Taking the mission beyond March

Subject: Taking the mission beyond March

2X Global: Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

Dear Friend,

As we close out this month’s celebrations for Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on how we take the mission beyond March.

This year, the UN Women theme for International Women’s Day, ‘Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress’ encapsulated our mission - working to shift more capital towards women and in so doing, accelerating progress towards gender equity.

A tangible instance of our mission in action came in New York City on March 13th, alongside the United Nations’ 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 68). That was when, together with USAID, Amazon, Visa Foundation Reckitt and the UPS Foundation, we announced ATG Samata and wCap, two Africa-based, women-led fund managers as the latest grant awardees under the USAID Climate Gender Equity Fund (CGEF). The fund aims to increase climate finance for gender-responsive, women-led, and women-benefiting organisations.

The two fund managers round out the cohort of awardees under the first round of grants joining women-led network organisations M-Kyala Ventures, The Clean Technology Hub, and WomHub. This brings the total awarded in the first funding round to USD $1.9 million.

Applications to the second funding round of CGEF will be open by mid-April.

Another way in which we are investing in women is our 2X Ignite initiative, which advances women-led and diverse fund managers. We’re currently looking for Strategic Advisors for the fund managers participating in 2X Ignite’s Africa GP Sprint. If you are a more experienced GP, or an investment professional keen to provide the LP perspective, please apply here. This second Africa cohort is supported by MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Association) and FSD Africa.

Strengthening the ecosystem to facilitate more investment in gender-smart businesses requires data to know where the opportunities are and identify where synergies may exist. To that end, keep an eye out for the upcoming report from Project Catalyst, the joint gender lens investing (GLI) research initiative from 2X Global and Sagana Consulting, supported by the Visa Foundation.

The study comes out of a sector-wide survey of nearly 200 investors and fund managers worldwide working in private equity, venture capital, and private debt and will provide valuable and actionable insights on the state of play in the market.

As we head into the second quarter of the year, we are reminded that there’s so much more to do, on all fronts, if we are to make real the promise of March.

Read on for a selection of GLI news.

In Community,

2X Global team

Join us on this journey.

If you are interested in learning more about the work of 2X Global in shaping the future of finance, join our familiarisation sessions. RSVP to a session: 8 April, 10 am CET, or 10 April, 6 pm CET.

News from the field

Mainstreaming gender lens investing. Closing the gender gap in developing economies and emerging markets could raise GDP by 23% - just one of the striking data points in this op-ed from the three of the most powerful women in global finance. Take in this interview with impact investor Giorgiana Notarbartolo D. on how multi-generational family offices, like her family’s PFC can make the shift to impact investing. British International Investment (BII) reports on the impact of its 2X Challenge investments. Learn more about the experience of issuing South Asia’s first gender bond in this article from The Private Infrastructure Development Group. DEG’s expanded programme, ImpactConnect, offers an interest rate reduction for investments that are 2X Challenge aligned - find out the why and how here. Our new 2X Global Ambassador for Japan, Tatjana Gerling shares insights about the investment landscape in Japan and the exciting opportunities to build and strengthen the gender lens investing ecosystem there. InfraCo Africa’s CIO Claire Jarrat explores what investing in women means in the infrastructure industry and how such investment is vital if we are to achieve, not just SDG5, but all of the UN SDGs.

Gender and Climate Investing. This case study from Deetken Impact examines the effectiveness of technical assistance efforts to directly advance gender equity within the male-dominated renewable energy sector. Moa Westman of the EIB examines the role of women as involved actors in climate action and how integrating gender perspectives can accelerate impact. The percentage of climate finance which targets gender as a principal objective has fallen among OECD Development Assistance Committee providers, reports the Centre for Global Development in this blog post. Nearly four out of every five businesses in many of the most climate vulnerable countries are already suffering the consequences of a rapidly changing environment, reports BII in its third annual Emerging Economies Climate Report. The ways in which gender based violence hampers nature conservation efforts, are examined in this piece from the Nature Conservancy. Meet some of the heroes of sustainability, leading the charge on meaningful climate action efforts, in this blog post from the Rockefeller Foundation.

