EBRD Women in Business: EaP
Contribution ID : SE-0-SE-6-55030203This website displays open data about Swedish aid, which shows when, to whom and for what purpose Swedish aid is paid out, as well as what results it has produced. This page contains information about one of the contributions financed with Swedish aid.
The EBRD has proposed an extension of the regional programme for the Eastern partnership countries in support of Women in Business (WIB). The first phase started in 2014, and the MTR in 2017 showed that the programme is on track. According to Sida's assessment, the project is still relevant in relation to the Swedish regional strategy for the Eastern Partner...
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The EBRD has proposed an extension of the regional programme for the Eastern partnership countries in support of Women in Business (WIB). The first phase started in 2014, and the MTR in 2017 showed that the programme is on track. According to Sida's assessment, the project is still relevant in relation to the Swedish regional strategy for the Eastern Partnership countries. The EBRD project is aimed directly at women entrepreneurs (training, mentoring, coaching) and at up to 18 participating financial institutions in order to provide access to credits for women who own and/or operate businesses.
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Result
In 2014, Sida extended a grant contribution of SEK 47 million to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) towards the Women in Business (WiB) programme in the six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The programme has since extended its financial support to partner financial institutions (PFIs) with a facility of up to USD 135 million. In December 2018, Sida committed additional funding in the amount of SEK 50 million to support a second phase of the programme, covering the period of January 2019 to December 2023 across the six EaP countries. The second phase of the programme seeks to enhance competition by attracting subsequent movers to join the segment. The expectation is that this will result in the growth of women-led businesses, which in turn will result in their ability to reach their economic potential and make contributions to employment, growth and social inclusion. Since the inception of the programme until the end of 2022, EBRD has extended a total of USD 92,1 million (EUR 86,3 million equivalent) to twelve PFIs in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In April 2022, the EBRD ceased its WiB programme in Belarus, following the resolution of its Board of Governors to suspend Belaruss access to EBRDs resources, in response to the invasion of Ukraine. A first loss risk cover mechanism was also introduced to motivate PFIs to lend to women entrepreneurs whose risk was untested. PFIs have been able to extend 5 688 sub-loans to women-led SMEs for a total value of over USD 98,4 million (EUR 92,2 million equivalent) including additional funds provided by the PFIs themselves. PFIs continued developing their business model and delivery mechanisms to improve their focus on women-led businesses. Tailored financial and non-financial product packages and service for different women segments were developed and rolled out as part of the programmes technical assistance support to PFIs. In terms of access to know-how, 589 business advisory projects have been implemented, 1 181 women entrepreneurs have received in-person training in key entrepreneurial skills through workshops, and 70 women entrepreneurs have been enrolled in the mentoring programme. Within one year of completing an advisory project, over half of women-led SMEs increased employment for a total net job creation of 2 989 jobs, and 79% had increased their turnover. An impact evaluation of the programme covering 2014-2021 was carried out during 2022 by external consultants and focused on interventions in Armenia, Georgia, Serbia and Kosovo. It found that the WiB programme effectively supported PFIs with technical assistance and credit support, leading to increased lending to women entrepreneurs. However, strict loan conditions and cautious lending practices limited the programmes reach. While FLRC was introduced to encourage PFIs, its utilization remained low. The programmes advisory services helped women entrepreneurs improve their operational processes, increase turnover, and create jobs. However, the impact could potentially have been bigger if outreach was broader and if each business had received all programme components. Overall, the programme contributed to increased capacity and growth of supported women-led enterprises, as well as PFIs' awareness of the value of investing in women. The sustainability of these impacts varied among PFIs, with some planning to continue offering dedicated credit lines to women, while others did not. Challenges in monitoring and inconsistent qualitative data limited the assessment of the programme's transformative potential and long-term outcomes. The evaluation concluded that while the programme had positive output-level results, its transformative potential and sustainability were less clear. The EBRD monitoring system provided extensive data, but the varying quality of indicators and inconsistent higher-level data prevented a full understanding of the programme's impacts.
The overall objective of the Women in Business (WiB) programme is to promote women's entrepreneurship and more broadly women's participation in business, by supporting women-led SMEs to access finance, know-how and non-financial business development services. The programme seeks to demonstrate that, when market failures are addressed, obstacles are removed, and women-led SMEs are given equal opportunities. They can then contribute to growth, job creation, and social progress for a free, market-oriented, and democratic society. During the second phase (2019-2023), the programme aims at: 1. Increasing access to finance for women-led small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), including for first time/start-up borrowers and borrowers based outside of main urban centers. 2. Contributing to a diversified and deepened financial system through increased capacity of partner financial institutions (PFIs) to serve the women entrepreneur segment.
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