Tuesday, March 31, 2026
9:00am – 10:00am EST
Explore our new database
Description: Women‑owned and led SMEs are a powerful engine of growth, job creation, and innovation in developing economies, and evidence shows they can be a strong and profitable client segment for financial institutions, with lower rates of non-performing loans, and higher average return on capital than men. Despite this potential, WSMEs face barriers when it comes to accessing loans, credit, and other banking services, as commercial banks continue to underinvest in designing products and services for “missing middle” SMEs, which are often perceived as too small or too risky or lack the clear business case to invest in. Globally, only 65 percent of women benefit from financial services (compared to 72 percent of men) and of the women who receive financial services, 73 percent are dissatisfied with them. Persistent challenges—including unequal asset ownership, reliance on traditional credit assessments, bias in lending decisions, and self‑selection out of loan applications—result in women receiving smaller loans at higher costs, underscoring the need for more innovative and inclusive finance solutions.
Objective: The objective of this webinar is to showcase innovative tools and resources to help financial institutions better design and tailor their products to women-owned and led businesses. The webinar will highlight what has proven effective in strengthening banks’ ability to serve women‑led SMEs, including gender‑responsive customer segmentation, improved credit assessment methodologies, innovative finance instruments, and complementary non‑financial services. More specifically, it will present a new knowledge product developed by Dalberg, in collaboration with We-Fi and Argidius Foundation, that maps WSME-specific products, services and existing gaps in the offering. Distinct products and services were categorized by lifecycle stage, to better target different segments of WSMEs.
Presentation
Links
- INVEST Toolkit
- Case Study Itaú – Brazil
- Case Study WEMA Bank – Nigeria
- Segmentation Report
- Segmentation Toolkit
- Strive Women Playbook
- Factsheet: Banking on Women IFC
- Lower Non-performing Loans (NPLs) for Women and Women-owned Businesses
- MSME Finance Gap
- From Collateral to Cashflow: Expanding Access to Finance for Nigeria’s Female Business Owners
- Women at the Wheel. How gender-responsive banking solutions are boosting women-led businesses in Somalia
Karen Rodriguez, Associate Partner, Dalberg Advisors
Harry Devonshire, Senior Manager, Argidius Foundation
Harry leads Argidius’ evidence generation and uptake agenda, and is a co-founder of the Growth Firms Alliance, a coalition of philanthropic funders dedicated to unlocking the potential of growth firms to transform low- and middle-income countries.
Sarah Hewitt, Director Strive Women, Women’s Entrepreneurship, Care UK
Sarah Hewitt is the Director for Strive Women with CARE’s Women’s Entrepreneurship team. An expert in international development, she has led global strategies with a focus on women’s economic justice. Based in London, Sarah holds an MBA from Northwestern University and serves on the board of Nurturing Minds.
Samantha Sangster, Membership Coordinator, SME Finance Forum
Samantha Sangster is a dynamic, global business professional whose expertise spans finance, education, entrepreneurship, marketing, and knowledge management. With experience working across three continents, she has collaborated with colleagues and stakeholders from over one hundred countries, building a truly international perspective.
Samantha’s passion centers on advancing women in business, fostering innovation in creative industries and amplifying the impact of startups and SMEs in developing economies. A natural connector and communicator, she extends her influence beyond her professional work as the host of two podcasts—I Did Not Know That and Modern Caribbean Woman—while pursuing her love for travel and culinary exploration.
Helene Meurisse, Operations Officer, IFC
Helene Maurisse is a professional with a strong background in fostering financial inclusion and socioeconomic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. She specializes in providing technical assistance to financial institutions in areas such as Microfinance, MSME Finance, Digital Financial Services, Climate Finance, and Gender Finance.
Her professional experience includes roles such as Operations Officer, Associate Operations Officer, and Operations Analyst at the IFC – International Finance Corporation. She has also worked as an Economic Affairs Consultant at the United Nations, a Relationship Manager at BNP Paribas, a Project Coordinator at Fondacio Chile, and a Sales Leader at Southwestern.
Omolabake Bowoto, Team Lead, SARA, Wema Bank
Omolabake Bowoto is a Product Manager at Wema Bank, where she leads initiatives under SARA by Wema, the bank’s flagship women-focused banking proposition. With over five years of experience in banking and product development, she specializes in designing financial solutions that expand access to finance, markets, and capacity building for women entrepreneurs and small businesses. Through her work, she has facilitated market access opportunities for over 4,000 MSMEs across Nigeria and internationally, including exhibitions in London, Ghana and Dubai.
She previously worked at Access Bank, where she contributed to the development of SME-focused financial products and helped launch the digital payment solution SwiftPay, which later evolved into Hydrogen. Omolabake also authored the award-winning submission that earned Wema Bank the 2024 Platinum Award for Best Financier for Women Entrepreneurs in Africa at the SME Finance Forum. She is passionate about advancing financial inclusion and creating platforms that enable women to grow sustainable businesses and participate fully in the economy.
Felicia Siegrist, Knowledge and Research Lead, We-Fi
Felicia Siegrist leads We-Fi’s research, knowledge, and learning work and is the author of We-Fi’s Evidence Paper (2022 and 2025 editions). Since joining We-Fi in 2021, she has developed and implemented a range of initiatives, including the We-Fi Research Conference, Knowledge Series, and several publications. She is committed to empowering women entrepreneurs in emerging markets through her expertise in gender, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Felicia worked with a venture studio, an accelerator, and a social enterprise across East and West Africa and Latin America, bridging the gap between entrepreneurship, research, and policy through evidence-based and human-centered design approaches.
Wendy Teleki, Head of the We-Fi Secretariat
Wendy Teleki is Head of the We-Fi Secretariat, which is housed in the World Bank Group. The Secretariat is responsible for supporting the We-Fi Governing Committee in the allocation and supervision of We-Fi funding as well as communications, advocacy, and learning focused on strengthening opportunities for women entrepreneurs in collaboration with the GC, Implementing Partners and other stakeholders.
Ms. Teleki joined We-Fi in May 2019. Prior to that, Ms. Teleki worked with the International Finance Corporation leading numerous activities and initiatives focused on small and medium enterprise development in emerging markets around the world. This included several blended finance, investment and advisory programs, including IFC’s We-Fi program and the Global SME Finance Initiative.
9:00 – 9:03 Welcoming Remarks by We-Fi
- Wendy Teleki, Head of Secretariat, We-Fi
9:03 – 9:10 Opening Remarks
- Harry Devonshire, Senior Manager, Argidius Foundation
9:10 – 10:25 Presentation – WSME Banking Toolkit
- Karen Rodriguez, Associate Partner, Dalberg
9:25 – 10:50 Panel Discussion
- Sarah Hewitt, Director for Strive Women, Women’s Entrepreneurship, CARE
- Samantha Sangster, Membership Coordinator, SME Finance Forum
- Helene Meurisse, Operations Officer, IFC
- Omolabake Bowoto, Team Lead, SARA, Wema Bank
- Felicia Siegrist, Knowledge and Research Lead, We-Fi (moderator)
9:50 – 10:00 Q&A
