Quito, Ecuador, April 4th 2022. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has invested $50 million in the issuance of the first social gender bond made by Banco Pichincha in the Ecuadorian stock market.
The bond principal, along with another $50 million of investment made by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), amounts to $100 million and has a term of five years. The bond proceeds will facilitate the financing of more than 10,000 women who own or lead small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ecuador, which will allow them to increase their productivity and precipitate the economic development of the country.
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF) will provide additional financial support in the form of performance-based incentives to extend the bond's reach to underserved women-owned/led SMEs. WEOF is an initiative launched by IFC—in partnership with the Goldman Sachs Foundation—to help expand access to capital for women entrepreneurs in developing countries and demonstrate the commercial viability of investing in women.
"We are pioneers in Ecuador in this type of operation, leading the way for other similar transactions that favor financial inclusion and promote the empowerment of women entrepreneurs," said Santiago Bayas, General Manager of Banco Pichincha.
Martin Spicer, IFC Director for the Latin American and Caribbean Region, stated: "IFC supports Banco Pichincha in integrating a gender approach in its SME operations to finance businesses led by women, through advisory services and participating in their first gender bond. This collaboration will help Banco Pichincha position itself as a regional benchmark to follow in terms of gender. We are proud of this joint effort with Banco Pichincha, as it reaffirms our commitment to equity and inclusion."
"We need to support female entrepreneurs through access to capital in order to facilitate their growth, particularly given the impact of COVID-19," said Charlotte Keenan, Global Director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women. "We are pleased to continue to support the Banco Pichincha as it expands lending to women-owned businesses in Ecuador".
Since 2017, IFC has supported Pichincha with advisory services to help it become a regional benchmark for SMEs in gender financing. IFC will continue to strengthen Pichincha's efforts to include gender issues and the digital perspective in agribusiness value chains that have the greatest potential to integrate women and close the gender gap in financial inclusion.
Banco Pichincha was the first signatory in Ecuador of the United Nations Global Compact in 2012, and the first company to sign the UN Women Empowerment Principles in 2015. This operation with IFC reinforces its position as a socially responsible bank that contributes to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
IFC has invested more than $3.18 billion in financial institutions in emerging markets to finance specifically women-owned SMEs. The Latin American and Caribbean region represents a little over a third of the global portfolio with $1.23 billion dedicated to women-owned SMEs.
About IFC
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2021, IFC committed a record $31.5 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
About Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women is an initiative to foster economic growth by providing women entrepreneurs around the world with a business and management education and access to capital. The initiative has reached women from over 200 countries through a network of over academic, nonprofit, and bank partners. In partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women launched the first of its kind global finance facility in 2014 to enable access to capital to more women entrepreneurs. And now, by leveraging technology the 10,000 Women curriculum is available online through Coursera, creating access to a business education in more corners of the world. For more information on Goldman Sachs' philanthropic investment in female entrepreneurs, visit https://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000women/
About We-Fi
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) is a collaborative partnership among the 14 governments that have made financial contributions, six multilateral development banks that serve as implementing partners, and other public and private stakeholders. We-Fi was formally established in October 2017 as a Financial Intermediary Fund hosted by the World Bank. We-Fi invests in programs and projects that help unlock billions of dollars in financing to address the full range of barriers facing women entrepreneurs—increasing access to finance, markets, technology, and mentoring, while strengthening policy, legal and regulatory frameworks. As one of the We-Fi Implementing Partners, IFC supports private sector clients with investment and advisory services to expand financial services and market access for women-owned/led firms, as well as increasing the capacity of women entrepreneurs to run high-growth businesses. For more information, visit www.we-fi.org.
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