The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) has announced $129 million worth of funding for programs bringing new approaches to boosting women’s entrepreneurship in developing economies.
One of the beneficiaries of the funding is the EBRD, who has received $22.9 million for activities in low-income Central Asian countries.
Investment in EBRD's Women in Business Program
The EBRD received $22.9 million for its 'Women of the Steppe' Women in Business Program in Central Asia. All of the We-Fi funding is being invested in activities in IDA countries including the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The program approaches demand-side, supply-side and environmental constraints in a holisitic way, which initiates change at both the market and firm-levels.
We-Fi helps women entrepreneurs thrive
We-Fi was set up at G-20 Summit in Germany. It aims to help women entrepreneurs gain access to finance, markets, technology, mentoring and other services. We-Fi also collaborates with governments and the private sector all around the world to improve the laws and policies that prevent women’s businesses thriving in developing countries
“We-Fi is the first of its kind – a large-scale, multi-stakeholder partnership designed to address obstacles facing women entrepreneurs through comprehensive, sustainable solutions,” says Geoffrey Okamoto, Chair of the We-Fi Governing Committee and Acting Assistant Secretary for International Finance and Development at the United States Department of the Treasury. “The idea is not to fund individual women entrepreneurs, but to fund projects that disrupt the systemic causes of financial obstacles to women’s entrepreneurship.”
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.