Women entrepreneurs to benefit from $50 mln funding

LONDON

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a $50 million loan to local lender Yapı Kredi for on-lending to women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey under the EBRD’s flagship Women in Business programme, the development bank has announced.

The financing aims to strengthen the role of women-led SMEs in the Turkish economy and promote inclusive sustainable growth.

The financing is made available through Yapı Kredi’s existing Diversified Payment Rights programme, the collateralised funding structure that the bank uses to raise long-term funding, the EBRD said in a statement.

Yapı Kredi issued around $ 560 million, attracting a range of investors active in the Turkish market, including the EBRD.

The Women in Business programme is supported by a risk-sharing mechanism through the Turkish Credit Guarantee Fund (KGF) and the Treasury and Finance Ministry.

The European Union is also providing grants to fund the technical consultancy that will help Yapi Kredı to develop more products and services dedicated to women-led businesses.

The new investment is part of the 600 million euros in financing dedicated to Turkish women entrepreneurs and announced by EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso earlier in 2021.

Since 2014 the Women in Business programme has helped more than 20,000 women entrepreneurs in Turkey to reach their full potential by providing them with credit lines as well as advisory support, training, mentoring and access to business networks.

The EBRD is a major investor in Turkey. To date, the bank has invested more than 14.7 billion euros through 361 projects in various sectors of the country’s economy, with 94 per cent of those investments in the private sector.