Banking on Women
Loading...
Published
2024-09-19
Author(s)
International Finance Corporation
Editor(s)
Abstract
IFC’s Banking on Women business provides a full range of investment, advisory expertise, and actionable data to financial institutions in emerging markets to catalyze sustainable financial services for women and women-owned businesses.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“International Finance Corporation. 2024. Banking on Women. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42170 License: CC BY-N3.C-ND 0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Women’s Advancement in Banking in Emerging South Asian Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-25)In 2022-2023, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) initiated a multi-country research study focusing on women’s advancement in private commercial banking in South Asia. The study covered 20 private commercial banks across three countries - Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. As the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, IFC recognizes and deeply values the business and social benefits of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). It initiated this study among the first of its kind in the region to identify opportunities that can help achieve more equitable work outcomes for women employees in the banking industry. This multi-country report spotlights the key findings and recommendations emerging from the study and is intended to help industry actors - C-suite leaders in commercial banks, policymakers, industry bodies, and investors direct their efforts to increase women’s representation in leadership in the banking industry. Country-specific findings are also included in separate briefs published as accompaniments to this report.Publication Women’s Advancement in Banking in Emerging South Asian Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-25)Global evidence is mounting that more gender diversity in banking, including having more women in leadership, leads to better outcomes for organizations, their employees, and investors. There is increasing recognition of the importance of workforce diversity and equity along various dimensions, including gender. While this insight is global, the barriers and pathways to achieving greater women’s representation in leadership vary by country and region. In 2022-23, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) initiated a multi-country research study focusing on women’s advancement in private commercial banking in South Asia. While the insights and recommendations of the wider study are compiled in a multi-country report, this edition is a complementary country brief focused on Nepal. It spotlights the key findings that emerged from the country and is based on an employee survey covering employees across six private commercial banks and an organization survey filled by the human resource departments of five of these banks. This brief is intended to help industry actors - C-suite leaders in commercial banks, policymakers, industry bodies, and investors direct their efforts toward increasing the representation of women in the industry’s leadership.Publication Women’s Advancement in Banking in Emerging South Asian Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-25)Global evidence is mounting that more gender diversity in banking, including having more women in leadership, leads to better outcomes for organizations, their employees, and investors. There is increasing recognition of the importance of workforce diversity and equity along various dimensions, including gender. While this insight is global, the barriers and pathways to achieving greater women’s representation in leadership vary by country and region. In 2022-23, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) initiated a multi-country research study focusing on women’s advancement in private commercial banking in South Asia. While the insights and recommendations of the wider study are compiled in a multi-country report, this edition is a complementary country brief focused on Sri Lanka. It spotlights the key findings that emerged from the country and is based on an employee survey covering employees across seven banks and an organization survey filled by six human resource (HR) departments. This brief is intended to help industry actors - C-suite leaders in commercial banks, policymakers, industry bodies, and investors direct their efforts toward increasing the representation of women in the industry’s leadership.Publication Women, Business and the Law 2012(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011)Women, business and the law focuses on this critical piece of the puzzle, objectively highlighting differentiations on the basis of gender in 141 economies around the world, covering six areas: accessing institutions, using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, building credit and going to court. Women, business and the law describes regional trends and shows how economies are changing across these six areas, tracking governments' actions to expand economic opportunities for women. For men and women throughout the developing world, the chance to start and run a business or get a good job is the surest hope for a way out of poverty. It also requires good business regulation, suited to the purpose, streamlined and accessible, so that the opportunity to build a business or have a good job is dependent not on connections, wealth or power, but on an individual's initiative and ability. The doing business report has led the way in providing data to countries about creating a sounder and more streamlined business environment. Women, Business, and the Law 2012 are the second in this series of reports. This edition retains the same basic structure of the 2010 pilot edition, while significantly expanding the depth of data covered. While the number of topics covered is the same, there has been a significant expansion of the data collected within these topics, thus addressing some of the initial shortcomings of the pilot edition. The number of economies covered has also been expanded from 128 to 141.Publication Fostering Women's Economic Empowerment through Special Economic Zones(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011)This global report examines the opportunity for special economic zones to promote women's economic empowerment and boost zone and enterprise competitiveness in developing countries. The research covers Bangladesh, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Jordan, Kenya, and the Philippines. The study focuses on women's economic empowerment in the context of zones at three levels: (i) fair employment and working conditions for female employees; (ii) equal access to opportunities for professional advancement; and (iii) investment opportunities for female entrepreneurs. The study also examines gender-friendly policies and practices that support these three main goals, which include a wide range of options around laws, regulations, labor policies, gender-sensitive professional development programs, family support mechanisms, women's health programs, and supplier diversity and capacity-building initiatives. This study establishes the business case for investments in women's economic empowerment in SEZs, and identifies good-practice examples of recommended enablers to address this investment opportunity. Enablers are defined as efforts to counteract the negative impact of the obstacles women face in economic participation, and can include policies and programs at the government, zone, and enterprise level. The study provides background, evidence of challenges and success stories, comprehensive recommendations, and a suite of tools and tips to implement the recommendations successfully.