AGC Co-founder Janet McKinley met with Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, at Oxfam America’s office in Washington, DC. She attended a meeting with Lagarde and the authors of a new study: Catalyst for Change: Empowering Women and Tackling Income Inequality. The report highlights evidence showing that gender inequality is strongly associated with income inequality. The report shows how countries that work toward gender equity and more female participation in the economy are associated with higher growth, more favorable development outcomes, and lower income inequality in those economies.
McKinley shared AGC’s approach to empowering women by making working capital more accessible to SMEs in emerging countries. Invoice discounting and supply chain financing can have a disproportionate effect on women-owned business who often have less access to collateral due to legal restrictions and property rights. The argument is outlined in the articles: Gender Lens Investing and The Entrepreneur’s Dilemma, an article about the missing middle market for financial services in emerging markets.
