M&G promotes financial inclusion in developing markets

In Tanzania an initiative is supporting groups of women to access stable sources of finance to help them set up and run micro-businesses. The majority of these women come from rural areas and have previously been unbanked or under-banked, meaning they have limited opportunity to become small traders.

Unlike local banks, which typically provide finance over a 12 month time-horizon, BRAC Tanzania’s micro-financing, supported by the Global Gender-Smart Fund (GGSF), varies between 24 and 36 months, providing a longer period for women to plan, run and grow their micro-businesses.

Offering greater stability through initiatives such as this is critical to address the $1.7 trillion gender gap where women are struggling to access much-needed capital. While 740 million women around the world remain unbanked, The World Economic Forum estimates that prioritising women’s financial needs could add $10 trillion to the world economy by 2030.*

M&G is playing its part, having recently invested an additional $30 million to empower women through the Global Gender-Smart Fund – one of the world’s largest gender-focused investment funds. This increased commitment to GGSF has been made on behalf of the M&G Impact Financing Fund alongside internal and external capital. responsAbility – a leading impact investor with expert knowledge of microfinance and part of M&G’s £73 billion Private Markets division – is one of GGSF’s three impact portfolio managers, which will scale efforts to advance gender equality, improve livelihoods and promote female leadership within financial institutions.

The GGSF has pivoted towards a gender-focused strategy with the aim of strengthening responsible financial services focusing on underserved women and female-led businesses in 44 developing countries, with the aim to improve livelihoods, increase gender balance and promote female leadership. It will also help to advance gender equality at the level of the financial institutions responsible for allocating the finance provided by the Fund to end-borrowers by encouraging them to increase their senior level gender balance and improve working conditions for women.

Eoin O'Shaughnessy

Eoin O’Shaughnessy, Co-Head of Structured Credit Research at M&G Investments, says:

“We are proud to be one of the largest investors in the Global Gender Smart Fund - a unique and innovative vehicle that combines financial returns with social impact. By investing in financial institutions that empower women and promote financial inclusion, we are supporting the economic development and resilience of some of the world's poorest communities. This investment also demonstrates how different parts of M&G can work together to provide our clients with access to a diverse and attractive range of opportunities across different asset classes and geographies.”

Reframing retirement

Eoin O’Shaughnessy, Co-Head of Structured Credit Research at M&G Investments, says:

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