The 2X Challenge: Financing for Women is an ambitious target that calls on DFIs to mobilise their own funds, as well as private capital, to unlock resources that will help advance women as entrepreneurs, as business leaders, as employees and as consumers of products and services that enhance their economic participation.
In 2018 BII joined DFIs from the G7 countries – FinDev Canada, the United Kingdom (BII), the United States (Overseas Private Investment Corporation – OPIC), Italy (Cassa depositi e presiti – Cdp), France (Proparco) and Japan (JBIC and JICA), with support from Germany (DEG) – to use innovative ways, including using blended finance, to support investments and initiatives that provide women in developing countries with access to leadership opportunities, quality employment, finance, enterprise support.
Since then, over $4.5 million has been invested in women around the world and the 2X Challenge membership has grown to include more institutions and investors. BII maintains its commitment to the 2X Challenge and actively looks for investment opportunities to address gender inequalities and empower women.
In order to create a shared understanding of what investing in women looks like, BII worked with Dalberg and fellow DFIs to define the 2X Criteria. The criteria were developed from collective research and evidence on where women currently stand in terms of participation,
representation and access to the businesses BII invests in and is based on contributions from DFIs and the broader impact investing community. Today, the 2X Criteria is a key framework in which BII carries out gender-smart investments.
More on the 2X Challenge:
- The development finance institutions of the G7 commit to mobilise US$3 billion to invest in the world’s women
- Gender-lens investing through the 2X Challenge: our progress one year on
- 2X Challenge: G7 development finance institutions commit and mobilize close to $2.5 billion to global women’s economic empowerment
- British International Investment, GIIN and the 2X Challenge create aligned gender impact metrics in major boost to advance women’s economic empowerment and gender equality
- 2X Challenge and Gender Finance Collaborative response to the COVID-19 pandemic
