The Call for Proposals to provide national and regional development finance institutions (DFIs) with the opportunity to request tailor-made technical assistance is now open. This Call for Proposals is a one-time call, and up to six banks will be selected to benefit from assistance from September 2022 to August 2025. Interested institutions can submit a proposal for a set of activities, of which the majority should be related to WOMEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT (WEE) and gender-lens investing (GLI). The Call for Proposals will close on 9th September 2022.
Capacity building can be provided in following areas:
– Management processes and investment pipelines (Credit risk management, Development impact finance, Management trainings, PPPs, Market research)
– Access to and leverage of international funding (Private sector lending approaches, including blended finance, Access to international and/or bilateral funds, and guarantee instruments)
– Strengthening institutional structures (Risk frameworks, M&E, ESG standards, strategies, reporting and governance)
– Specific financial instruments (Social Impact Bonds, Project Finance, Private Equity and Venture Capital Financing, Trade Finance instruments)
– Policy dialogue (DFI engagement in political processes/ Public-Private Dialogues (PPDs), including promoting WEE/GLI in political agenda, Implementation of national gender policies, Peer-to-peer dialogue on public policies)
Guiding examples of gender-related support that can be covered include:
– Conducting institutional gender assessments
– Development of gender policies, gender strategies and/or gender action plans
– Market research on the needs of women entrepreneurs
– Support in building a business case and developing advisory services for women entrepreneurs
– Refinement of financial products to cater to the needs of female clients
– Designing gender-responsive M&E systems