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Women globally are 17% less likely to own a smartphone than men and even with mobile technology in a household, women are less likely to have the skills or confidence to use a mobile device and are less likely to have control over when and how they use it. These barriers are particularly acute for members of Village Savings & Loan Associations (VSLAs) who tend to be from the lowest income communities. For VSLA members, access to and usage of digital technology is limited due to cost, but also discriminatory gender norms that limit women’s ability to acquire basic digital skills and access to and use of technology. To address women’s digital exclusion, CARE developed a multi-pronged approach to delivering digital tools and skills to VSLA members, including enabling access to devices and addressing discriminatory norms. Two pilots commenced in September 2022, with 50 groups in Uganda and 50 groups in Rwanda. Through these pilots, CARE has conducted extensive research and is addressing social norms; facilitating access to devices; and delivering digital training.

Globally, 65 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face a $5.2 trillion financing gap. SMEs not only represent the large majority of businesses but also create more than half of the world’s employment. A lack of finance impedes the growth of these critical businesses and the economies in which they operate. 

Story Originally posted on NextBillion.

USAID CATALYZE helps women SMEs access new markets and grow

Across Central America, the number and size of renewable energy power plants has grown exponentially in recent decades. In Honduras particularly, hydroelectric power plants have sprung up as the government looks for sustainable ways to generate energy and economic stability for communities across the country.

How many times this week have you heard someone rave about an amazing mother who is simultaneously juggling her business with childcare, while running a household? This is constantly happening. Everywhere across the globe. We all do it – men and women. Glorifying multi-tasking by women entrepreneurs must stop.

By the USAID CATALYZE WEE team

By Natalie Alm, Communications Advisor, and Nicole Garcia, Senior Activity Manager, INVEST

By Kendahl Tyburski, Senior Gender Program Associate, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE)

Necessity Breeds Entrepreneurship  “I needed to provide for my children.” It’s a simple reason that motivates millions of parents to earn money every day.

In early 2022, the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) started to emerge from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, boasting rising industrial production, exports to the European Union (EU), increases in wages, and credit growth. The region is ripe for investment, but Russia’s war against Ukraine threatens this recovery, through higher energy and food costs, disruption in supply chains, and interruptions in trade.

USAID CATALYZE Peru increases small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and producer associations’ access to finance through an innovative Pay for Results (P4R) program, which helps financial institutions (FI) minimize their risk in lending while growing their portfolios in underserved regions in the Amazon. CATALYZE Peru has signed P4R agreements with 10 FIs, which have committed to mobilize USD24.1 million to the Amazonia region.

This is the fourth post in a four-part series exploring impact investment and finance for development authored by Autumn Gorman of USAID's Private Sector Engagement Hub.

This is the third post in a four-part series exploring impact investment and finance for development authored by Autumn Gorman of USAID's Private Sector Engagement Hub.

In this second installment of a four-part series on impact investing and finance for development, Autumn Gorman from USAID's Private Sector Engagement Hub discusses blended finance.

To continue developing a deeper understanding of impact investing and finance for development, Autumn Gorman from USAID's Private Sector Engagement Hub discusses what is and what is not yet impact investing in this first installment of a four-part blog series.

This project conducts critical research and learning activities to disseminate and share with the development community to examine how women leaders of small businesses can better engage in the cashew value chain.

A new report by Babson College on the Goldman Sachs "10,000 Women" initiative has found that training and education for women entrepreneurs positively affect emerging economies by increasing revenues and creating jobs.

Across a wide spectrum of society, there is growing recognition of the central role that women play in the world economy.

Equity-based crowdfunding emerges as a promising opportunity to empower female entrepreneurship and to emancipate investment.

Women’s World Banking (WWB) finally closed its first private equity fund to invest in microfinance enterprises that support women.

The SME Survey 2014, an annual study of factors behind the success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa, has found that a small business owned by a woman has a better chance of being profitable than one run by a man.

About 63 percent of women in the non-agricultural labor force are self-employed in the informal sector in Africa, more than twice the worldwide rate, according to World Bank data.

According to an Asia Foundation study of the business environment in Bangladesh, male- operated small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) far outnumber those led by women SME entrepreneurs, and only 69 of the 3,800 firms in the sample have at least one female owner.

USAID press release: Entrepreneurship plays a significant role in driving economic growth and job creation.