Several banks around the world actively support female entrepreneurs through dedicated programs, tailored loans, grants, networking, mentorship, and resources to address funding gaps (women-owned businesses often receive less capital despite growing faster in many regions).
Banks Specifically Designed for Women Entrepreneurs
These institutions focus primarily on supporting women-owned or women-led businesses:
- First Women's Bank (USA) — The first U.S. bank with a mission to close the gender gap in access to capital. It offers innovative loans, digital banking, and community resources, with deposits supporting women in the economy.
- Impressia Bank (USA) — Built by women for women in business, it provides personalized loans, competitive rates, and services to overcome funding barriers for female founders.
- Agility Bank (USA, Texas-based) — A women-owned and women-led minority depository institution focused on serving female entrepreneurs and professionals with business banking and loans.
Major Banks with Strong Programs for Women Entrepreneurs
Large banks often partner with organizations like the SBA (U.S. Small Business Administration) or offer diversity lending:
- Bank of America → Powers programs like the Tory Burch Foundation Capital Network for affordable loans and runs a Center for Women Entrepreneurs with education and access to capital.
- U.S. Bank → Features a Business Diversity Lending Program with more flexible terms for women-owned businesses, plus resources and mentorship.
- Huntington Bank → Through its Lift Local Business program, it provides SBA loans, financial education, and support specifically for women- and minority-owned businesses.
- Wells Fargo → Supports women entrepreneurs with outreach, supplier diversity, and partnerships for growth resources.
- Old National Bank → Offers tailored SBA loans, financial tools, and consulting for female business owners.
Global and Development Bank Support
Multilateral development banks support women entrepreneurs in emerging markets through initiatives like the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi):
- European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) — Runs "Women in Business" programs with credit lines and training.
- Asian Development Bank
- World Bank Group
- African Development Bank
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is a multilateral development bank founded in 1991 to support the transition to market economies in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and more recently the southern and eastern Mediterranean region. It operates in over 30 countries, providing financing, technical assistance, and policy support to promote private sector development, sustainability, and inclusion.
Women in Business Programme
One of the EBRD's flagship initiatives for supporting female entrepreneurs is the Women in Business (WiB) Programme, launched in 2014. This comprehensive program addresses barriers women face in accessing finance, skills, and networks by:
- Providing dedicated credit lines to partner banks and microfinance institutions, which then on-lend to women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on favorable terms.
- Offering business advice, training, mentoring, and capacity-building to help women entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
- Supporting partner financial institutions with technical assistance to better serve women-led SMEs (e.g., through risk-sharing tools and gender-focused strategies).
- Promoting policy dialogue and an enabling environment for women's economic participation.
The program partners with donors like the European Union, Sweden, Italy, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), and others. Donor funding is highly leveraged—every €1 from donors enables the EBRD to provide €8 in financing, which partner banks then expand further.
Key Impacts (as of recent updates in 2025)
- Mobilized over €1 billion in finance through partner institutions.
- Supported more than 250,000 women entrepreneurs across 23+ countries.
- It operates in regions including the Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership countries (e.g., Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia), Central Asia (e.g., Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia), Turkey, Morocco, and others.
- Recent examples include loans to institutions like KMF in Kazakhstan (up to US$25 million in 2025) and Erste Bank in Montenegro (€5 million for green and women-focused lending).
The program remains active and expanding in 2025, with events like conferences on accelerating growth for women entrepreneurs and celebrations of its €1 billion milestone.
For more details or to apply (if you're a woman-led business or partner bank in an EBRD country), visit the official site: ebrdwomeninbusiness.com or the EBRD's page at ebrd.com/women-in-business. If you're in a specific country, I can help narrow down local partners!
Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a multilateral development bank headquartered in Manila, Philippines, established in 1966 to promote social and economic development across Asia and the Pacific. It operates in 68 member countries, providing loans, grants, technical assistance, and equity investments focused on poverty reduction, infrastructure, climate action, and inclusive growth, including strong commitments to gender equality.
Support for Female Entrepreneurs
ADB does not have a single flagship "Women in Business" program like the EBRD's, but women's economic empowerment and entrepreneurship are core to its Strategy 2030, particularly Operational Priority 2: Accelerating Progress in Gender Equality. As of 2025, ADB has updated its gender mainstreaming targets (under the Corporate Results Framework 2025–2030), aiming for transformative impacts, with at least 60% of operations promoting gender equality—often exceeding this in practice.
Key initiatives include:
Partnership with the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi): ADB is a major implementing partner. It has received multiple grants (e.g., $12.6 million in 2018 for Sri Lanka; $20.19 million in 2019 for the WAVES program in Viet Nam and the Pacific). These fund access to finance, training, mentorship, and risk-sharing for women-led SMEs, mobilizing billions in additional capital.
Women Accelerating Vibrant Enterprises (WAVES) in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: A We-Fi-funded program providing financial literacy, business acceleration, networking, and COVID-19 relief (e.g., loan restructuring and incentives for banks in Viet Nam).
Women's Finance Exchange (gWFX): A platform using technology and data to help financial institutions offer gender-responsive products, including digital training on debt management, e-commerce, and green finance for women entrepreneurs.
ADB initiatives for accelerating digital inclusion and financial access for women
Other targeted efforts:
Advancing Women and Trade (with JPMorgan Chase): Trained hundreds of women entrepreneurs in Indonesia and the Philippines on skills, networks, and market access.
Support for the Women Entrepreneurs (WE) Finance Code: Piloted in countries like Fiji, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka to improve data collection and close financing gaps.
