Women's Economic Opportunity Index - Economist Intelligence Unit

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Appendix IWomen’s economic opportunityA new global index and ranking66. “UK Government: NextSteps for Post Office BankingAnnounced”, M2 Presswire,March 29th 2010.67. J Toledano and J Ansón(eds.), Postal Economics inDeveloping Countries: Posts,Infrastructure of the 21stCentury?, Universal Postal Union:Berne, 2009.68. World Bank. (2006), op. cit.69. “Egypt Post RemittancesVolume Reaches 2.5 Billions”,http://www.egyptpost.org/en/NewsDetails.asp?NewsID=164(accessed May 5th 2010).70. Egypt Enhancing Accessto Finance for Micro and SmallEnterprises, World BankProject Appraisal Document,February 9th 2010. http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P116011 (accessed May5th 2010).accounts in less than five years (see below for more details). The interest in post-office banking is notjust from developing countries. The UK recently announced an expansion of the financial services offeredby its Post Office to improve the supply of credit to low-income households, to serve small and mediumsizedenterprises (SMEs) better, and to make the Post Office network of 11,500 branches more financiallysustainable. 66Although post offices have been offering financial services for many years, the concept of using abricks-and-mortar network to increase access to savings and loans has been sidelined in recent years bythe microfinance movement, and the use of new technology such as mobile banking. However, severalsuccess stories show that the post office may be an effective tool to bring financial services to the poor.The Brazil example is instructive. Starting in 2002, Brazil set up a special postal financial servicethrough the Brazilian post that acts as a correspondent for a private bank (Bradesco). Taking advantage ofthe experimental conditions provided by the gradual opening of postal bank branches in Brazil, an impactevaluation was done. It revealed clear and positive effects between the opening of postal bank branchesand new-firm creation and employment. 67 In a four-year period (2002-05), the involved municipalitiessaw an average of 20 additional new firms per municipality compared with peers without Banco Postal(after controlling for regional differences and specific levels of financial access). Interestingly, thepresence of Banco Postal also had positive effects on formalisation of the labour market. On average,municipalities that were initially unbanked experienced relatively more growth in the proportion ofsalaried workers than the municipalities that did not benefit from a Banco Postal launch in 2002.In Egypt in 2002, 50% of savings accounts were held at post offices—although these accounts heldonly 3% of total national deposits—and handled 22m payment transactions (compared with 8m by banksin Egypt). 68 In terms of potential for increasing financial inclusion, however, the post office has widecoverage in many of Egypt’s poorest villages, through its more than 3,000 outlets, and is accessible tolow-income households. When Egypt Post introduced remittance services in 2007, this service saw largecustomer take-up, as remittances are a main source of income for rural villages with relatives workingabroad. 69 A new World Bank project aims to use the country’s network of post offices to expand theavailability of credit to micro and small enterprises across Egypt. 70 An innovative element of this projectwill be a new financial product line designed and targeted at disadvantaged women in the country’spoorest 1,000 villages. This will operate through the new post-office-facilitated expansion of creditservices.Most financial services delivered at post offices are not specifically targeted at women, but the fact thatthese services are being offered in locations relatively close to their home may make it easier for women,especially women in rural areas, to access, as they may have more limited geographic mobility than men,owing to greater household and childcare responsibilities, less cash available for transportation needs,and less knowledge of financial institutions and services.Further ReadingA Demirguc-Kunt, T Beck and P Honohan, Finance for all? A World Bank Policy Research Report: Policies andpitfalls in expanding access, World Bank: Washington DC, 2008.115 Economist Intelligence Unit 2010
