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Changing Mindsets to Empower Women: Roshaneh Zafar, On How Kashf Foundation Helped Microfinance Take Root in Pakistan
There was no shortage of skeptics when Roshaneh Zafar first started talking about launching a microfinance institution with a focus on women's empowerment in Pakistan. But over two decades after founding Kashf Foundation, Zafar has proven them wrong. In this video Q&A, she discusses how she brought the first specialized microfinance institution to Pakistan – and crafted an approach that helps the country's female entrepreneurs overcome the unique barriers they face.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Finance
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Women Feeding Africa: Innovative Business Solutions to Close the Gender Gap in Agricultural Productivity
Women quite literally feed sub-Saharan Africa: They make up 50% of its agricultural labor force and contribute 60-80% of its food. Yet they also face unique constraints that limit their productivity and reduce their returns. What would happen if women could access the same productivity resources as men? Agnes Makena and Racheal Wangari at Intellecap explore that question, highlighting enterprises and initiatives with innovative solutions to support Africa’s female farmers.
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- Agriculture, Entrepreneurship
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When Inclusion is Not Inclusive: What Needs to Change to Achieve Meaningful Financial Inclusion for Women
India has achieved impressive growth in women's financial inclusion — recent statistics show that 79% of the country's women are financially included. But according to analysts at MSC, there are troubling questions about whether these women are truly benefiting from their newfound financial access. They discuss why financial inclusion often fails to impact female customers, and how viewing financial services for women through the lens of gender centrality could help.
- Categories
- Finance
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Pro Mujer Names Marisol Fernandez Global Financial Services Director
Pro Mujer, a leading social enterprise and pioneer in women’s empowerment in Latin America, announced today the appointment of Marisol Fernandez as Global Financial Services Director. Fernandez assumes this role after having served at Pro Mujer as Global Director of Corporate Business Development, where she oversaw the acquisition of a major financial services company in Argentina and two joint ventures in health and gender smart investing.
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- Finance
- Region
- Latin America
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Women in financial services are tackling an underserved market: themselves
Financial services for women have historically been abysmal. Management consulting firm Oliver Wyman has called women its “single largest underserved group of customers.” According to a recent report financial services firms—those in banking, insurance, and wealth/asset management—are leaving $700 billion in revenue on the table by using assumptions that are built around men’s careers and not offering solutions that address the realities of women’s lives. Women invest less than men and have lower retirement savings, even though they live longer on average. They also have less access to capital, fewer financial rights, and end up poorer as a result.
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- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Shedding Light on Women in Solar: How – And Why – Off-Grid Solar Companies Should Hire More Female Sales Agents
Off-grid solar companies need large sales forces to reach last-mile consumers. But though they often struggle to build these sales forces, and though there's a large pool of female candidates to choose from, only 35% of their salespeople are women. Scott A. Roy at Whitten & Roy Partnership discusses the false assumptions that keep solar companies from hiring women, and explores the reasons why female sales agents are actually better all-around performers than men.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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The Rising Gender Gap in Financial Services Threatens Nigeria’s Financial Inclusion Target
A report conducted by the CBN and EFInA finds that differences between men and women in education, income, and trust in financial service providers contribute to the gender gap in financial access.
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- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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IIM-B takes Goldman Sachs ‘10,000 Women in India’ initiative to Mumbai
MUMBAI: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and Goldman Sachs has expanded the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative training for women entrepreneurs to Mumbai for its next cohort. “The expansion to Mumbai was a logical choice, given that it is the financial and commercial capital of India,” the premier management institute said in an official statement. IIM Bangalore and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women have also received the second highest number of applications from Maharashtra, second only to Bengaluru, accounting for 15% of the applications received in the first three cohorts of the program, signaling a need for holistic training for women entrepreneurs in the region, the statement from the institute said.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- South Asia
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