US delivers $150 Mn to support community-based women entrepreneurs

The United States government disbursed $150 million in financing to the DFCC Bank on Nov 12 to support sustainable development of Sri Lankan community-based businesses.  This is the largest loan disbursement by the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) for Sri Lanka, and it is part of a $265 million commitment designed to support the local Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector, especially women-led enterprises in Sri Lanka, the US Embassy in Colombo said.

Through this partnership, the DFCC Bank will provide lending solutions in priority sectors and support Sri Lanka’s commitment to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly enhancing the country’s efforts to promote women entrepreneurship.  A portion of the DFC loan will be directed towards MSMEs owned or led by Sri Lankan women to tackle one of the biggest issues faced by women entrepreneurs: limited access to finance.

Disbursing the funds, the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Martin Kelly said: “Gender equity and equality are key aspects of the bold new global infrastructure initiative Build Back Better World (B3W) that President Biden and G7 partners launched earlier this year.  We look forward to seeing this funding make a difference for Sri Lankan communities, for small and medium business, and for women entrepreneurs as we all recover from the pandemic.”

The U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is the development finance institution of the United States government, primarily responsible for providing and facilitating the financing of private development projects in countries around the world.  This assistance is part of DFC’s 2X Women’s Initiative which has mobilised USD 7 billion in private sector investment toward women’s economic empowerment and aims to provide an additional USD 12 billion by 2025 to advance gender equity in emerging markets worldwide.