- Supporting investment for female entrepreneurship in Africa, Asia and Latin America
- Initiative to convene support for Global Gateway gender priorities brings partners: European Investment Bank, Government of Luxembourg, Gates Foundation, World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, and International Labour Organization
- New agreement signed in Seville under Global Gateway with Banque El Amana in Mauritania for women-led businesses in the blue economy
On the margins of the 4th United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development, the European Investment Bank, the European Commission and the Luxembourg Government - alongside key partners – are convening support and private sector mobilisation through strategic investments into women’s empowerment, female-owned and led businesses and economic activities in agriculture, climate action and energy.
The announcement was made during the side event ‘Sustainable Finance for Gender Equality: Accelerating action towards 2030’, organised by the Government of Luxembourg, the Government of South Africa, UN Women and the EIB.
Through targeted investments contributing to the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, ‘Women for Stronger Communities and Growth’ aims to empower women and communities across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Caribbean and Pacific to build and reinforce resilience towards climate change, food insecurity, as well as offering new opportunities for jobs and growth.
Today in Seville partners also came together to announce a €20 million deal with the Banque El Amana in Mauritania. This strategic project will support small businesses led and owned by women, and employing women, particularly in the blue economy, with a focus on the sustainable fishing value chain.
Nadia Calviño, EIB President, said: "When women thrive whole communities benefit and we build more prosperous and peaceful societies. Through Global Gateway, the European Union is unlocking new opportunities around the world with projects in key sectors like health, entrepreneurship, agriculture, climate action and energy. Investing in women is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do.”
Jozef Síkela, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, said: “Women’s empowerment is a crucial driver of global development, reducing poverty, and enhancing social and economic outcomes. The EU’s Global Gateway enables women entrepreneurs and workers to access financial resources and harness technology for business innovation, the green and digital transition, and improved access to national, regional and global supply chains.”
Xavier Bettel, Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of Luxembourg, said: “Ensuring women’s financial inclusion is not only a matter of equity, it is key to building more resilient and sustainable societies. Luxembourg is committed to advancing gender equality by supporting innovative finance solutions that empower women and create opportunities for them. Together with our partners, we will continue to invest in systems that allow women to thrive, drive local economies, and build a more sustainable future.”
Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation said: “Our new approach will support commercial banks to provide affordable loans to help women micro-entrepreneurs across East Africa start or expand their businesses. These loans will give them the resources to realize their ambitions, strengthen their role in shaping their futures, as well as the futures of their families and communities. The Gates Foundation welcomes this latest partnership with the European Commission and EIB to help give women the resources they need to realize their potential.”
Sophie Sirtaine, CEO of the World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, said: “At CGAP, we believe that women’s financial inclusion must build their resilience and autonomy because these enable women to better navigate shocks and seize opportunities. Catalytic capital plays a vital role in making women-centric innovation possible. Now, more than ever, development aid must go further than before - leveraging catalytic capital to empower women is the need of the hour. By coordinating smartly, we can create the systems, data, and partnerships that enable women-centered finance to scale”.
Craig Churchill, Chief of the Social Finance Programme at the ILO, said: "Empowering women through financial inclusion is fundamental to building resilient communities and promoting decent work. the ILO’s is happy to partner with the EU and is committed to advancing gender equality and economic justice. By developing a package of resilience solutions for women-led businesses, especially in vital sectors like agriculture, we can help drive sustainable development."
Women play a major role in reinforcing resilience of communities and ensuring food security, with their climate and environmental leadership and their contribution to strategic economic sectors. Projects financed by the ‘Women for Stronger Communities and Growth’ initiative under the EU’s Global Gateway strategy will focus strongly on agricultural value chains and blue economy as well on strategic economic corridors by supporting female entrepreneurship and financial inclusion.
That means projects like the ETG Group in Africa, which helps women farmers boost productivity and build climate-resilient, locally rooted agro-industries. In the energy sector, partners may invest in funds such as the Mirova Gigaton Fund, which finances clean energy SMEs in emerging markets, especially those serving women, low-income households, or offering quality jobs for women.
These investments align with the EU Global Gateway priorities and contribute to the EU Gender Action Plan for External Action (GAP III) and to the 2X Challenge, a multilateral commitment to invest $20 billion in women over the next three years.
Background information
Global Gateway
The Global Gateway strategy is the EU's positive offer to reduce the worldwide investment disparity and boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems. In a Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States, and European development finance institutions, together we aim to mobilise up to €300 billion in public and private investments from 2021 to 2027, creating essential links rather than dependencies, and closing the global investment gap.
The EU-Africa Global Gateway investment package consists of €150 billion in investments to help accelerate Africa’s digital and green transition as well as support sustainable jobs growth and stronger health systems. More information on the investment package as well as country specific flagships can be found here.
The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It finances sound investments that contribute to EU policy objectives. EIB projects bolster competitiveness, drive innovation, promote sustainable development, enhance social and territorial cohesion, and support a just and swift transition to climate neutrality.
The EIB Group aims to embed gender equality and in particular women’s economic empowerment in its business model and is also committed to driving gender equality in its workplace. In 2024, the EIB financed 43 projects that significantly contributed to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment across the globe, providing €3.39 billion of investment more than half of which also supported climate action.
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