Three ways banks can attract more women customers
Narrowing the global gender gap could add $12 trillion in annual global gross domestic product by 2025. In Latin America and the Caribbean, access to finance for women-led companies is a key driver of this gap. Two out of five small and medium-sized businesses in the region are owned or managed by women, yet 70% of them still have unserved or underserved credit needs. Despite this discrepancy, there is an overwhelming sense of optimism: more than two thirds of active, early-stage women entrepreneurs are opening businesses because they see clear opportunities, not out of necessity.
Women’s Entrepreneurship Day: Smart companies, pay attention
On November 19, 2014, the United Nations launched Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. This day reminds me of a newspaper article I read eight years ago that changed my life. It stated that, although more Jamaican women (70 percent) than men were graduating from higher education institutions, they had a significantly higher unemployment rate -15.6percent and 5.7 percent respectively-. As a Jamaican woman then working her way through university, it marked my professional path forever.
Financing for Women Entrepreneurs, Key for Economic Recovery
Support for the sizeable number of women entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean must include a gender perspective to achieve economic recovery. This implies either specific funding or collateral programs to lower risks for financial institutions.