Women-led businesses benefit from new financing opportunities provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the United Kingdom and Banca Intesa Beograd in Serbia. A credit line of EUR 5 million, which Sweden is backing with grants for technical assistance and advisory support, will boost investments by women entrepreneurs.
Under the new credit line, women entrepreneurs will benefit from risk-sharing, which the EBRD will cover in the amount of up to 8% of the loan amount. This will allow more women entrepreneurs, who would not otherwise be able to provide hard collateral, to apply for and obtain financing.
“Creating equal opportunities for women in business is not only a gender issue but is also critical for any country to progress towards its full economic potential. It is especially pertinent in the economies where the EBRD invests, where access to finance is often holding women back from running or growing their businesses,” – said Aleksandra Vukosavljevic, EBRD Director, Financial Institutions, Western Balkans and Eastern Europe.
​The financing for businesses run or owned by women is being provided by the EBRD’s “Women in Business” program, which promotes women’s entrepreneurship and their participation in business more broadly by providing them with access to finance and know-how.
Banca Intesa, as a long-standing partner of the EBRD, joined the “Women in Business” program in 2015 to facilitate easier access to financial resources for women entrepreneurs.
“I am immensely pleased that our Bank joined the EBRD’s “Women in Business” program, and we can offer additional support to our customers in the next round as well, in the form of favorable financing conditions, to help them improve their business and boost their competitiveness on the market. So far, we have granted EUR 33 million in loans to women entrepreneurs within this program, who make up over a quarter of our business community, helping boost this important segment and supporting the economic prosperity of the country as a whole. Using these funds, we have successfully supported more than 3,000 women-owned SMEs,” – said Darko Popović, President of the Executive Board at Banca Intesa.
Source: the Bank`s press release dated June 27, 2023
