A big boost for women entrepreneurs
berlin — The World Bank on Saturday launched a public-private loan programme aimed at providing over $1 billion to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries, a project first initiated by US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump.
The event put a spotlight on the powerful political role Ivanka Trump plays in the White House, where she has a formal job as an adviser to her father, and has frequently met world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The World Bank said initial funding of $325 million was coming from donors including Germany, the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and would be matched by hundreds of millions of dollars in additional private capital.
“This is going to be what we hope will be a multi-billion dollar fund to support women entrepreneurs,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said at a launch attended by six of the 20 world leaders meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
“This is not a cute little project. This is going to be a major driver of economic growth in the future ... and it’s going to drive gender equality at the same time,” the World Bank president added.
The programme, which aims to start awarding loans before year end, will work with governments