Open Learning Campus: Women’s Entrepreneurship – What Works to help women thrive in the Digital Economy

Rapid digital transformation across the globe has dramatically changed the way entrepreneurs run their business. But for women entrepreneurs, it is still an uphill battle with lack access to capital, digital tools and skills, and a supporting environment to fully participate in the new digital economy: there are still 234 million fewer women than men accessing mobile phones. This webinar will explore findings and recommendations from interventions aimed at closing gender gaps in the digital economy: two reports on Women and E-Commerce in Southeast Asia and Africa, led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), show that closing participation and revenue gaps between men and women entrepreneurs on e-commerce platforms can add over $280 billion to the value of the e-commerce markets in these regions. An impact evaluation by the Latin America and the Caribbean Gender Innovation Lab (LACGIL) in Guatemala, DIGITAGRO, documents the potential to increase market access to women working in agriculture using digital technologies. Work by the Africa Gender Innovation Lab (AFRGIL) promoting the use of mobile savings accounts among women microentrepreneurs in Tanzania, with and without business training, suggests that while there is a latent demand for digital savings accounts, it may be necessary to supplement such products with complementary business training in order to observe positive impacts on business investment and profits.