Spotlight On: Strong Business Performance
This month we are proud to publish our eighth annual aggregate analysis of the performance of the Alliance network in our Measuring The Value Of The Female Economy report. The data from 55 leading financial services companies clearly demonstrates the business case for focusing on Women’s Markets. We’ve seen particularly strong growth in women owned/led SME portfolios, with 12 percent and 14 percent compound annual growth in the SME loan and deposit portfolios respectively between 2020 and 2023. This was supported by robust provision of non-financial services tailored to women entrepreneurs, with 84 percent of members reporting offering women workshops and training; and 78 percent offering networking events. In aggregate, we’re reaching parity in gender representation among retail banking customers, in the use of digital financial services, and in uptake of insurance. Also of note is the closing gender gap in products per customer – given women’s multiple roles in their households, one might hypothesize that women are likely to surpass men in this metric in future years.
In parallel with women’s increasing representation in customer bases, we are seeing impressive representation of women in financial service providers’ (FSPs’) workforce. The average share of women in Senior Management positions has grown from 20 percent to 43 percent in the past five years suggesting a correlation between internal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and external Women’s Markets performance.
These results should bolster the case for more FSPs to take a strategic approach to women’s markets. To make this the norm across countries, we cannot talk about the business case nor share the know-how enough. On March 6 we launch this year’s Primer on the Strategic and Business Case for Service WMSMEs, designed for senior representatives from banks, fintechs and top tier microfinance providers seeking to develop strategies for WMSMEs. This four-week webinar series takes place on Zoom from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm GMT each Thursday from March 6 to 27 and will feature the strongest use cases from around the world on how to effectively serve women entrepreneurs as a distinct market segment and foster an organizational culture that supports these initiatives. The program is best suited for SMEs/MSMEs segment leads, as well as those in strategy, marketing, and human resources teams. It will also be of interest to key public sector officials interested in improving women entrepreneur’s access to finance, especially those implementing the WE Finance Code. All WE Finance Code Community of Champion members are welcome to attend. Click here to register before March 3.
The WE Finance Code is now being implemented in 30+ countries, and soon to be added to this list is Rwanda. The national launch of the WE Finance Code Rwanda will take place on the first morning of the 2025 Alliance Summit at the Kigali Convention Centre May 28. Combining a national launch with a Summit enables policy makers to understand commercial approaches and for commercial actors to voice what is needed to create female friendly entrepreneurial ecosystems. The two-day summit is followed by a one-day Study Tour for the WE Finance Code Community of Champions during which lessons from countries rolling out the Code will be shared as well as a range of tools and resources developed to support Code implementation. Sign up for the Study Tour by registering for the Summit.
Building the customer value proposition (CVP) to support women’s lifecycle needs will be a topic at the Summit, as it was for February’s Ask The Expert session with speakers representing the spectrum of Alliance members—Access Bank, AXA insurance, and healthtech Nume. According to AXA research, 75 percent of women put their health needs after that of their family. Making healthcare accessible, convenient and affordable, the need for doctors with specialist expertise in women’s health, and the importance of building awareness among women about their health were some of the key insights in this informative session.
This month we are delighted to welcome our second insurance company, Vörður Insurance, and our first member in Iceland, to the Alliance. In this newsletter, CEO Guðbjörg Heiða Guðmundsdóttir explains her rationale for developing a CVP for women in a country that has made significant inroads towards gender equality but as she explains, has more to go.
As long as your focus is on scale and impact, we’ll have something for you at this year’s Summit and encourage our members and stakeholders to register today.
Thank you for reading this letter and thanks to our members and strategic partners without whom our work would not be possible.
In community,
