WSBI Joins the World Bank in Promoting Economic Prosperity for Women Entrepreneurs

Isidro Fainé, President of the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI), led an event today in Marrakech aimed at promoting the reduction of the economic gap affecting women entrepreneurs globally.

WSBI seals a new alliance with We-Fi, the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative of the World Bank, to promote business activity among women, particularly those living in developing countries.

The World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI), which counts CECA among its main partner entities, organized its General Assembly and the annual meeting of the African Regional Group in Marrakech from October 11 to 13, with the collaboration of its Moroccan partner Al Barid Bank and within the framework of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Isidro Fainé, President of WSBI, CECA, and the “la Caixa” Foundation, along with Antonio Romero, Corporate Director for Associative Services and Resources of CECA and President of the Coordination Committee of WSBI-ESBG, met with financial sector entities from around the world during a new event of the WSBI Scale2Save initiative.

The conference “WSBI as a Catalyst for Unlocking the Potential of Female Entrepreneurs” featured an opening speech by Wendy Teleki, Head of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) Secretariat from the World Bank, and contributions from WSBI partner entities: AGFUND, Banco Estado, LAPO Microfinance Bank, and Swedfund.

The speakers analyzed four key areas to enhance female entrepreneurship: empowerment, reducing the digital divide, developing innovative gender-sensitive solutions adapted to climate change, and ensuring the preparedness of financial service providers for investment. In line with this commitment, WSBI has established a new alliance with We-Fi, the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative of the World Bank, with the goal of promoting business activity among women, particularly those living in developing countries.

The collaboration agreement has been signed for a duration of five years (2026-2030). This agreement is an opportunity for leaders in the financial sector, including banks, funds, fintechs, regulators, and investors, among others, to address female entrepreneurship, key to economic growth, social development, and job creation, and to promote the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs internationally while reducing the financial inequality faced by 400 million women entrepreneurs.

WSBI, International Commitment to Female Entrepreneurship

WSBI, founded in 1924, is the world’s oldest banking association and represents over 6,400 savings banks and retail banks from across the globe. One of WSBI’s strategic objectives is to build inclusive and sustainable financial sectors.

In this vein, the Institute launched the Scale2Save initiative in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, aimed at engaging different players in the financial sector to assess, design, and implement projects that help generate resilience and sustainable solutions for the most vulnerable groups. Understanding the impact of the financial sector on the provision of services to women entrepreneurs, actions that lead to greater gender equity, and agreeing on common metrics that serve these objectives are part of these efforts. The initiative has already developed projects in places such as Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda.

WSBI’s commitment to promoting the economic empowerment of women goes far beyond Scale2Save. Today, WSBI has sealed a new alliance with We-Fi, the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative of the World Bank, aimed at promoting business activity among women, with a special focus on those living in developing countries, improving their access to financing, markets, technology, and collaborative networks.

WSBI joins the launch of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code, an innovative initiative aimed at revolutionizing how women-led SMEs are perceived, supported, and financed on a global scale.