Projects in countries like Pakistan (Women Inclusive Finance), Papua New Guinea, and Kazakhstan, often involving credit lines, guarantees, and capacity building.
ADB's work addresses barriers like limited access to finance (women-led SMEs face a $1.7 trillion global gap), skills, networks, and policy environments, with ongoing emphasis in 2025 on digital technology, green entrepreneurship, and climate-resilient businesses for women.
For the latest details or country-specific opportunities, visit adb.org/topics/gender or wfx.adb.org. If you're in a particular country or sector, I can help find more tailored information!
African Development Bank
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is a multilateral development bank established in 1964, headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. It focuses on promoting sustainable economic development and social progress across its 54 African member countries through loans, grants, technical assistance, and policy support, with priorities including infrastructure, private sector growth, climate resilience, and gender equality.
Support for Female Entrepreneurs
The AfDB places strong emphasis on women's economic empowerment, recognizing that women-led businesses face a massive financing gap (estimated at around $42–49 billion) despite Africa having the highest rate of female entrepreneurship globally. Its flagship program is the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), launched in 2019 to bridge this gap by mobilizing private sector financing, de-risking loans for financial institutions, and providing technical support.
Key features of AFAWA include:
- Risk-sharing mechanisms like the Guarantee for Growth (G4G) program, in partnership with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF), to reduce collateral requirements and encourage banks to lend to women-led SMEs.
- Lines of credit and trade finance to partner banks, often with dedicated portions for women entrepreneurs.
- Technical assistance and capacity building for both financial institutions (to adopt gender-responsive products) and women entrepreneurs (training in business skills, financial literacy, and market access).
- Partnerships with donors such as G7 countries, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi).
Key Impacts (as of late 2025)
- Approved $1.8 billion and disbursed $1 billion in financing.
- Benefited over 18,000 women entrepreneurs through 172 financial institutions in 43 countries.
- Goal: Mobilize $5 billion by 2026 to support around 30,000 women-led SMEs.
- Recent examples (2025): $310 million package to FirstRand Bank in South Africa (with $110 million ring-fenced for women-led businesses and agribusinesses); €30 million to Bridge Bank in Côte d’Ivoire; ongoing AFAWA Finance Series events and mapping of women entrepreneurs’ associations.
AFAWA aligns with the AfDB’s broader Gender Strategy (2021–2025, extended in practice) and Ten-Year Strategy (2024–2033), emphasizing inclusive growth. The program remains highly active in 2025, with events like high-level breakfasts at the Africa Investment Forum and new approvals focused on North Africa and climate-resilient businesses.
For more details, country-specific opportunities, or to explore partnerships, visit the official AFAWA page at afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/initiatives-partnerships/afawa or the main gender section at afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/sectors/gender. If you're in a specific African country or sector, let me know for more targeted info!
World Bank's women programs
The World Bank Group (including the World Bank and IFC) is a global leader in promoting women's economic empowerment, with a strong focus on closing the gender finance gap for entrepreneurs (estimated at $1.7 trillion globally). Its efforts are guided by the Gender Strategy 2024–2030, which aims to expand economic opportunities through targets like providing capital to 80 million more women and women-led businesses by 2030, alongside broader goals for broadband access and social protection.
Flagship Initiative: Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi)
Launched in 2017 and hosted by the World Bank, We-Fi is a multi-donor partnership (with 14 governments and 8 multilateral development banks as implementing partners) designed to unlock billions in financing for women-owned/led small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) in developing countries.
Key components:
- Mobilizes additional commercial and IFI finance through de-risking tools, credit lines, equity, and insurance.
- Provides technical assistance, capacity building, mentorship, networks, and market linkages.
- Supports policy reforms for a better enabling environment (e.g., legal barriers, data collection on WSMEs).
- High leverage: Donor funds (over $350 million allocated) have mobilized more than $3–4 billion in total financing.
Impacts as of 2025:
- Supported over 300,000 WSMEs in 60+ countries.
- Active in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia-Pacific, MENA, and Latin America, often in fragile contexts.
- Recent focus: Digital finance, climate-resilient businesses, and post-COVID recovery for women entrepreneurs.
Other Key Programs and Tools
- Women, Business and the Law (WBL) → Annual reports track laws affecting women’s economic participation in 190 economies, advocating reforms (e.g., equal pay, childcare, entrepreneurship rights). The 2025+ editions emphasize implementation gaps.
- Women Entrepreneurs Development Project (WEDP) in Ethiopia → Provides innovative loans (e.g., psychometrics-based, cash-flow lending) and training; has supported tens of thousands of women to enter male-dominated sectors and create jobs.
- Regional and country-specific efforts → E.g., tech entrepreneurship in Georgia, SME finance in Zambia, care economy programs in East Asia-Pacific, and digital inclusion across Africa and Central Asia.
- Resources like the Female Entrepreneurship Resource Point and operational guides help design gender-responsive projects.
The World Bank collaborates closely with partners like We-Fi's MDBs (including AfDB, ADB, EBRD) for maximum reach. For the latest opportunities, country-specific programs, or We-Fi details, check we-fi.org or worldbank.org/en/topic/gender. If you're in a particular region or need application info, let me know!
CONCLUSION
Other examples include banks like Askari Bank, HNB, and regional programs in Asia and Africa.
Many banks also participate in SBA-backed loans (in the U.S.) or similar government guarantees, which benefit women by offering lower rates and easier qualifications. If you're in a specific country or need details on loans/grants, let me know for more targeted recommendations!