Case Study 2 - Access to Finance
Problem
While microfinance was becoming increasingly available for microenterprises, women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in many countries often found it difficult to get loans from commercial banks.
Solution: Create the Global Banking Alliance for Women
Quantum Leaps’ CEO conceptualized an alliance of commercial banks that would focus on women-owned SMEs, and recruited leading banks from four countries to share best practices at the OECD conference in Paris in 2000 (Bank of Ireland, FleetBoston, Royal Bank of Canada, and Westpac Bank of Australia). She invited the banks to a strategy session in Paris, where they agreed to form a Global Banking Alliance for Women to share know-how about serving this emerging marketplace. Our CEO incubated the organization, which later relocated to the World Bank. The GBA has recently become freestanding, with its members now including 29 banks and organizations in 16 countries that focus on women’s wealth creation.