Ivanka Trump, World Bank launch fund for female entrepreneurs
First Daughter Ivanka Trump and the World Bank are rolling out a new fund that aims to help female entrepreneurs access capital, financing and other support.
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim says the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative fund has so far raised $325 million from various governments. He hopes to leverage that into a multibillion-dollar fund.
The money will go toward improving access to capital and markets, providing technical assistance, training and mentoring, pushing public policy and investing in projects and programs that support women and women-led businesses.
Donald Trump praised the fund, saying his administration is making a $50 million commitment to the effort.
He says the group will help eliminate barriers for women to launch businesses and transform “millions and millions of lives” and that “empowering women is a core value that binds us together.”
Kim says, “this is not acute little project,” and says it will drive economic growth.
He’s speaking at a panel on women’s entrepreneurship that coincides with the meeting of Group of 20 leaders in Hamburg, Germany.