IFC made the call in its latest country studies  results, titled 'Banking on Women Who Trade Across Borders', based  on interviews with 70 women in Brazil, 60 in Kenya, and 85 in Nigeria. 

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has called on trade finance organisations the like as Afreximbank, the  Development Bank of Nigeria, AfDB, etc, as well as the governments and regulators, to improve women-owned businesses' access to finance, especially in Nigeria and the other emerging markets. 

IFC made the call in its latest country studies results, titled 'Banking on Women Who Trade Across Borders', based on interviews with 70 women in Brazil, 60 in Kenya, and 85 in Nigeria. 

In the report, the IFC  noted that the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in these three emerging economies include: 
▪︎High interest or high fees for trade finance
▪︎ Time-consuming bureaucracy with banks
▪︎High or difficult collateral 
requierement from banks
▪︎Lack of knowledge, training 
or education on trade finance instruments
▪︎Lack of credit score
▪︎Excessive information 
requirements from banks, and facing a convergence of barriers to their participation in trade finance. 

IFC said that to effectively address the challenges encountered by women entrepreneurs in accessing trade finance, a multifaceted approach is essential. 
IFC, therefore,  recommends the 
following strategies, which collectively should assist in creating a more inclusive and accessible financial landscape for women entrepreneurs who trade across borders, ultimately promoting greater economic empowerment and gender equality: 
• Establishing collateral registries and credit bureaus as information brokers can significantly reduce information asymmetry, enabling women to demonstrate their creditworthiness more easily. 
• Leveraging supply chain finance can provide a vital pathway, empowering both sellers and buyers, by using the creditworthiness of more established trading partners. 
• The digitization of financial services is critical in reducing the complexity and costs associated with these services, thereby expanding the range of services accessible to women-led enterprises. 
• Mainstreaming alternative financing options through 
fintech, by facilitating data-driven credit assessments and expanding access to a variety of funding and payment methods can greatly benefit women entrepreneurs. 
• Capacity building for women-led and women-owned SMEs, coupled with awareness and training programs 
for banks on the specific needs and challenges faced by women in accessing trade finance is imperative. 
• Blending finance by combining public and private funds to de-risk investments can create more favourable conditions for financing women-led enterprises. 
In enacting these strategies, all relevant stakeholders have a role to play:
• Financial institutions and banks can benefit from training that is tailored to the specific needs and risks associated with engaging in trade finance with women-led enterprises. Moreover, they can enhance 
accessibility by offering more risk-sharing facilities, either independently or through partnerships with development 
finance institutions. 
• Governments can contribute by improving the regulatory framework, including initiatives such as 
digitization, registration of invoices, collateral records, and credit information. They can also facilitate the approval of risk-sharing facilities within their jurisdictions. 
• Development partners need to provide capacity training on both innovative and traditional trade finance instruments, expanding the use of blended finance to address the weaknesses and risks facing women-owned and women-led enterprises. 
• Women-owned and women-led enterprises, including SMEs can participate more actively in industry associations, sharing experiences and improving their collective business case.
• Collaborations between finance institutions, whether 
with a development mandate or not, and governmental bodies can mitigate risks, by opening up training opportunities, and raise awareness while providing a 
forum to discuss potential solutions.