Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VP Bank) invested in Ho Thi Hai Ngan, a woman entrepreneur looking to expand her electronics shop.
With capital as one of the larger challenges faced by SMEs, women are challenged at a much larger rate when “lender biases,” according to the article, are being added to the picture. VP Bank decided to be the change and loaned Ngan $25,000; her company is now worth $400,000.
The Women Entrepreneurs Opportunities Facility (WEOF) developed by IFC’s Banking on Women program and Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women Initiative aims to remedy the financing gap issues women-led SMEs face. IFC estimates “$1.5 million unmet credit demand for women-led SMEs in developing countries.”
According to the article, “As of May 2018, WEOF has invested more than $1.7 billion in financial institutions supporting women entrepreneurs in emerging markets, delivering much-needed capital to small businesses and far surpassing the facility’s original goals. It now has 19 advisory projects with a total value of $9 million.”
