Conference Presentation, Keynote
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women: Proving the Case for Women Entrepreneurs
- Goldman Sachs identifies the primary risk of the "10,000 women" initiative as inaction, viewing women's economic empowerment as central to business health and dynamism, while noting program results have exceeded participant expectations.
- The Women's Entrepreneur Opportunity Facility, a global initiative for women's small and medium enterprises, aims to raise $600 million and provide capital access to up to 100,000 women entrepreneurs.
- The speaker asserts that inclusive global economic growth is impossible without women's empowerment, warning that the scale of this commitment will define prosperity limits for individuals and societies in coming years.
- Goldman Sachs research predicts that closing the global credit gap for women entrepreneurs, currently estimated by the World Bank's International Finance Corporation at $285 billion, could raise per capita income by up to 12% by 2030.
- Specific regional projections indicate that closing the credit gap in Brazil could yield gains between 25% and 28%, while broader labor force participation gap closures are projected by the OECD to increase GDP by 12% globally over 20 years.
- The OECD projects that closing the labor force participation gap would boost GDP by nearly 10% in the United States, more than 11% in Germany, close to 20% in South Korea, and roughly 19% in Japan.
- The speaker expects the number of supported women to continue growing following new initiative announcements and believes the partnership between the Goldman Sachs Foundation and the World Bank will yield positive results.
- A shift toward online credit delivery is anticipated to serve the market, with risk-taking entrepreneurs like Jack Ma cited as examples of individuals who will benefit from and validate these new financial approaches.