How public-private partnerships are empowering women entrepreneurs beyond funding

In a vibrant cacao processing facility in Manabí, Ecuador, María Espinoza inspects the latest batch of organic chocolate, ensuring it meets the highest quality for export. As the founder of ChocoAndes, she transformed her family’s cacao farming knowledge into a thriving business producing premium chocolate and cacao-based products.

Through the support of Ecuador’s Gender Parity Initiative (IPG) and the Crédito Violeta programme, provided by BanEcuador, her business has grown 80% in revenue in just two years. Today, ChocoAndes employs more than 50 women from rural communities, providing them with training and job opportunities in producing organic chocolates with fair trade certifications.

Women entrepreneurs such as María are a powerful force driving economic growth, job creation and inclusive development. Their businesses foster innovation while contributing to poverty reduction and economic resilience.

In 2024, women-established business ownership rates rose from 4.2% to 5.9% across 30 countries, with significant growth in South Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania, Puerto Rico and Thailand.

The growth opportunity is significant in emerging markets, where 17% of women are already running their own business, with 35% aspiring to start one. Despite this progress, women entrepreneurs face a staggering $1.7 trillion global financing gap, highlighting the urgent need for better access to finance, markets and business networks.

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) can be pivotal in closing these gaps so women entrepreneurs can thrive.

Gender Parity Accelerators – established by the World Economic Forum in 17 countries, including 10 in Latin America and the Caribbean, in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank and the French Development Agency – provide a structured model for PPPs supporting women’s economic participation through workforce and entrepreneurship.

By fostering collaboration between governments, businesses and civil society, these accelerators create enabling ecosystems that offer women entrepreneurs crucial tools beyond funding, such as tailored training programmes, inclusive supply chains and policy support to scale their businesses.

Gender Parity Accelerators in the following countries offer valuable insights and lessons on structuring PPPs for maximum impact.

The Ecuador Gender Parity Initiative has made significant strides in supporting women-led businesses by improving access to credit and financial literacy training.

For example, through the initiative, Crédito Violeta, over 4,000 women entrepreneurs have gained access to loans from $500 to $3,000 from an annual fund of $12 million. Additionally, the Programa Ecuapremende has allocated $450,000 to support women entrepreneurs in manufacturing.

Financial literacy and business training have also been important. More than 11,400 women have gained entrepreneurship and business training, while 3,000 women producers and entrepreneurs have benefited from the information technology and communications-focused SHETrades accelerator programme.

Furthermore, 288 women-led businesses obtained financial education certifications since September 2024, allowing them to access credit from the public banking system.

The country has also strengthened support for women in rural areas, with 6,300 indigenous women entrepreneurs now registered in Unidades Productoras RUM, enhancing their economic participation.

Guatemala’s Initiative for Equal Participation in Employment & Entrepreneurship has achieved significant milestones. Via cross-sector collaboration, the initiative has linked women-led enterprises into supply chains by helping them certify to international standards, enhancing their competitiveness.

Key achievements include a website that facilitates business services, resources and support networks for women entrepreneurs.

The accelerator partnered with the Indigenous Business Global Network – REI – and New Sun Road to support rural women’s contribution to economic development. The plan includes an ambitious sustainable forest management loan through the National Forest Institute, enabling women in forestry to grow their businesses while promoting environmental sustainability.

Jordan’s accelerator programme has empowered women entrepreneurs through targeted initiatives, such as WExport, an export unit that prepares women-owned businesses for export and international markets. So far, 439 companies have benefited, aligning with the accelerator's broader objective of integrating women entrepreneurs into formal value chains and the global economy.

Accelerator participating companies are also crucial to its aims, including its co-chair Bank al-Etihad, which spearheaded a comprehensive financial inclusion programme with dedicated financial products and advisory and coaching services. The bank’s female client base has increased from 26% to 36% since 2014.

Moreover, female borrowers have grown 16-fold and female depositors 14-fold in the same period. The Forum recognized the programme in this year’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouse Report.

In Kenya, where challenges facing women entrepreneurs include securing business contracts and accessing capital, the Gender Parity Accelerator is co-chaired by the Office of the Women’s Rights Advisor to the President of Kenya and the Co-operatives and Micro, Small And Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development.

It focuses on empowering female-led MSMEs by improving their access to economic opportunities, finance, investment and essential digital skills and services. This involves setting procurement quotas for women-owned businesses and creating investment funds through government-financial institution partnerships.

These targeted measures aim to bridge the gaps disproportionately affecting women in Kenya’s entrepreneurial landscape.

In Honduras, women entrepreneurs have limited access to credit. The Gender Parity Initiative, launched in July 2024, is addressing this challenge by forging partnerships between banks, microfinance institutions and the government.

A result of this collaboration is the development of business and financial education programmes, driven by Semujer and Inversiones and supported by Banco de América Central (BAC) and CARE.

This initiative also facilitated a public dashboard, consolidating information on resources for women entrepreneurs and business owners. In addition, the Female Leadership Programme graduated its inaugural class in January 2025, cultivating a pipeline of future women leaders.

As the profile of women entrepreneurs continues to diversify, encompassing various ages and backgrounds, one trend persists: despite being predominantly solo ventures, women-led businesses consistently reinvest a substantial portion of their earnings into their families and communities.

This strategic reinvestment has a cascading effect, contributing to increased household incomes, enhanced local economic activity and the promotion of sustainable business practices.

Research indicates that increasing women’s participation in entrepreneurship and employment could add trillions of dollars to the global gross domestic product, boosting growth by an estimated 20%.

The Forum remains committed to expanding the Global Network of Gender Parity Accelerators, working with governments and private sector partners to scale these initiatives globally.

As new countries and industries join, embedding gender-inclusive policies into national economic frameworks will further unlock the immense potential of women entrepreneurs.

To explore opportunities for collaboration and learn more about these transformative efforts, please contact us.