Leadership, Culture and Policy. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has reached an agreement on the issue of living wages, paving the way for new research and initiatives. Also from the ILO - a new policy brief calling for domestic workers to be included in care policies. A new study, spanning 20 years of data, examines the link between credit access for businesses and the gender of company executives in developing countries. 2X Global CEO Jessica Espinoza in conversation with BII’s Impact = podcast, discussing the evolution of gender lens investing, the opportunities and challenges for investors and the policies needed to shift more gender smart capital.

Data and Tools. Bangladesh Bank has launched a Women’s Financial Inclusion Data (WFID) dashboard, which will provide valuable insights and identify opportunities in women’s financial inclusion in the country. To mark International Women’s Day, the World Bank’s data team prepared five very insightful charts on the state of gender equality and inequality in the world. The tenth edition of the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law has some new measures for assessing the enabling environment for women’s economic opportunity across the globe. This study maps the role of catalytic capital across four regions, tracking patterns and practices. Wells Fargo’s inaugural Impact of Women-Owned Businesses report delves in the aftermath and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women-owned businesses, with some positive findings about resilience and opportunity.

Resilience (GBV, Financial Inclusion, Security). The IFC has launched the India Gender Collaborative, a new program to recruit and keep more women in the workforce in India. Outside of oncology, less than 1% of global health investment is female-centred - how we shift this reality and get more investment targeted at women, who are after all, 50% of the world’s population? The IFC’s Social KPIs Matter report captures some of the data points and learning around sustainability-linked financial instruments. Insights from the Asian Development Bank on how to address sexual exploitation and abuse in development projects. A deep dive into how endometriosis impacts women's career progression and financial inclusion. What are the factors driving the gender gap in financial inclusion for young women (ages 15-24) and how can this be addressed?

Care Economy. A new report on how to transform the care economy through impact investing. An eye-opening statistic from the OECD’s Social Institutions and Gender Index for Southeast Asia - women spend 3.3 hours per day on unpaid care, compared to 1 hour per day for men. Tackling gender disparities in transportation systems requires urgent policy work, notes the World Bank in a recent thematic note, pointing out that barriers to women’s mobility have implications for care responsibilities in the home, among other issues. Faced with a rapidly ageing population, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced a 50% tax credit in the recent budget, for private investors focused on elder care facilities.

JEDI, Power, and New Economic Systems. Boosting women’s workforce participation in South Asia requires more than changing cultural norms, it requires policy which creates the conditions for female employment, suggests new research. A new series from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Opportunity Matters, looks at how diversity and opportunity intersect and interact across industries and the implications for earning or not earning, wealth. How can businesses still engage on justice, equity diversity and inclusion efforts even amidst high profile backlash? This new guide offers a framework for those still committed to justice.

Community Calendar

9-12 April, 2024

Skoll World Forum brings social innovators together every year in Oxford to share ideas. Join us on the first evening for a private reception and session on gender lens investing. To RSVP, email Nathasha.

22-26 April, 2024

The AVCA 2024 Conference is the larges Africa-focused private capital convening. Learn more about it here, and join the 2X Global team in Johannesburg for curated events with PEWIN.

April 23-25, 2024

This year’s edition of the Asia Venture Philanthropy Network’s Global Conference will be in Abu Dhabi under the theme ‘One Asia, One Future’. More information.

7-8 May, 2024

The second edition of the UNESCAP Feminist Finance Forum in Bangkok aims to drive action and build the feminist finance ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific. The forum is by invitation only. Learn more.

22-23 May, 2024

The Responsible Investor Japan invites opinion leaders from Japan and abroad to discover how urgent theoretical and practical issues can marry with the vision for a new era of capitalism in a sustainability-conscious world. RSVP here.

11-13 September, 2024

Looking ahead, we are hosting the next 2X Global Annual Member Meeting 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. If you are interested in joining this event, please contact us by email to explore 2X membership opportunities.

Thank you to our partners and supporters

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Subject: Taking the mission beyond March