Washington — IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, signed an agreement with the government of Switzerland today to boost access to financial services for women in the Middle East and North Africa, to help close the economic gender gap and support growth and jobs.
The Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) will provide up to $5 million to support IFC Advisory's Women Banking Champions initiative in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. Women own over 300,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in MENA - about a third of the more than 1 million SMEs that form the backbone of the regional economy. But women entrepreneurs often struggle to obtain financing, with the average female-owned SME in the region needing an extra $270,000 in credit to thrive.
...