Strategic sector 07 of 10
Financial Inclusion & Access to Finance
SWEEF works to close the gap between women’s enterprises and the financial system, on both sides: preparing women to borrow and invest, and working with providers to serve them.
What this sector is for
A loan product that does not fit the way a woman’s enterprise earns is not access; it is a liability. Working on only one side of the gap is why financial inclusion programmes often fail to change anything.
SWEEF therefore works with women on literacy, records and investment readiness, and with banks, microfinance institutions, Islamic finance providers and mobile money operators on product design.
Where this sits on the empowerment pathway
- Finance
- Enterprise
SWEEF delivers the stages together rather than in isolation. See the full model
Key intervention areas
What SWEEF does in this sector
These are the areas the Foundation is mandated and structured to work in. They describe intended activity, not delivered results.
- Financial literacy and money management
- Savings mobilisation and savings-group formation
- Access to appropriate and affordable financing
- Linkage to banks, microfinance and Islamic finance providers
- Investment readiness and access to growth capital
- Financial management and record-keeping
Connected sectors
This sector does not work alone
A participant supported here will usually need at least one of the following as well. SWEEF is structured to deliver across those boundaries.
Partner in this sector
Closing the gap between women's enterprises and the financial system, working on both sides of it.
SWEEF is seeking technical partners, buyers, financiers and government counterparts with a stake in this sector.