Latin America is driven by the catalyzing force of entrepreneurial women-it is the region with the highest number of women-led ventures, with 21.2% (GEM). However, there are systemic inequalities that are reflected in the lack of access to capital to invest in their businesses.

According to data from the World Bank, 73% of women-led SMEs do not have access to capitaldespite representing a $93 billion opportunity, which leads, among other reasons, to this also being the region with the highest rate of women-led-business closures: 6.6%, according to the GEM.

In the context of the GLI Forum, we featured the panel discussions "Financial Innovation for Economic Autonomy" and "Moving Toward Gender Equality in Investment"to explore strategies that can promote women's economic autonomy through financial innovation and investment.

The talks featured the participation of leading experts, including Lina Ramírez, director of Investments for LAC at Kiva; Cecilia Delgado, senior investment manager at Incofin; Verónica Gavilanes, deputy general manager at BancoSol; Matías Kelly, founder of Sumatoria; and Daniela Konietzko, president of Fundación WWB Colombia; as well as Gema Sacristán, lead partner for Sustainability and Climate Change at Deloitte; Patricia Sáenz, managing partner at EWA Capital; Marta Cruz, co-founder and general partner at NXTP Ventures; Sebastián Welisiejk, managing partner at New Ventures; Patricia Vélez, Sustainability and Gender officer at Lafise Investment; and Esteban Altschul, president of BancoSol.

What is needed to drive women's economic empowerment?

Faced with the reality of a region where 1 in 4 women lack their own income(ECLAC) and are 20% less likely than men to have a bank account (World Bank), financial innovation is essential for the development of products and services that drive the economic empowerment of women.

An outstanding example is Kiva, a company that offers microcredit models based on a crowdfunding platform where more than 80% of users are women. The platform "connects clients of financial service providers with social investors who want to support those micro-financiers in creating their businesses and having a better life," explained Lina. To date, this model has served more than 2 billion people worldwide, with a special focus on female entrepreneurs. "Our investors have seen that women have a much better repayment quality, so their capital returns," she added.

But innovation and investment are not enough. According to Cecilia, intentionalityis vital when seeking concrete solutions to close gender financial gaps and correct the mistakes made when developing these financial products and services.

"In these past 30 years, we have worked on various projects, developed services, insurance, and products with which we've had a lot of success, and in others not so much," shared Cecilia about Incofin, and highlighted that another crucial aspect is the measurement of information to make more accurate decisions when designing innovative products. "And it's not just about data collection but also about analyzing it, working together with our clients on different indicators and tracking where we are and where we want to go," she concluded.

Verónica, from her experience at BancoSol, a leading bank in financial inclusion, emphasized that the innovation process is evolutionary and requires a commitment to deepen the impact. Financial inclusion is not just about access; it's about access as well as the use of quality financial and non-financial services.

The impact of BancoSol in Bolivia to drive financial innovation with a gender focus is becoming increasingly significant since in the country 5 out of every 10 businesses are led by women,but only 30% have access to capital, highlighted Verónica. Additionally, through their Avanza Mujerprogram, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), they offer financial products and services designed for women entrepreneurs that promote training aligned with the lifecycle of their businesses as well as digitalization.

Matías, from Sumatoria, explained its innovative blended financemodel, which combines philanthropy and investment to maximize social impact. Just like Pro Mujer, Sumatoria became one of the first NGOs to issue a gender bond in Argentina, and today it has issued four more to boost investment with social impact.

The panel discussion concluded with an important point: Investing in women is good business-it generates financial, social, and environmental profits. But, what strategies are currently being implemented to deepen the investment ecosystem's catalytic role in favor of an equal ecosystem?

Investment to achieve gender equality

A fairer, more inclusive, and equitable ecosystem for women also represents great economic potential. According to Sebastián Welisiejk, if the value of unpaid care work, which disproportionately falls on women, were monetized, it would represent 16% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Argentina,becoming the largest industry in the country.

He also noted that the economically active population (EAP) of women is lower than that of men: "Does that mean they don't work? No, they work, and a lot, but in tasks that are neither recognized nor paid," he said. "Society doesn't develop its full potential with that inequality and loses a lot of money by doing so."

In Latin America, for example, the labor market informality rate for women is 48%(ECLAC), which carries serious limitations for their economic and social development. Informal employment often means a lack of social protection, such as access to health insurance, pensions, and also precarious working conditions without a guarantee of their rights. This precariousness limits their ability to access formal financing, affecting the expansion and sustainability of their businesses.

The data shows that investing in women strengthens the economy as a whole. However, Esteban from BancoSol highlighted three challenges that the investment ecosystem faces in advancing toward gender equality: the lack of gender-disaggregated datato design specific products and services for women; the lack of property titles and formal employmentamong women, which makes it difficult to offer guarantees for loans; and the lag in financial and technological educationthat affects their access to opportunities.

And if access to capital and financial inclusion are still a challenge, how can we talk about greater representation of women in the investment ecosystem? For Marta, from NXTP Ventures, "As long as women remain outside of investment decision-making, we will not be able to break down the biases that prevent equitable access to capital." For her, the current challenge in the private investment sector is to support entrepreneurial women, believe in them, and encourage them to dream big projects.

As the region with the highest number of female-led ventures(GEM), it is important to promote a gender perspective when raising capital, as mentioned by Patricia from Lafise Investment: "Including the gender issue in the investment premise is a great differentiator. If there are financial institutions here that still don't do it, start doing it because it will benefit your business."

For Sebastian, having a gender perspective at all levels of the financial system, "is not only an ethical imperative but also a significant economic opportunity." But this can only be achieved when women are put at the forefront, "not for cosmetic reasons, to look good or to strike the gender balance management," but genuinely.

The creation of financial products and services tailored to the needs of women not only closes gender gaps but also generates financial, social, and environmental profitability. The GLI Forum Latam 2024has demonstrated that by fostering financial inclusion and gender lens investing, a fairer and more equal investment ecosystem can be built.

The next edition of the forum will continue to open spaces for discussion and promote innovative strategies to advance toward an inclusive ecosystem that enhances women's economic autonomy and allows them to reach their full potential.