By | Development World Markets
As an impact investor, Development World Markets (DWM) allocates capital to local institutions that contribute to solving key social and environmental challenges. Two of our top impact priorities are financial inclusion and gender equity. Since its founding, DWM has been deeply committed to advancing these goals in Latin America, a region with both incredible economic potential and persistent inequities. Our vision for the region is to enable a broader segment of people to take advantage of economic opportunity by accessing essential services.
Pro Mujer is deeply embedded in DWM’s history. The connection began with our co-founder and current Co-Managing Partner Peter Johnson’s volunteer support for Pro Mujer International in the mid-1990s. Peter eventually became chair of the board, and DWM partnered with Pro Mujer to establish the Pro Mujer Loan Fund in 1999, enabling the organization to support its microfinance institutions at a reasonable cost. In turn, the MFIs provided services for women to manage their household cash flows and earn better incomes.
DWM’s early experience with Pro Mujer demonstrated the positive impact that affordable financial services could have on women and their communities. It also provided a first-hand perspective that MFIs face challenges in securing financing, despite the reliable repayment rates of women borrowers. DWM began to focus on microfinance investing in the early 2000s, and supporting women has been core to our work ever since.
At DWM, we see a continued need to deepen women’s financial inclusion across the globe, including in Latin America and the Caribbean. Significant gender gaps persist in the region. For example, the most recent Global Findex study shows that while 77% of men in the region have bank accounts, only 70% of women do. Furthermore, while close to 36% of men had borrowed from a formal financial institution, this figure is only 25% for women. The lack of access to these basic services hinders women’s ability to fully participate in economic life, earn livelihoods, and achieve their financial goals.
DWM lends to institutions like Pro Mujer that challenge the status quo and make progress toward a gender-equitable future. Part of that trust can be evidenced through the transaction approved from DWM to Pro Mujer Nicaragua during the last quarter of 2023 to further support thousands of poor women borrowers, most of whom are heads of households that lack access to basic financial, educational, and health services. Pro Mujer Nicaragua provides these services at affordable costs. DWM has also previously made loans to Pro Mujer affiliates in Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia.
Across DWM’s broader portfolio, more than two-thirds of end clients are women, and half of our portfolio companies have gender-balanced staff. DWM’s gender lens investing approach goes beyond counting women clients to understanding their preferences, needs, and challenges and designing solutions that work in a given context. We seek partners that thoughtfully integrate the needs of women into their business processes to advance gender-equitable economic opportunity.
DWM works across 35 countries; Pro Mujer is an excellent example of how our investments can facilitate increased access and improved quality of services for women.
