Innovative Financing for Women Entrepreneurs: Re-thinking WSME Banking
Women‑owned and led SMEs are a powerful engine of growth, job creation, and innovation in developing economies, and evidence shows they can be a strong and profitable client segment for financial institutions, with lower rates of non-performing loans, and higher average return on capital than men. Despite this potential, WSMEs face barriers when it comes to accessing loans, credit, and other banking services, as commercial banks continue to underinvest in designing products and services for “missing middle” SMEs, which are often perceived as too small or too risky or lack the clear business case to invest in. Globally, only 65 percent of women benefit from financial services (compared to 72 percent of men) and of the women who receive financial services, 73 percent are dissatisfied with them. Persistent challenges—including unequal asset ownership, reliance on traditional credit assessments, bias in lending decisions, and self‑selection out of loan applications—result in women receiving smaller loans at higher costs, underscoring the need for more innovative and inclusive finance solutions.
The objective of this webinar is to showcase innovative tools and resources to help financial institutions better design and tailor their products to women-owned and led businesses. The webinar will highlight what has proven effective in strengthening banks’ ability to serve women‑led SMEs, including gender‑responsive customer segmentation, improved credit assessment methodologies, innovative finance instruments, and complementary non‑financial services. More specifically, it will present a new knowledge product developed by Dalberg, in collaboration with We-Fi and Argidius Foundation, that maps WSME-specific products, services and existing gaps in the offering. Distinct products and services were categorized by lifecycle stage, to better target different segments of WSMEs.
Event Materials