INFORMAL WORKING GROUP ON MSMES

INFORMAL WORKING GROUP ON TRADE AND GENDER

ACCESS TO FINANCE FOR WOMEN-LED MSMES – KEY LESSONS LEARNED

The following communication, dated 24 November 2025, is being circulated at the request of the Coordinator of the Informal Working Group on MSMES, Ambassador Matthew Wilson (Barbados) and the Co-Chairs of the Informal Working Group (IWG) on Trade and Gender, Ambassador Ana Patricia Benedetti (El Salvador), Ambassador James Baxter (Australia), and Ambassador Clara Delgado (Cabo Verde).

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1  Foreword

1.1.  [Forthcoming]

2  Introduction

2.1.  Building on the 2024 Joint Access to Finance for Women-led Micro-, Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs): A Compendium of Financial Inclusion Initiatives (_INF/MSME/W/46/Rev.4 & _INF/TGE/W/7/Rev.4), the following document provides a consolidated summary, and lessons learned from support programmes shared by WTO Members and international organizations. It outlines the variety of financial and non-financial support options, highlights success factors influencing programme outcomes, and identifies ongoing challenges. Importantly, this summary aims to synthesize the range of initiatives rather than issue policy guidance, illustrating the diverse approaches taken globally to help women-led MSMEs access finance to foster development and internationalization.

2.2.  [Prepared by the WTO Secretariat with the International Trade Centre (ITC), this document has been reviewed by members of the Informal Working Group on MSMEs and of the IWG on Trade and Gender[1] and incorporates their comments and suggestions.]

3  Types of Support

3.1.  As of November 2025, the Compendium catalogued over seventy programmes specifically designed to support women-led MSMEs through different financial inclusion mechanisms. These ranged widely from direct financial products to capacity-building and regulatory frameworks and included:

·_              Financial Support: Financial products constituted the core of many initiatives, encompassing mechanisms aimed at reducing barriers and improving affordability and access through:

·_              Loans and credit, including export finance, agricultural finance loans, micro loans, unsecured loans, zero-interest loans and interest-free credit were all described in different programmes to provide working capital and support fixed asset acquisition. Blended finance combining credit and grants were also provided in some instances.

·_              Guarantees and simplified guarantee processes (e.g. requiring only one or no guarantors for business eligibility) were also offered to leverage credit.

·_              Grants, start-up grants, and cost-sharing grants were available in select programmes.

·_              Subsidies, partial subsidies and other non-reimbursable financial support for recipients were occasionally provided.

·_              Investment, such as impact investing, venture capital, seed capital, angel investing and specific investing platforms were all options adopted by various programmes to support new enterprises, especially women-led businesses.

·_              Risk mitigation (such as through first loss investing) and insurance offerings, including life insurance for entrepreneurs, were also provided.

·_              Access and Outreach: Facilitating access beyond financial products was also critical and programmes offered support through:

·_              Financial services like expansion of bank branches, access to mobile banking or extension of services to rural locations.

·_              Provision of information, both financial and non-financial to help entrepreneurs make informed business decisions

·_              Networking opportunities and pitching events to provide entrepreneurs with visibility and capital-raising opportunities

·_              Incubator spaces to provide a growth ecosystem for start-ups and new business ideas.

·_              Capacity Building and Support Services: Other non-financial support programmes focused on:

·_              Mentoring and training, with guidance on business plan development and consulting services enhanced readiness and competitiveness.

·_              Entrepreneurial capacity building to strengthen managerial skills and investment advisory services were offered.

·_              Institutional support was also provided to sustain MSME development.

·_              Policy and Regulatory Tools: Beyond direct financial and non-financial support to women-led MSMEs, other policy and regulatory tools to support enabling environments were also highlighted, including:

·_              Frameworks, guidelines, and regulations for increased trade and financial inclusion.

·_              Strategic development efforts and business environment reforms aimed to reduce systemic barriers.

·_              Collection and analysis of gender-disaggregated data to improve targeting and monitoring of women-led MSME finance needs

4  Additional Factors Identified as Contributing to Programme Success

4.1.  In the compendium, certain key elements to enhance the impact of programmes were identified, including:

·_              Political commitment and governance:

·_              Political will was repeatedly cited as foundational for programme operationalization and achievement, without which programmes were unlikely to advance or be maintained and enabling more and longer-term program funding.

·_              Government commitment and institutional dedication, by the economy as a whole and internally across government departments, were described as necessary to ensure programme continuity and effectiveness.

·_              Partnerships, stakeholder engagement and institutional capacity:

·_              New partnerships between service providers, public agencies, the private sector, NGOs and others supported programme implementation and operation. Partnerships enabled greater access to funds for recipients as well as new and tailored services.

·_              Engagement of beneficiaries and applicants was needed to ensure programme relevance, uptake, and adequate valuation by recipients through better needs assessment and follow up with programme participants.

·_              Strong local institutions such as the participation of local financial institutions, that can enable programme accessibility through their understanding of the needs and barriers for their clients and assist with account access and loan management.

·_              Technological enablement:

·_              Deployment of technology within programmes was listed as a success factor and means of programme scaling, allowing for greater access by making programmes more widely available, for example in rural areas, and improving programme functionality for users.

·_              Recipient use of technology was further listed as a separate support factor for funding-beneficiaries' success. Training and access to technology can aid recipient entrepreneurship and enterprise sustainability.

5  Challenges

5.1.  Despite a range of innovative programmes and identified successes, certain persistent challenges were noted:

·_              Perceived and Actual Financial Barriers: It was noted that commercial banks often perceived women-led MSMEs as higher risk due to limited credit history and collateral, leading to cautious lending. Additionally, higher perceived default rates and lower survival rates of women-led businesses undermined lender confidence.

·_              Access and Operational Barriers: Complex documentation and lengthy loan processing times discouraged applications and delayed vital financing. Low financial literacy in remote areas further hampered effective utilization of available financial instruments and urban concentration of borrowers further limited rural MSME access.

·_              Awareness and Understanding: Many women entrepreneurs in the identified economies had limited awareness of programme objectives, rights, and responsibilities, reducing participation and alignment. This gap in understanding undermined programme reach and success.

·_              Institutional and Political Challenges: In some contexts, lack of sustained political will diminished momentum, restricting scaling and innovation of support programmes. Insufficient policy coordination and resource allocation compounded these issues.

6  Conclusion

6.1.  The Compendium[2] presents a rich spectrum of programmes demonstrating the multifaceted approaches WTO Members and regional organizations are deploying to enhance women-led MSMEs’ access to finance. These range from innovative financial products, outreach mechanisms, and capacity building, to enabling policy frameworks. Success was noted as linked to political commitment, beneficiary engagement, technological adoption, and strong partnerships. However, challenges including risk perception of women-led businesses, operational hurdles, information gaps, and political constraints remain obstacles to more inclusive financial ecosystems. Continued dialogue, knowledge sharing, and updating of the compendium will help to identify different types of support, factors for success and challenges that can be addressed. This document is intended to help Members and stakeholders identify the diverse target areas of financial support programmes currently in use for women-led businesses, serving as a resource for further review and discussion.

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