Blog

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.

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.

New index from the Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by the Multilateral Investment Fund, scores 20 countries on their support for female owners of micro, small and medium enterprises.

Research suggesting that certain entrepreneurial mindsets and skills can be learned has given rise to the field of entrepreneurship education and training (EET).

Relative to men, women are pursuing lower opportunity activities, with their enterprises more likely to be smaller, informal, and in low value-added lines of business.

African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) is an outreach, education, and engagement initiative that targets African women entrepreneurs to promote business growth, increase trade both regionally and to U.S. markets through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Development finance institutions – such as the International Finance Corporation and Britain's CDC – play a significant role in early stage SME financing while laying the foundation for other forms of investment.

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.

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.

El Programa Mujeres Empresarias Liderando el Desarrollo (MELD), promovido y financiado por USAID (Agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional), tiene como objetivo fortalecer las capacidades de gestión y liderazgo de mujeres empresarias de la pequeña empresa.

Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE) and Sector3 Social Venture Group have partnered in Peru to implement the Women Entrepreneurs Leading Development project (WELD).

ACDI/VOCA, with its partner organization Bai Tushum Fund (BT Fund), will work to reduce barriers to human capital, social capital and business information that limit the growth of women-owned SMEs in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The Pakistan Firms Project is helping increase the profitability and incomes of small- and medium­-sized enterprises in vulnerable areas.

The USAID Kenya Dairy Sector Competitiveness Program (KDSCP).

Mentoring brings experienced women business owners together with new entrepreneurs to provide a deeper understanding of the business world.

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

On March 5-10, 2014, USAID’s Women’s Leadership in Small and Medium Enterprises (WLSME) program is sponsoring the 8th National Garment Trade Fair “Fashion Industry 2014: Manufactures and Equipment” hosted by the Association of Light Industry Enterprises.

More than 126 million women entrepreneurs were starting or running new businesses in 67 economies in 2012, according to the GEM 2012 Women's Report, the most comprehensive research ever conducted about the entrepreneurial activity of women across the globe.

Citizen Journalism is changing the world by empowering local communities to tell their stories from their own perspectives. WLSME Kyrgyzstan staff members are keeping up with the latest trends in development by holding a multimedia training on 26-29 June 2013 on state-of-the-art mobile journalism or “MoJo” kits to develop skills that will ultimately contribute to the WLSME program’s success.

The Rizal Commercial and Banking Co. (RCBC), one of the largest commercial banks in the Philippines, has introduced an SME business loan program which gives women the opportunity to increase their financial capacity and meet the growing demands of their business.

The International Development division of Land O’Lakes, Inc. – a full-fledged development organization that currently works in 22 countries across Asia and Africa – has observed numerous barriers to women’s cooperative leadership.

Interview with Meaza Ashenafi, Chairperson of Enat Bank.