ICR Stories

Côte d’Ivoire has been an African success story for much of the last decade. The World Bank estimates that its GDP growth rate was on average 8.2% in the seven years between 2012 and 2019, one of the most dynamic in the world. Much of its growth comes from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for […]

Under Ugandan law, a woman who lives with a man but is not legally married to him has no legal rights to their joint finances. It’s a situation that needs to change for women to gain equal access to property and ownership, and to fulfil their economic potential. FIDA-Uganda is an association of women’s lawyers which would like to see the law changed so that women in cohabiting relationships have equal access their property. This is crucial for women’s economic empowerment – without the ability to access and control their own economic assets, women cannot have economic autonomy or access credit.

Last month, we embarked on a visit to Belize as part of our Investment Climate Reform (ICR) facility intervention, aiming to evaluate the business environment for the tourism sector of Ambergris Caye. This Caribbean destination is renowned for its vibrant marine life, beaches, and the warm hospitality of its people, attracting over 60% of all visitors to Belize. One of the recurring concerns that emerged during our discussions with private and public representatives was the persistent and escalating presence of sargassum seaweed. This natural phenomenon, intensified by the impacts of climate change, poses a significant threat to the local tourism industry and its associated businesses.

In Malawi 37% of women have experienced some form of gender violence in their lifetime. However, only half of MSMEs surveyed by the ICR Facility have documented some guidelines to address issues of gender inequality and sexual discrimination. In close cooperation with the ICR Facility, the Employers’ Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM) has been working to address these deficits by identifying the problems women face through gender audit and raising awareness by training the ECAM members. It is, however, only the first step to eliminate sexual harassment and allow women to fulfil their potential at the workplace.

Only around 4% of women-led businesses could service a loan in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is because of the regulations and practices which require women to seek approval from their husbands on conducting economic activities or their inability to claim commonly acquired property during marriage as collateral. However, due to the efficient advocacy by civil actors who promoted an economic case for gender reforms, some legislative improvements have been recently made, such as the revision of the Family Code. Implementing the new laws, however, remains a major task.

Women make up most of the agricultural workforce in Senegal and many have ambitions to start or grow their own farming businesses. But lack of finance and traditional cultural norms are holding them back. A new initiative between the Union Nationale des Commerçants et Industriels du Sénégal (UNACOIS), finance partners and with the support of the ICR Facility has proved that targeted and timely support can transform their fortunes – and those of their country.

More than one-third of young people in the ACP region work as entrepreneurs. Women represent two out of every five early-stage entrepreneurs globally, and entrepreneurial activity among young women in ACP countries is high. However, young people's access to opportunities for developing their businesses is hampered, among other things, by poor policy and institutional conditions, lack of information on business support services, and lack of coordination and training among civil servants assisting them. This blogpost also invites readers to join our upcoming webinar to learn more about business environment reforms for youth entrepreneurship in ACP region on 16th May.

With abundant natural and human resources, Togo has the potential to further capitalize on industries like sesame as a key driver for economic growth, job generation and women's economic empowerment. The Ministry of Investment Promotion and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Rural Development worked with the ICR Facility with the objective of implementing a cluster development approach for the sesame sector. The intervention included mapping of the sector, building a strategy using the cluster diamond method and developing an action plan to boost the competitiveness of the sector.

Women are currently undervalued in the agricultural sector. To change this, the ICR Facility is currently working with Togo’s Ministry of Investment Promotion and Ministry Agriculture of Togo to improve women's participation in the sesame value chain. As a part of this intervention, more than 50 interviews were conducted from September 2022 to January 2023 to evaluate the business environment in the sector and identify the main barriers women face that hinder their participation in the agricultural labour market.

Most rural women in Rwanda do not have a prominent role in business ventures. They remain underrepresented in many agroforestry value chains and they face significant challenges in terms of accessing land, farm inputs, training and much more. To reduce these gaps, the government of Rwanda supports policies to increase gender equality and promote economic inclusion of women, putting Rwanda first place in the Sub-Saharan Africa regional ranking of the Global Gender Gap Index published annually by the World Economic Forum (2022).

Women have long been economically disadvantaged in the Dominican Republic. Now, governmental programmes are promoting their financial inclusion and private banks make access to credits much easier for them. This improved the business environment for women and has prompted a wave of female entrepreneurship in the country.

Development finance institutions across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific can play an important role in supporting women entrepreneurs to realise their ambitions. A new analysis highlights a range of ideas to enable them to increase their activities to support this key market segment.