This critical collaboration took centre stage during a pivotal international webinar held on Wednesday, July 30th, 2025, bringing together insights from Uganda, Colombia, and Pakistan.
The webinar, orchestrated by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), ConsumerCentriX (CCX), the Argidius Foundation, and the Dutch Good Growth Fund, served as the official launchpad for a practical new framework.
This innovative framework is specifically designed to equip financial institutions and policymakers in emerging markets with more effective strategies to serve the unique needs of women entrepreneurs better.
Hosted by Flavia Dias Braga, Programme Assistant at the World Bank, the session drew prominent voices dedicated to financial inclusion and gender equality. Key speakers included Serena Cavicchi, Task Team Lead for the Grow project and Senior Social Development Specialist at the World Bank; Felicia Siegrist, Head of Research and Knowledge at We-Fi (World Bank); Anna Gincherman, Partner at ConsumerCentriX (CCX); Zainab Saeed, Financial Inclusion and Gender Specialist at the Asian Development Bank; and, critically, Sarah Lubega Nansikombi, Manager of Women Banking at Stanbic Bank Uganda.
Nansikombi, who unveiled the different categories of women entrepreneurs that Stanbic Bank seeks to empower, explained that Segmentation aids product development and ensures solutions match women’s business potential.
On her part, Serena emphasised the need for infrastructure, especially access to markets, and cultural support for rural women entrepreneurs.
On the other hand, Zainab advocated for data and market-sizing tools to demonstrate the value of financing women-led enterprises.
The webinar’s discussions focused on several pivotal matters, which included:
Why traditional approaches fall short
Conventional lending models often overlook the unique challenges and growth patterns of women-owned businesses, resulting in limited access to capital. This global dialogue acknowledged that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach has historically left women entrepreneurs underserved.
Segmentation by projected growth to drive smarter support
A core tenet of the new framework is the importance of segmenting women-owned Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (WSMEs) not just by current size, but by their projected growth potential. This enables financial institutions to design more targeted and impactful support mechanisms.
Real-world insights from Pakistan, Uganda, and Colombia
The webinar drew invaluable lessons from diverse emerging markets, highlighting both common challenges and successful interventions in different contexts. Uganda’s experiences, as presented by Stanbic Bank’s Nansikombi, offered a vital African perspective.
Practical tools for designing more effective strategies for WSMEs
The core outcome of the webinar was the unveiling of tangible tools and methodologies for financial institutions to implement more effective, gender-sensitive strategies.
Stanbic Bank: Championing Financial Inclusion for Ugandan Women
During the webinar, Nansikombi provided compelling insights into Stanbic Bank Uganda’s pioneering role in promoting financial inclusion for women entrepreneurs. She revealed that Stanbic Bank is at the forefront of this national agenda through dedicated initiatives like “Stanbic for Her” and the “Stanbic Business Incubator.”
Explaining how Stanbic Bank segments women entrepreneurs, Nansikombi said that, “We deal with a large spectrum of women, from micro-spenders in rural areas to those in urban centres in Kampala. We provide tailor-made solutions to women who are in these categories. The first persona is categorised as Medium, or whom we refer to as Hajjat Miriam, where we have someone with an average turnover of Shs100M (about USD26,000), her business is formally registered, it is independent and employs about 10 or more employees, and is looking for opportunities to expand her business.”
She continued, “The second category is the Medium Small; we call her Madam Flora. She has an average annual turnover of about Shs50M (about USD13,000), employs between 5 to 10 employees and is looking for opportunities to see where her niche is, but is independent and open-minded. Then we go to the Micro-Small, or we call this one Lady Jazmine. Her annual turnover is Shs20M (about USD5,000); she has no financial discipline; it is all about enjoying and eating, she has no record keeping, but wants to grow her business. Then the last category is the woman at the bottom of the pyramid, a real Micro, and we call her a Mama Naki. Her average turnover is about Shs10M or below (less than USD2,600), her business is small, but she is hardworking, hardly saves, but is looking for ways of expanding.” She noted that, “What we are trying to achieve here is to know the kind of women we are serving and encourage them to aspire for financial inclusion through partnerships. Our objective is to make sure that finance is in their lives as opposed to us putting their lives into finance.”
According to Nansikombi, these programs are not just about providing loans; they are holistic empowerment platforms.
She observed that Stanbic Bank offers affordable financial products specifically tailored to women’s business needs, combined with robust capacity-building services.
This comprehensive approach is particularly vital for women in rural areas, who often face greater barriers to accessing both finance and business development support.
Stanbic Bank’s commitment extends beyond capital, fostering essential skills in financial literacy, business management, and market access, thereby building resilient and competitive women-led enterprises.
This global partnership, with Uganda prominently featured, marks a pivotal moment. It signifies a collective commitment to dismantling systemic barriers that have historically hindered women’s economic participation.
By combining policy innovation, tailored financial products, and robust capacity building, the World Bank and its partners, exemplified by Stanbic Bank’s leadership in Uganda, are not just launching a framework; they are setting a new global standard for how financial ecosystems can genuinely empower women entrepreneurs to achieve their full business aspirations and drive national prosperity.