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Fall 2024: Better Education for Stronger Growth(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-17)Economic growth in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is likely to moderate from 3.5 percent in 2023 to 3.3 percent this year. This is significantly weaker than the 4.1 percent average growth in 2000-19. Growth this year is driven by expansionary fiscal policies and strong private consumption. External demand is less favorable because of weak economic expansion in major trading partners, like the European Union. Growth is likely to slow further in 2025, mostly because of the easing of expansion in the Russian Federation and Turkiye. This Europe and Central Asia Economic Update calls for a major overhaul of education systems across the region, particularly higher education, to unleash the talent needed to reinvigorate growth and boost convergence with high-income countries. Universities in the region suffer from poor management, outdated curricula, and inadequate funding and infrastructure. A mismatch between graduates' skills and the skills employers are seeking leads to wasted potential and contributes to the region's brain drain. Reversing the decline in the quality of education will require prioritizing improvements in teacher training, updated curricula, and investment in educational infrastructure. In higher education, reforms are needed to consolidate university systems, integrate them with research centers, and provide reskilling opportunities for adult workers.Publication World Bank East Asia and the Pacific Economic Update, October 2024: Jobs and Technology(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-07)East Asia and the Pacific, seen in the context of the world economy, stands out as a paragon of development. Despite the recent ravages of the pandemic and the persistent tensions of geopolitics, the region is growing at stably high rates and the benefits are widely shared. But compared to its own past and potential, the region’s economic performance is less impressive. Growth is still below pre-pandemic rates, except in Indonesia, and output has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels in several countries, especially in the Pacific. This Economic Update highlights three key developments: shifting regional growth dynamics as China’s growth slows, changing trade patterns due to global tensions, and the impact of technologies such as robots, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms on jobs. The report calls for productivity-enhancing structural reforms to strengthen domestic growth drivers through; deeper international trade agreements to foster more open and stable trade regimes; deeper technical, digital, and soft skills while addressing impediments to labor mobility, factor price distortions and expanding social protection for workers in the digital informal economy to boost productivity and employment.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-11)After several years of negative shocks, global growth is expected to hold steady in 2024 and then edge up in the next couple of years, in part aided by cautious monetary policy easing as inflation gradually declines. However, economic prospects are envisaged to remain tepid, especially in the most vulnerable countries. Risks to the outlook, while more balanced, are still tilted to the downside, including the possibility of escalating geopolitical tensions, further trade fragmentation, and higher-for-longer interest rates. Natural disasters related to climate change could also hinder activity. Subdued growth prospects across many emerging market and developing economies and continued risks underscore the need for decisive policy action at the global and national levels. Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.Publication South Asia Development Update, October 2024: Women, Jobs, and Growth(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-10)South Asia’s growth is on track to exceed earlier expectations, in a broad-based upturn. The region is expected to remain the fastest-growing among emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Several risks could upend this generally promising outlook, including extreme weather events, social unrest, and policy missteps, such as reform delays. But South Asian countries also have considerable untapped potential that could help them further boost productivity growth and employment and adapt to climate change. In particular, with about two-thirds of the region’s working-age women out of the labor force, raising female employment rates to those of men could increase per capita income by as much as one-half. Measures to accelerate job creation, remove obstacles to women working, and equalize gender rights would be more effective if combined with a shift toward social norms that looked more favorably on working women. Also, most South Asian countries rank among the EMDEs least open to global trade and investment. Greater openness could boost women’s employment, spur the growth of firms, and allow the region to take better advantage of the reshaping of global supply chains and trade. Reducing the cost of conducting business could help the region better harness large-scale remittance inflows.Publication Finance and Prosperity 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-08-29)While financial sector risks in the larger and higher per capita countries are moderate, half of lower-income countries face significant risks over the next 12 months. Nearly 70 percent of countries facing high financial sector risks are currently not adequately prepared to handle financial stress. The report also identifies a particular risk facing financial sectors in several countries: a large and growing exposure to sovereign debt. This exposure surged to its highest level in the past decade. Finally, the report looks at how countries can enable more climate finance through the banking sector without compromising on the important goals of financial sector stability and inclusion for underserved people.