US delivers $ 150 m financing to support Sri Lanka’s community-based women entrepreneurs
The US Government has disbursed $ 150 million in financing
to DFCC Bank on 12 November to support sustainable development of Sri Lankan
community-based businesses.
The US Embassy in Colombo said in a release that this is the
largest loan disbursement by the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) for
Sri Lanka, and it is part of a $ 265 million commitment designed to support the
local Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector, especially women-led
enterprises in Sri Lanka.
Through this partnership, DFCC Bank will provide lending
solutions in priority sectors and support Sri Lanka’s commitment to achieve the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly enhancing the
country’s efforts to promote women entrepreneurship. A portion of the DFC loan
will be directed towards MSMEs owned or led by Sri Lankan women to tackle one
of the biggest issues faced by women entrepreneurs: limited access to finance.
Disbursing the funds, US Chargé d’Affaires to Sri Lanka and
Maldives Martin Kelly said: “Gender equity and equality are key aspects of the
bold new global infrastructure initiative Build Back Better World (B3W) that
President Biden and G7 partners launched earlier this year. We look forward to
seeing this funding make a difference for Sri Lankan communities, for small and
medium business, and for women entrepreneurs as we all recover from the
pandemic.”
The US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is the
development finance institution of the US Government, primarily responsible for
providing and facilitating the financing of private development projects in
countries around the world.
This assistance is part of DFC’s 2X Women’s Initiative which
has mobilised $ 7 billion in private sector investment toward women’s economic
empowerment and aims to provide an additional $ 12 billion by 2025 to advance
gender equity in emerging markets worldwide.
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