Goldman Sachs and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have announced the expansion of their partnership to create more opportunity for women entrepreneurs in emerging markets by providing access to business education, resources and financing.
The two are launching a French language version of the 10,000 Women online curriculum to women entrepreneurs in French-speaking Africa through IFC partner institutions to complement the work of the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF), which was launched in 2014.
According to Asahi Pompey, global head of Corporate Engagement at Goldman Sachs: “Goldman Sachs and IFC’s decade long partnership is built on a shared commitment to empower women entrepreneurs globally. Our curriculum has a tangible impact on participants and their businesses since 2008 – with 70% of graduates growing their revenue and 60% creating new jobs. We are proud to pursue even greater scale and impact, together with IFC.”
The women’s MSME finance gap in emerging markets is estimated at $1.5 trillion. To date, IFC through WEOF has mobilized $2.96 billion in capital for financial intermediaries to finance women entrepreneurs, exceeding its initial target of $600 million. This funding helped unlock a $4.6 billion increase in the volume of loans on-lent by financial institutions to women entrepreneurs and reached over 164,000 women-owned SMEs in 56 countries.
Leveraging the resources, reach, and expertise of IFC and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, WEOF was created to expand and deepen financing for women SMEs in developing countries, empower women entrepreneurs through access to capital and expertise, and demonstrate the commercial viability of investing in women by attracting external investors.
Susan Lund, IFC’s Vice President for Economics and Private Sector Development, said:”Online learning can be a powerful tool for entrepreneurs to start and grow their business. In a study by IFC study and Coursera, one-third of the female learners surveyed said they found a new job, set up a business, or improved their job or business performance after taking online courses. Through this expanded education and capital offering, Goldman Sachs and IFC are supporting women entrepreneurs across the globe by removing the barriers to women and encouraging upskilling and access to finance.”