Women Entrepreneurs Can Make the World $6 Trillion Richer
The financial industry needs to redesign its lending practices to give more consideration to small borrowers, especially women.
An agricultural cocoa cooperative in Ivory Coast.
Photographer: Issouf Sanogo/AFP
Every small business owner knows how difficult it can be to get access to affordable capital. But for many women in the Global South, it’s not just difficult — it’s often impossible.
A few years ago in Senegal, I met a woman who decided to do something about that problem. In 2017, Thiaba Camara Sy left her job as the head of a consulting firm and co-founded WIC Capital, an investment fund for women entrepreneurs in West Africa. Since then, WIC Capital has raised more than $5 million and invested in eight businesses run by women who knocked on far too many closed doors before WIC saw their potential.