrepreneurs.
See the latest:
March 2016 – Banco Daycoval, Brazil
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a $250 million financing package for Banco Daycoval, a Brazilian bank specialized in corporate credit, payroll-deductible loan, foreign exchange, and investments, to expand access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including women-owned businesses.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE
September 2016 – Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank, Vietnam
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a $50 million syndicated loan to Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) to expand lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially women-owned ones. The loan is the first phase of a up to $125 million financing package that will help the bank enhance its support for local enterprises and boost international trade opportunities.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE
July 2016 – Banco Pichincha, Ecuador
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, strengthened its support to Ecuador’s women-owned small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with a new US $55 million loan to Banco Pichincha, a bank that strives to sharply boost its lending to women entrepreneurs.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE
April 2016 – YES BANK, India
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today announced a $50 million loan to YES BANK, India’s 5th largest private sector bank, to be used exclusively to lend to women-owned businesses. This project is part of the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF), the first-of-its-kind global facility dedicated to expanding access to capital for approximately 100,000 women entrepreneurs. It was launched by IFC, through its Banking on Women program, and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women in 2014.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE
March 2016 – Acleda Bank, Cambodia
In support of the OPIC partnership with the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility that was announced in July 2015, the OPIC Board of Directors has approved a $30 million loan to ACLEDA Bank, the largest bank in Cambodia, specifically for women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The financing will be carried out in partnership with the Goldman Sachs Foundation’s 10,000 Women initiative.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE ON OPIC.GOV
February 2016 – Acleda Bank, Cambodia
IFC is providing a syndicated loan, as part of the Women Entrepreneurs Facility, of $50 million to ACLEDA Bank to boost lending to small and medium enterprises, of which at least half will support women-owned enterprises.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE ON IFC.ORG
January 2016 – Co-operative Bank, Kenya
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group will provide a $105 million loan to the Co-operative Bank of Kenya to support lending to small and medium businesses, women entrepreneurs and the housing sector. Through IFC’s Banking on Women program, this project is supported by the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE ON IFC.ORG
November 2015 – Bank of Luoyang, China
IFC, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, and the Bank of Luoyang have come together to expand financing to women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in China. IFC will provide a three-and-half-year risk-sharing facility, dedicated to supporting the Bank of Luoyang’s RMB 900 million (US$140 million) lending portfolio to women-owned SMEs.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE ON IFC.ORG
October 2015 – Chase Bank, Kenya
In partnership with IFC and the 10,000 Women initiative by Goldman Sachs, Chase Bank received a credit line through the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility to disburse 2.5 billion Kenya Shillings ($25 million dollars) to Kenyan women entrepreneurs.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE ON CHASEBANKKENYA.CO.KE
January 2015 – Ant Financial Services Group, China
IFC, through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women/IFC Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility, the first-ever global financing facility for women-owned small and medium enterprises – is providing Ant Financial’s microcredit arm Ant Credit a senior loan of RMB500 million. The financing is being used for Ant Credit to expand its lending to women entrepreneurs who often face difficulties in obtaining loans in China.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE ON IFC.ORG
For more information:
10,000 Women Brochure – PDF, 6 MB
10,000 Women Program Summary – PDF, 156 KB