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Thursday, 22 September 2022 03:11

IFC and FEDECRÉDITO to promote gender equity in El Salvador

Written by Evelyn Alas

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, signed an alliance with FEDECRÉDITO in El Salvador, to strengthen companies led by women and enhance the business model oriented to this segment.

The alliance was announced in the framework of International Women's Day, this initiative will be focused on supporting FEDECRÉDITO to create a comprehensive value proposition to promote the economic empowerment of salvadoran women entrepreneurs. This is the first advisory program within the Banca Mujer initiative in El Salvador, which is supported by the Women in Finance Initiative for Women Entrepreneurs (We-Fi).

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"IFC has been an ally of FEDECRÉDITO for many years and we are pleased to continue working to launch innovative solutions that help promote greater inclusion, closing the financial gap experienced by women business owners. The focus of this alliance is of great interest to FEDECRÉDITO because approximately half of our clients are women, which reaffirms that the SME Mujer segment has always played a key role in our institution and we aspire to further deepen our relationship with our clients to help them achieve their goals, said Macario Armando Rosales Rosa, President and CEO of FEDECRÉDITO.

The first phase of the project will analyze FEDECRÉDITO's current business model and gender portfolio, and then design a Banca Mujer strategy that fits and reflects the specific needs of women entrepreneurs in El Salvador. In parallel to the implementation, senior management, middle management and staff at the service points will participate in a gender intelligence training program to strengthen skills and internalize the strategy.

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Sanaa Abouzaid, IFC Manager in Central America, noted that "the pandemic has disproportionately affected women, who were already facing major challenges in accessing financing to grow their businesses. IFC's Banca Mujer program has proven successful in helping financial institutions around the world improve profitability and expand their client base, while promoting greater financial inclusion for women".

Through the Banca Mujer program launched in 2010, IFC provides financing and technical advice to financial institutions in emerging markets that want to strengthen and expand their links with women clients and entrepreneurs. IFC's goal is to help these institutions do good business and expand access to financial services for women and women entrepreneurs.

To date, Banca Mujer has a committed global portfolio of US $3.18 billion with 184 investment and advisory projects in 64 countries around the world. Of these figures, Latin America and the Caribbean represents US $1.17 billion with 22 investment projects and 16 advisory projects.

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