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Lima, Peru, September 13th 202. Women-owned businesses in Peru will have increased access to finance and better-quality financial products with an IFC investment aiming to promote market inclusiveness while creating jobs and supporting sustainable growth.
IFC's loan of up to $100 million to Mibanco, Banco de la Microempresa S.A. will allow the bank to strengthen its lending operations for women-owned micro, small, and medium enterprises (WMSMEs) in the underserved regions of Peru. The financing package will further contribute to a more inclusive financial sector in the country through products that are targeted toward women.
The project, under IFC's Banking on Women (BOW) business, will be supported by the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF) and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) with a performance-based incentive of up to $530,000. Since its launch in 2010, IFC's BOW initiative has been providing financial and business solutions to women-led SMEs through its financial institution partners, with 204 investment and advisory services projects in 66 countries. 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.
The formal MSME financing gap in Peru is $8 billion with the informal sector estimated to be five times larger than that gap. Further, women and women-owned enterprises face constraints that restrict their access to finance from commercial banks and other non-bank financial institutions, including limited credit histories, lack of collateral, and lower financial literacy. According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's 2018-2019 Women's Entrepreneurship Report, 12 percent of women in the country discontinue their businesses due to a lack of access to finance. The COVID-19 pandemic has widened this gender gap.
"We are pleased to continue to empower female entrepreneurs through access to capital in order to facilitate their growth, particularly given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Charlotte Keenan, Global Director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women. "We look forward to supporting Mibanco as it expands lending to women-owned businesses in Peru." "Given the challenges of a post-pandemic economy, IFC's long-term financing will help Mibanco diversify its funding base to support both formal and informal WMSMEs. We will be able to show the viability of underwriting specific women-owned enterprises, particularly those outside the capital city of Lima and those with larger financial needs—SMEs, as opposed to microenterprises. With IFC's assistance, we hope to continue narrowing the gap in access to finance in Peru with stability and resolve" stated Carlos Sotelo, CFO of Mibanco. He also added "Mibanco has already been working to reduce gender gaps, one the main examples is Crédito Mujer, product created five years ago, aimed at women microentrepreneurs or dependents with or without credit experience and who also have an emerging business, since then we have managed to serve 140,000 micro-entrepreneurs, of which 44,000 accessed a financial product for the first time. For this 2022, we adjust it according to the current demand and needs to relaunch it and achieve a greater reach." A long-standing client, IFC will also advise the bank to strengthen its gender business while promoting gender inclusion more actively within the bank's SME loan portfolio.
Elizabeth Martínez Marcano, IFC's Country Manager for the Andean Region, said: "By supporting the largest MSME lender in the country, IFC will help reduce gender gaps and inequality, which are among its key objectives in Latin America and the Caribbean. We are optimistic that the loan will help expand gender finance, fostering the financial inclusion agenda in Peru and supporting a more resilient and inclusive post-pandemic recovery."
The current project is an integral part of IFC's longstanding engagement with Peruvian MSME lenders, including multiple investments and advisory commitments over the last 15 years. Through these interventions, IFC supports the development of an impactful and sustainable MSME finance industry in Peru.
About IFCIFC—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 2022, IFC committed a record $32.8 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 WomenGoldman Sachs 10,000 Women is an initiative to foster economic growth by providing women entrepreneurs around the world with a business and management education, opportunities and access to capital to grow their businesses. The initiative has reached 10,000 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-FiThe 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 Stay Connectedwww.ifc.org/lacwww.twitter.com/IFC_LACwww.linkedin.com/company/ifc-américa-latina-y-el-caribewww.facebook.com/IFCwbgwww.instagram.com/ifc_org/www.youtube.com/IFCvideocastswww.twitter.com/IFC_orgwww.ifc.org/SocialMediaIndex
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