World Bank Group launches initiatives supporting women entrepreneurs in the Middle East
Aiming at promoting start-up financing and e-commerce markets for women entrepreneurs, the World Bank Group launched new initiatives during the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) on 16-17 February in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The first is the ScaleX programme by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) which aims at addressing the gender financial gap through providing incentives for venture capital funds to women entrepreneurs in emerging markets. The second is a partnership between the World Bank and UPS to help women entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region grow their businesses by assisting them in successfully leveraging e-commerce platforms. ‘By making e-commerce platforms more accessible, this partnership addresses a key constraint faced by women business leaders in reaching new markets. E-commerce platforms create opportunities, and we must ensure these opportunities are open to women-owned businesses across the region,’ noted World Bank MENA Vice President Ferid Belhaj.
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