The Challenge
Women and other underserved groups remain on the margins of financial systems, with limited access to credit, capital markets, and the institutions that allocate investment. Women entrepreneurs own 22% of micro-enterprises and 32% of small and medium enterprises, yet the total micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) financing gap for women is estimated at US$1.7 trillion – a structural deficit that constrains household resilience, enterprise growth, and economic output across developed and emerging markets alike.
A growing body of research demonstrates that gender-diverse companies outperform peers financially. Yet despite this evidence, the systemic issues that result in financial exclusion persist – addressing them requires changing how capital is structured, priced, and governed, and holding financial systems to an explicit standard for who benefits.
We apply a gender and inclusion lens to how capital is allocated and managed – advising financial institutions, capital providers, and implementing partners on designing products, structures, and governance frameworks that extend finance to underserved groups. Gender and inclusion are treated as a cross-cutting theme, embedded across every engagement so that each project carries a clear standard for who its capital and systems serve.
Applying a gender and inclusion lens to how capital is structured, allocated, and governed – embedding inclusion as a cross-cutting standard across every engagement, regardless of primary sector focus.
Helping financial institutions design products and credit structures that effectively reach women borrowers and women-led enterprises, and advising capital providers on targeting underserved market segments.
Strengthening the diversity, governance, and accountability of the institutions through which capital flows, and building the market conditions under which sustained, inclusive finance can scale over time.
Debt instruments with use-of-proceeds or performance targets explicitly linked to gender equality outcomes, providing capital markets investors with a structured vehicle for directing finance towards women and underserved communities.
Investment vehicles and lending facilities designed to direct capital specifically towards women-led enterprises and gender-equality outcomes, incorporating gender metrics into fund governance, investment criteria, and reporting.
Financial product frameworks designed to extend access to credit and financial services to underserved borrowers, structured around the specific barriers – collateral requirements, documentation, repayment terms – that exclude women and marginalised groups.
Diagnostic frameworks that assess the structural, regulatory, and behavioural barriers preventing capital from reaching underserved groups, identifying priority interventions and informing instrument design.
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