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Beijing, November 26, 2015
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, the Bank of Luoyang, and IFC partner Goldman Sachs
10,000 Women,
have come together to expand financing to women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in China. IFC will provide a three-and-half-year risk-sharing facility, dedicated to supporting the Bank of Luoyang’s
RMB 900 million (US$140 million) lending portfolio to women-owned SMEs. This project is part of IFC
Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility and Goldman Sachs
10,000 Women.
According to IFC’s research, 70 percent of women entrepreneurs in China cannot easily access the capital they need to expand their businesses and create jobs. Bank of Luoyang is playing a leadership role among Chinese banks by strategically targeting women entrepreneurs.
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We believe the partnership with Bank of Luoyang will significantly increase access to finance for local women entrepreneurs and build on the success of our Banking on Women program.” said Simon Andrews, IFC’s Country Manager for China, Mongolia, and Korea. “We are committed to work with our clients to further promote inclusive and sustainable growth in China.”
“Women entrepreneurs are important participants of economic activities and have great potential to grow,” said Mr. Duan Yuejun, President of Bank of Luoyang. “By collaborating with IFC, we will expand financing to more small women entrepreneurs, help them pursue their career goals, and reach their full potential.”
“Access to capital is a major obstacle to growth for women entrepreneurs. Research by Goldman Sachs shows that closing this gap could increase Chinese per capita income by over 15 percent by 2030,” said Wenchi Yu, head of Goldman Sachs Corporate Engagement, Asia. “This new initiative will place more capital in the hands of Chinese women entrepreneurs, who will drive future economic growth and job creation.”
“This partnership will have a positive impact on local economic development, jobs, and create a more enabled environment for women-owned SMEs,” said Mr. Shang Zhaoyang, Vice Mayor of Luoyang City.
Launched in 2014, the first-of-its-kind $600 million Goldman Sachs
10,000 Women/
IFC
Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility aims to help close an estimated $285 billion credit gap for women-owned SMEs around the world and reach 100,000 women entrepreneurs globally. To date, the facility has completed 16 investment and advisory engagements totaling $254 million in 11 emerging economies.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our capital, expertise, and influence, to create opportunity where it’s needed most. In FY15, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $18 billion, helping the private sector play an essential role in the global effort to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
About Bank of Luoyang
BOL is a mid-sized, joint-stock city commercial bank established in 1997. As of end 2014, its total assets were at RMB 117.3 billion (approximately US$19 billion), with a deposit base of RMB76.7 billion (approximately US$12.4 billion), a loan portfolio of RMB51.5 billion (approximately US$8.3 billion) and net profits of RMB1.8 billion (approximately US$0.3 billion). BOL has 86 branches in Henan Province and mainly operates in Luoyang and Zhengzhou, the capital city. BOL positions itself as a bank that serves the local economy, the SMEs and the city residents. As part of its efforts to serve SMEs in the local economy, BOL took the lead in Henan Province in setting up a dedicated Small Enterprise Financial Service Center in 2008. For more information, please visit
www.bankofluoyang.com.cn
About Goldman Sachs
10,000 Women
The Goldman Sachs
10,000 Women
initiative is a campaign 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 across 56 countries through a network of 100 academic, nonprofit, and bank partners. In China, over 2,200 women entrepreneurs from China’s 31 provinces have graduated from
10,000 Women
. In partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC),
10,000 Women
launched a $600 million finance facility in 2014 to enable 100,000 women entrepreneurs to access capital. To date, the facility has completed sixteen transactions totaling $254 million in eleven countries.
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