Democratising Access to Social Finance: Green and Social Enterprises in the Pacific and the Caribbean

In the face of mounting climate risks, entrepreneurs are coming up with solutions to accelerate transition to more climate resilient development, alongside investors putting more resources into climate finance. The climate risks are particularly acute for island nations in the Pacific and the Caribbean, where there’s also been a growth in entrepreneurial solutions that address both the environmental and social impact of climate change.

Upcoming events

By supporting business climate and investment environment reforms, the ICR Facility aims to help generate more decent jobs and contribute to improving livelihoods in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

Training on Business Environment Reforms to Support Women’s Economic Empowerment

Women's Economic Empowerment

Training on Busines Environment Reforms to Support Women’s Economic Empowerment What? The course develops awareness and provides tools to advance Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) through Business Environment Reform (BER) in African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Participants learn to apply a gender-sensitive and gender-transformative lens when they work on their own reforms, taking into account […]

How to develop a gender approach in Development Finance Institutions

Access to Finance

What? In these free, self-paced training modules you will learn how to develop a gender finance approach in the development finance institution. It is an interactive way to learn more about institutional gender mainstreaming, actions and measures to be taken in the organisation to ensure gender inclusion. The training contains videos, texts, interactive exercises and […]

Training on Business Environment Reforms Tools

Business Regulation and Policy

In these self-paced modules in “Business Environment Reform Tools”, representatives from public and private stakeholders in African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries will learn how to use practical and straight-forward tools to improve the business environment in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. You will earn a PDF certificate once you pass all the tasks of the four modules. […]

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Enhancing Access to Finance for Women-Owned Enterprises

Women’s economic empowerment is key to ensuring that women not only enjoy equal rights and liberties but also, that they are able to contribute to a nation’s socio- economic progress.Beyond the subject of social justice, women’s economic empowerment is also recognised as a critical driver of sustainable economic growth When women are economically empowered, […]

Gender Inclusive Access to Finance Checklist

This gender inclusive access to finance checklist has been designed to guide the development and implementation of gender-sensitive access to finance programmes for Women-owned Enterprises. It is divided into the following key areas: Design, Promotion, Delivery, and Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E). Each section contains specific questions that can be answered with “Yes” or “No,” allowing […]

An Event for Change: Gaps and Solutions to Advance Women’s Economic Empowerment

During the 05 and 06 June 2024, the ICR4WEE Conference welcomed over 140 participants, inclusive of attendees from 36 ACP countries, in Kigali, Rwanda. This ICReport provides a comprehensive overview of the Conference, and reflects upon the critical topics examined throughout the two days of interactive panel discussion and debate, including: Gender-sensitive industrial policies The […]

Business environment reforms for youth employment in ACP countries: lowering barriers to employment and recruitment

This report discusses potential business environment reforms (BER) that present opportunities for advancing youth employment across African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. The ACP countries face a significant challenge in this regard, and policymakers play a crucial role in crafting a business environment that actively supports youth employment. The report offers four broad business environment […]

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Advancing Women Traders’ Financial Inclusion And the Digital Economy Leveraging FinTech: An Opportunity for The Gambia

The Gambia stands at a crucial crossroads in its journey towards a cash-lite economy that enables a thriving digital ecosystem. The implementation of the National Strategy for Leveraging FinTech to Drive Financial Inclusion for Women Cross-Border Traders, developed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry Regional Integration, and Employment (MoTIE) with the support of the […]

Boosting the financial success of female entrepreneurs in Nigeria

With approximately 223 million people, Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and has the largest economy, with its entrepreneurs and their enterprises the engine of the economy. They account for roughly 96% of all businesses (most of which are micro, small and medium enterprises, also known as MSMEs) and 33% are owned by […]

Public private dialogue beyond borders: how a regional strategy for PPD can bolster inclusive growth in West Africa

One of Africa’s leading economic blocs is enhancing dialogue between the public and private sectors to foster sustainable development, regional integration and an improved business climate. The adoption of a new public-private dialogue strategy by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) will, backers say, position the private sector as a key development partner […]

Building a crowdfunding model to support businesses in the DRC: a blueprint

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Africa’s second largest country with a population of 109m, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) play a pivotal role in the economy. They comprise up to 90% of all businesses, account for 70% of jobs and drive innovation through creative solutions to local challenges. Yet as in most […]

You may also be interested in these event recordings

Session 4 of DFI Exchange Group

You’re Invited to the 4th ICR Facility DFI Exchange Group on Wholesale Lending! Join us for an engaging peer learning experience focused on Wholesale Lending for Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). This two-part DFI Exchange Group will provide valuable insights, technical guidance, and real-world examples from DFIs on key aspects of wholesale lending. Our guest speakers […]

Business Environment Reforms through Public- Private Dialogue – Lessons learnt from the ICR Facility’s Interventions

The ICR Facility supports governments, public agencies and private sector representative bodies in African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries to improve their business environment on the basis of Public-Private Dialogue (PPD). PPD is an effective tool to enhance collaboration between public and private actors. It is a continuous and semi-structured process that brings together various […]

Webinar: Trends in Care Economy Policies in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries

The Care Economy — including childcare, eldercare and domestic work — is vital to society, yet it remains invisible, undervalued, and unevenly distributed. The disproportionate share of care and domestic work that falls on women and girls, especially when it is unpaid, is a key barrier to their participation in the workforce and negatively impacts […]

Business Environment Reform for Supporting Young Entrepreneurs: Opportunities for the ACP Region

Many countries in the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) region have made supporting young entrepreneurs a top priority for economic development and youth employment. Despite this, young entrepreneurs face challenging business conditions and complicated policy and regulatory contexts in launching and running their businesses. This webinar hosted by the ICR Facility provided an opportunity for […]

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