European Investment Fund (EIF)’s Post

The financing gap between male-led and female-led enterprises in Africa is about $320 billion. Gender inclusion and diversity in impact investing is an urgent and important discourse. Join us to develop strategies to overcome barriers that women face in accessing finance in the impact investment sector at Nigeria’s first Gender Impact Investment Summit. Register: https://bit.ly/GIIS-2023

Towards a Global Gender-sensitive Finance Sector 🌍! Flashback to our Women Leaders for Climate Action founder @Dolika Banda's keynote address at the launch of the gender bonds guidelines in Lusaka. Dolika sheds light on the challenges women entrepreneurs face in accessing capital, both today and over many decades. We know that investing in women is crucial for thriving societies and achieving SDGs. Dolika emphasizes why investing in African women and girls is a smart investment strategy for communities and countries aiming for scalable development impact. She advocates for a paradigm shift in the finance market and specific reforms to ensure women-owned businesses can grow and reach their full potential as we race against time towards 2030. #GenderEquality #FinanceReform #SDGs #InvestInWomen 🚀

📢 This week, the gender lens investing community is gathering in Luxembourg for the 2X Global annual members meeting – in greater numbers than ever before. Since 2018 the 2X Challenge has mobilised $27.7bn for women and girls. As 2x global prepares to expand and launch a certification scheme, we’ve taken stock of 2X investments to assess what DFIs are disclosing and the transparency of gender lens investments.   Our new research paper identifies significant gaps in disclosure of 2X investments by DFIs. The lack of standardised disaggregated information makes it almost impossible to get the granular insights needed to measure the value, impact and progress of gender lens investing. We found public disclosure is broadly lacking and varies considerably between DFIs. 3 of the 14 DFIs reviewed did not disclose anything about their 2X investments on their own website or annual reports. Only 6 disclosed individual 2X investments.   Only 2 DFIs systematically identify which of the 2X Criteria their investments meet. Without greater transparency we don’t know how investments support women as consumers, leaders, entrepreneurs or employees and the impact of these investments in closing gender gaps.   We found few DFIs distinguish between total direct investment and mobilised investment. This makes it difficult to understand how much is invested by DFIs versus how much private sector funds are being mobilised and runs the risk of inflating the amount of 2X investment.   We propose 2X Global improves disclosure by making investments publicly accessible via a centralised reporting platform. Much of this information is already collected by DFIs. Their consent to publish it would be a great step forward for the transparency of gender lens investing.   Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/etYsCWTf Read a summary here: https://lnkd.in/ezK7kUc5   Asian Development Bank (ADB) British International Investment FMO - Dutch entrepreneurial development bank EBRD European Investment Bank (EIB) FinDev Canada Finnfund DEG IFC - International Finance Corporation Norfund Proparco Swedfund International SIFEM (Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets) U.S. International Development Finance Corporation #2XChallenge #GenderLensInvesting #Transparency #GenderSmart

Today Publish What You Fund released a new paper on the transparency of gender lens investing through the 2X Challenge. Six years on from the launch of the 2X Challenge this is a critical time to address the significant gaps in disclosure and instill a culture of transparency within the gender lens investing movement. Without the data and the evidence to ensure we are being responsible fiscal custodians, gender lens investments may be haphazard or, worse, doing harm. Read our report below for our detailed findings and practical recommendations for DFIs and 2X Global.

Join our Partner and COO, Nieros O., as she joins a panel with distinguished and leading fellow captains of industry in Nigeria's first Gender Impact Investment Summit at the Maradiva, Twintowers in Lekki. The Breakout Session for the summit will focus on the supply of Impact Capital: Challenges and opportunities to create suitable financing and funding structures for women. The financing gap between male-led and female-led enterprises in Africa is about $320 billion. Gender inclusivity and diversity in impact investing is an urgent and essential discourse. We invite you to join us in developing strategies to overcome barriers faced by women in accessing finance in the impact investment sector at Nigeria's first Gender Impact Investment Summit. To register, please follow the link: https://bit.ly/GIIS-2023 We are excited to see you there! #Verod #VerodCapital #GenderImpactInvesting #ImpactCapital #WomenInFinance #Africa #Nigeria#GenderEquality #Diversity #SustainableDevelopment #Empowerment #Inclusion

The financing gap between male-led and female-led enterprises in Africa is about $320 billion. Gender inclusion and diversity in impact investing is an urgent and important discourse. Join us to develop strategies to overcome barriers that women face in accessing finance in the impact investment sector at Nigeria’s first Gender Impact Investment Summit. Register: https://bit.ly/GIIS-2023 #impactinvestment #venturecapital #genderlensinvesting #emergingafricacapitgroup

“Investment processes are usually controlled by finance professionals without gender or local expertise – and few gender experts and local representatives are able to effectively articulate the relevance of social considerations to the system of finance.” With this in mind, the team at Criterion Institute has been exploring how financial organisations might implement a “translation” function to improve the flow of knowledge between gender and/or local-context expertise and investment teams. Check out their blog to find out more ▶️ https://lnkd.in/eFfwpuCu Then on 9 November, join Criterion Insitute, Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID) and other ecosystem stakeholders to continue the conversation and identify ways that translation can facilitate stronger gender lens investing approaches. Find out more and register below ⤵️ #GenderLensInvesting #ImpactInvesting #GenderEquity

Take a look at the latest Women’s Finance Exchange Dispatch about climate and gender finance.

Today we had the pleasure to host the first annual meeting of the Action for Equality and Gender Multi-Donor Fund (A4EG)! Here are some of the main takeaways: 👉 Human capital is at the heart of what we do. Adapting to demographic change and responding to skills needs is key for the sustainable development of the economies where we work. 👉 The A4EG fund is critical to deliver impact by creating access to skills, jobs and vital services. 👉 We must move towards a greener world, and ensuring nobody is left behind in the process. That's why we're promoting Just Transition & gender SMART financial systems. 👉 #EBRDdonors to the fund such as Japan, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania and the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund are key strategic partners to make this happen. Watch below one inspiring example of the important work the A4EG is helping us achieve! Ines Rocha, Camilla Otto, Barbara Rambousek, Engin Göksu, Biljana Radonjic Ker-Lindsay, Victoria Wickenden MSc MAPM, Matteo Patrone, Christoph Denk, Marko Stermšek, Mariam Kobalia, Oksana Pak, Margherita Calderone, Momoko Hayashi, Thompson Angela, Cecilia Calatrava

While women entrepreneurs are more likely to factor in climate considerations in their business decisions, they face significant challenges in accessing finance. It is imperative to bridge the gender gap to support women in finding innovative solutions to climate risk and climate related events. In this issue of the gWFX Dispatch, we highlight inspiring examples of gender-inclusive green finance from Asia and the Pacific and feature insights from Samantha Anderson from Heading for Change, a donor-advised fund that makes catalytic investments to advance gender equity and accelerate climate solutions. Browse through the pages 👇 Read and download: https://lnkd.in/gqFGz7f8 #InvestinWomen #GenderEquality #climatefinance #greeneconomy #financialinclusion