Appendix IWomen’s economic opportunityA new global index and rankingWomen’s Access to Finance Programmes71. A Muravyev, D Schäfer andO Talavera, “Entrepreneurs’Gender and Financial Constraints:Evidence from International Data”,Discussion Paper No. 706, DIW,German Institute for EconomicResearch: Berlin, 2007.A Demirguc-Kunt, T Beck and PHonohan, Finance for all? A WorldBank Policy Research Report:Policies and pitfalls in expandingaccess, World Bank: WashingtonDC, 2008.72. See for example N A Goheer,Women Entrepreneurs in Pakistan:How to Improve Their BargainingPower, International LabourOrganisation: Geneva, 2003.73. Demirguc-Kunt, op. cit.A Diagne, M Zeller and M Sharma,“Empirical measurements ofhouseholds’ access to credit andcredit constraints in developingcountries: Methodological Issuesand Evidence”, Food Consumptionand Nutrition Division DiscussionPaper No. 90, International Foodand Policy Research Institute:Washington DC, 2000.A Faisel, Impact Assessment ofKashf’s Microfinance and KarvaanEnterprise Development Programme,Arjumand and Associates:Islamabad, 2004.L Stevenson and A St-Onge,Support for growth-oriented womenentrepreneurs in Ethiopia, Kenyaand Tanzania. An overview report.International Labour Organisation:Geneva, 2005.E Bardasi, C M Blackden,J C Guzman, “Gender,Entrepreneurship, andCompetitiveness in Africa”, AfricaCompetitiveness Report 2007, WorldEconomic Forum: Geneva, 2007.A Ellis, M Blackden, J Cutura, FMacCulloch and H Seebens, Genderand Economic Growth in Tanzania:Creating Opportunities for Women,Directions in Development Series,World Bank: Washington DC, 2007.74. “Women Entrepreneursand Access to Finance: GlobalProfiles from Around the World”,International Finance Corporation:Washington DC, 2006.75. Global Banking Alliance forWomen website: http://www.gbaforwomen.org76. Capital Access for Women:Profile and Analysis of U.S. BestPractice Programs, Urban Institute:Washington DC, 2006.77. Wells Fargo website, “WomenBusiness Services”. https://www.wellsfargo.com/biz/women_diverse_business/women/index.Access to finance is an obstacle for many women entrepreneurs around the world. Studies have shownthat women in both developed and developing countries are still less likely to receive funding from formalfinancial institutions or are charged a higher interest rate than men. 71 There are a range of reasons forthis: women are less likely to be in formal sector jobs, they are less likely to own title to land or a house(which in turn may be because of unequal inheritance and property laws), or they are often less financiallyliterate and lack business skills or access to business development training. 72 The Women’s EconomicOpportunity Index has attempted to highlight these interrelated factors by including them as indicatorswithin the “Access to Finance” category and other indicator categories.In many developing countries (including Bangladesh, Malawi, India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Kenya,Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia), women entrepreneurs report facing greater and more systemic accessbarriers to formal financial services and cite finance as a challenge in starting and growing theirbusinesses. 73Although women business owners are potentially a large market for the commercial loan industry, fewretail banks are directly targeting women-owned businesses as clients. Why is this so?● Women-owned businesses in developing countries are underrepresented in the formal sector. This isoften owing to a range of legal, regulatory, and socio-cultural barriers.● Limited market data makes it difficult for banks in emerging markets to assess market needs and size,owing to inadequate quantitative data about the women’s market or the micro, small and mediumenterprise segment.● Perceived credit risk. Relatively few banks in emerging markets have access to credit bureau data; newwomen entrepreneurs generally have limited credit history, and they have constraints on access tocollateral (for more on this issue, please read section on “Equal Property Ownership” in this appendix).● Lack of technical expertise. Few banks are familiar with the obstacles facing women-owned businessesand how to meet their specific needs. 74Some banks have successfully been focusing on lending to women business owners. For example,the Global Banking Alliance for Women (GBA) is a membership organisation of banks and private-sectorfinancial institutions that are committed to the growth of women’s businesses. 75 The GBA member banksdo not all evaluate the impact of the loans that they make on individual women-owned businesses (interms of the effect of loans on business revenue, profit or growth), but they see positive returns for theirown operations by focusing on this market.For example, Wells Fargo, one of the largest financial services providers in the US, was the first financialservices company in the country to create a national programme dedicated to supporting women-ownedbusinesses. When Wells Fargo set up its women’s loan programme in 1995, it had a goal to lend US$1bnover three years to qualified women-owned small businesses. Due to overwhelming response, it lent overUS$1bn in the first year alone. 76 Since 1995, Wells Fargo has lent US$34bn to hundreds of thousands ofwomen business owners, supporting one of the country’s fastest-growing segments. 77116 Economist Intelligence Unit 2010
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