Chisinau, Moldova, May 4, 2023 —Smaller businesses and women entrepreneurs in Moldova are expected to have improved access to finance with IFC's €20 million loan to maib, Moldova's leading commercial bank and lender. The investment aims to boost the country's economic resilience post-COVID, which is important given the growing uncertainty sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022, Moldova faced a challenging year with declining GDP and additional fiscal pressures, due to its leading role in hosting a large number of Ukrainian refugees. IFC's loan to maib intends to help the country's economic recovery and stability, while driving the economy and creating jobs.
The funding will support the bank's on-lending to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), a key pillar of the Moldovan economy, which accounts for over 60 percent of total jobs in enterprises. Access to finance and the high cost of credit are the most often mentioned key constraints to MSME development in Moldova. The finance gap for women-owned MSMEs is especially significant at 20 percent of the country's total MSME finance gap, which is around 14 percent of Moldova's GDP.
Despite some progress, women entrepreneurs in Moldova face challenges in accessing finance because they are often perceived as high-risk borrowers with higher collateral requirements. With the support of the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF) and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and the in the form of performance-based incentives, IFC aims to address these challenges, with half of its funding being earmarked for women owned MSMEs. This makes the project IFC's first Banking on Women investment in Moldova.
Giorgi Shagidze, maib CEO, said: "IFC's financing will be instrumental in helping the Moldovan economy recover and will address some of the social challenges the country faces. Maib is committed to responsible business and we believe that the SME segment is the backbone of the economy. In 2022 maib increased its market share in SME lending by 5 percent. Now, with IFC's funding, we will leverage our lending capabilities to further support Moldovan businesses. We are grateful for IFC's backing, especially in helping women entrepreneurs access finance".
"Smaller businesses play a central role in creating a dynamic, competitive, and inclusive economy, and are important job creators. In Moldova, IFC's long-term investment will allow maib to grow its MSME portfolio, ensuring a stable financing strategy while catalyzing investor response and strengthening the financial sector," said Rana Karadsheh, IFC's Regional Director for Europe. She added, "In addition to creating jobs, the financing will help reduce gender inequality by empowering women entrepreneurs - an untapped segment - and optimizing their role as key drivers of innovation and economic growth."
"As we celebrate the 15th anniversary of Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Women initiative, we remain dedicated to empowering female entrepreneurs to accelerate growth and recharge their businesses through access to capital," said Charlotte Keenan, Global Director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women. "We look forward to supporting maib as it expands lending to women-owned businesses in Moldova."
IFC's funding, part of IFC's Base of the Pyramid COVID-19 Crisis Response Program, will be complemented by up to $5 million in trade finance under its Global Trade Finance Program. IFC will also advise maib on designing a climate-smart agriculture product that can help the bank expand its agriculture financing and will pilot a value proposition for forcibly displaced Ukrainians, with a focus on women as consumers and entrepreneurs.
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 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 global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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About maib
Maib is the largest bank in the Republic of Moldova with 33.2% of deposits and 37.2% of loans at the end of 2022. The bank is systemically important, serving almost a third of the country's population. As of 2018, maib's largest shareholder is a consortium, which includes the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Invalda INVL, a leading Baltic asset management group, and Horizon Capital, a private equity fund focused on emerging markets in Europe.
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.
About Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women is an ongoing 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 over 200,000 women from over 150 countries. 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. The 10,000 Women in-person business education program was launched in 2008, reaching over 10,000 women across 15 countries around the world, and in 2018, the 10,000 Women curriculum was made available online through Coursera, further democratizing access to a business education in more corners of the world. For more information on Goldman Sachs' investment in female entrepreneurs, visit: https://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000women/
