International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, has teamed up with Diawa to create a bond programme to create opportunities for women entrepreneurs in emerging markets.

International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, has teamed up with Japan's Daiwa Securities to create a bond programme focused on creating opportunities for women entrepreneurs in emerging markets.

The bond will be sold to Japanese retail and institutional investors. It is a follow up on the late 2010 launch of the Banking on Women Programme by the IFC, which has resulted in more than 20 investments and advisory services projects to women-owned ventures with a portfolio of close to $700 million. 

In many emerging economies, women are starting businesses at a faster rate than men, said Daiwa in a statement. Around 30 per cent of registered businesses worldwide are female-owned. However, only 5 to 10 per cent of these have access to commercial bank loans. IFC's goal is to make available to women these financial opportunities. 

"In September of this year, the Japanese government indicated its plan of official development assistant in excess of $3 billion over the next three years toward supporting women. One of our roles as a securities company is to contribute to society through financial functions," said Akio Takahashi, deputy president of Daiwa Securities.

A women-owned enterprise is one that it at least 51 per cent owned by a woman or women, or one in which a woman or women hold at least 20 per cent ownership interests. The business should also have at least one of the senior executive roles and women hold at least 30 per cent of the seats on the board of directors.