LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Citi today released a Global Perspectives & Solutions (Citi GPS) report that focuses on, and engages with, women entrepreneurs around the world. Identifying key barriers to women entrepreneurial growth, the report quantifies the opportunities if those barriers were removed – providing targeted recommendations for the financial community, governments, and private sector. Access full report here, free access.

“Citi’s original analysis finds that achieving gender parity in business growth could add between $1.6-2.3 trillion to global GDP, the equivalent of 2-3% of global GDP,” says Ying Qin, Citi Global Insights, Sustainable Finance, amongst the report’s authors. “Our conclusions also highlight that closing the gap could also lead to substantial job creation, 288 – 433 million jobs globally’” she adds.

Kyla Gineitis, Citi Social Finance, says “From the United States and United Kingdom to Mexico and India, women across the globe have less access to financial services than their male counterparts.” Adding that, “Citi is committed to investing in opportunities for 15 million households, including 10 million women, globally by 2025”. Women entrepreneurs face barriers to entry and business growth, which include access to finance, networks, and markets, plus legal, cultural, and social constraints – suggesting an uneven playing field.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionally impacted women entrepreneurs, especially in emerging economies where the barriers that women entrepreneurs face are even more acute. As countries around the world plan to build-back-better from the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant socio-economic shocks, the potential of women entrepreneurship should not be underestimated and could play a decisive role in the recovery.

“The rise of women entrepreneurship has profound impacts on families, economic growth, and society as a whole,” says Ida Liu, Global Head of Citi Private Bank. “We at Citi Private Bank are proud and committed to serve women entrepreneurs globally whose companies range from recent start-ups to venerable multi-generational businesses.” Women economic empowerment can have a multiplier effect across communities, leading to various social multipliers. Women tend to employ more females, providing additional economic benefits in addition to the numbers above, helping reduce inequalities.

Now is the time to drive awareness and catalyse action to empower women entrepreneurs and support the growth of their businesses. “As the world seeks to build back from the pandemic, transition to a low carbon economy and achieve the potential of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we believe that building a gender-balanced playing field for entrepreneurs is critical,” concludes Andrew Pitt, Global Head of Research, Citi Institutional Clients Group.

Key stats referenced:

• 11% of the world’s women are entrepreneurs, compared to 14% of men (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2021)
• 104 out of 190 (55%) countries still have legal barriers to women's entrepreneurship (Women, Business and the Law 2022)
• For every $1 of investment raised, women owned start-ups generated $0.78 in revenue, compared to $0.31 from men-owned businesses (BCG, 2018)
• Private equity and venture capital funds with gender-balanced senior investment teams generated 10-20% higher returns compared with funds with a majority of men or women leaders (IFC, 2019)
• Global VC funding to women-led businesses reached an all-time high in 2019 at 2.8% of all VC funding, and fell to 2.3% in 2020 (Crunchbase, 2020)
• Women-owned MSMEs make up 23% of the total number of enterprises, and have a finance gap estimated at $1.5 trillion, accounting for 32% of the total MSME finance gap. (IFC, 2018)
• Less than 1% of government and large corporate spend goes to women-led businesses. (Vazquez & Sherman, 2013)
• At current rates of progress, the World Economic Forum estimated in 2021 that the gender gap in Economic Participation and Opportunity would take 268 years to close
• 50% of women’s entrepreneurial potential is underused, compared with 22% of men’s. (ILO, 2016)
• In the US, women and minority-led funds manage 1.3% of the $69 trillion asset management industry and 10% of decision-making roles in venture capital firms are held by women. (EIB, 2020)

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About Citi:

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Media contacts: Susannah Gullette – Citi Researchsusanna.gullette@citi.com Gabriel Morales – Citi Private Bankgabriel.morales@citi.com Franecsco Meucci – Citi Researchfranecsco.meucci@citi.com Belinda Marks – Citi Private Bankbelinda.marks@citi.com

Source: Citi