{"id":458130,"date":"2026-08-20T08:53:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T07:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afis.africa\/?p=458130"},"modified":"2026-08-20T09:38:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:38:59","slug":"a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afis.africa\/en\/a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models\/","title":{"rendered":"A sharper lens: Banks\u202fcan\u202fbetter\u202fserve\u202fwomen-owned\u202fSMEs\u202fby\u202fredesigning their\u202foperating\u202fmodels\u202f"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A sharper lens:<\/span>\u00a0Banks\u202fcan\u202fbetter\u202fserve\u202fwomen-owned\u202fSMEs\u202fby\u202fredesigning their\u202foperating\u202fmodels<\/span><\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Lending to\u202fwomen-owned business\u202fcould be a growth engine\u202ffor African\u202f<\/span>banks, but<\/span>\u202frevamped\u202f’gender-intentional’ credit models may be needed to serve these borrowers profitably. Dalberg Advisors argues that alternative forms of collateral, credit scoring based on cash-flow and\u202fbehavioural\u202fdata, and\u00a0<\/span>tailored loans<\/span>\u00a0should replace traditional lending models.<\/span><\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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By\u202fLillian Kidane\u202f&\u202fChimdi Onwudiegwu<\/span><\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In 2016,\u202f<\/span>KCB Bank Kenya<\/span><\/a>\u202ffound that only about 7% of its nearly one million MSME account holders had a loan. Customer research\u202fidentified\u202fslow and opaque processes, high conventional collateral requirements, and a transactional service model as important barriers limiting SMEs\u2019 use of bank finance.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

KCB reviewed its credit processes, adjusted collateral requirements, explored alternative collateral and\u202fbehavioural\u202fdata, retrained staff, introduced new scorecards, and moved toward relationship management. The\u202fprogramme\u202freported 656 SME loans, 52% of them to\u202fwomen-owned\u202fbusinesses, alongside a significant improvement in SME customer satisfaction. KCB\u2019s financial modelling\u202findicated\u202fthat loans below KES 1 million would not be profitable under the prevailing interest-rate cap and relationship-management model. This pushed the bank toward digital delivery instead of relationship banking alone.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A stronger case for serving\u202fwomen-owned businesses<\/span><\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The commercial case for serving\u202fwomen-owned SMEs is not that every\u202fwoman-owned business is a better borrower, and it is not a story of universally superior returns, lower risk, and greater loyalty. The more defensible claim is this:\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Financial institutions are overlooking\u202fviable\u202fwomen-owned SME demand because their segmentation, underwriting, and service models\u202fweren’t\u202fbuilt to\u202fserve it. Correcting those blind spots can expand portfolios without an obvious credit-risk penalty \u2014 but turning that\u202finto profit requires redesigning cost-to-serve, loan economics, and accountability, not just setting a lending target.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A closer look\u202fat the evidence\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Institutional findings point to the upsides of taking a more intentional approach to\u202fwomen\u202fcustomers. Lenders with\u202fwomen-focused strategies have increased their share of\u202fwomen-owned SMEs.\u202fWomen\u202fbusiness owners have been found to be good borrowers and less likely to default on loans.\u202fThese are\u202fpositive signals\u202feven though\u202fthe\u00a0evidence does not support the idea\u202fthat all\u202fwomen-owned businesses are inherently lower-risk. A quick scan of the evidence:\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In 2024, women-owned SME loans\u202f<\/span>represented only 19% of SME portfolio<\/span><\/a>\u202fvolume among 183 International Finance Corporation (IFC) client financial institutions, and average loan sizes were 28% smaller. Yet the weighted average 90-day non-performing loan\u202fratio was broadly comparable, at 3.6% for women-owned SME loans and 3.8% for overall SME portfolios.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

According to\u202f<\/span>Aceli\u00a0Africa<\/span><\/a>‘s loan-level data, women-owned businesses in its\u202fagri-SME portfolio had average loans of\u202froughly $52,000, against $90,000 for men-owned businesses. Overall, 90-day NPLs were lower among women-owned borrowers, at 3.3% compared with 4.6%.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Starting in 2012,\u202f<\/span>Root Capital<\/span><\/a>‘s decade-long analysis of 552 agricultural enterprises found a 4.12-percentage-point lower default rate among\u202fwomen-led\u202fenterprises after controlling for loan size, region, and industry.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

IFC’s\u00a0<\/span>Her Fintech Edge<\/span><\/a>\u202fsurvey of 49 lending-focused fintechs found that among firms that tailored products and services to\u202fwomen, 63% reported higher customer lifetime value among\u202fwomen, compared with 38% of firms that did not tailor their offering.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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What a redesign of operating models would look like<\/span><\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Comparable repayment performance does not make the segment commercially attractive.\u202fSmaller loans carry proportionally higher acquisition, underwriting, and servicing costs, so\u202fsimply\u202ftaking a gender lens\u00a0can expand inclusion without improving returns if\u202fthe operating model\u202fdoesn’t\u202fchange. This is the reason the thesis needs to be about the operating model rather than the lending target. In practice, that means measures such as digitizing and simplifying small-ticket origination; substituting transactional and value chain data for fixed collateral requirements that structurally exclude many women-owned businesses; and using incentives\u202fwhere\u202fthe economics\u202faren\u2019t\u202fyet self-sustaining.\u202fThis also means\u00a0<\/span>using gender-disaggregated data<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0actually provide\u00a0differentiated products.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Aceli’s\u00a0own experience illustrates the same point at the ecosystem level. Across its partner institutions, the combination of technical\u202fassistance, origination incentives, and capacity building has been associated with a shift from ad hoc gender initiatives toward more systematic integration of gender into lending criteria, staff incentives, and portfolio management.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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A framework for gender-intentional<\/span>ity<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Intentionality\u202fmust\u202fbe specified across the parts of the business that\u202f<\/span>actually determine<\/span>\u202fwhether a segment is\u202f<\/span>served,\u202fand<\/span>\u202fserved profitably.\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Dimension<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

What changes under a gender-intentional model<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Segment definition\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Women-owned SMEs are defined and tracked as a distinct, measurable segment\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Application and approval funnel\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Drop-off points are\u202fmonitored\u202fby gender to find where\u202fviable\u202fapplicants are lost\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Credit assessment\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Cash-flow and\u202fbehavioural\u202fdata supplement or replace collateral-based scoring\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Collateral\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Alternative forms of security (inventory, receivables, group guarantees) are accepted\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Product and pricing\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Loan sizes and terms match actual demand rather than a one-size-fits-all\u202fticket\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Customer acquisition\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Channels and messaging reach women-owned businesses\u202fwhere they are based\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Service delivery\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Tiered, often digital-first delivery,\u202freplaces uniform relationship banking\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Data\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Gender-disaggregated data is collected\u202f<\/span>and<\/span><\/i>\u202ffed into product and credit decisions\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Staff capabilities\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Loan officers are trained to\u202frecognize and\u202funderwrite non-traditional business profiles\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Incentives\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Staff targets reward segment growth\u202f<\/span>and<\/span><\/i>\u202fsegment profitability\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Leadership\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

An executive, not a CSR or compliance function, owns the segment’s P&L\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Portfolio economics\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Contribution margin is tracked and reported at the segment level\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The bottom line<\/span><\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The cost of inaction\u00a0<\/span><\/span>cannot yet be reduced to one defensible number, and\u202finstitutions and advisors should stop implying that it can. What the evidence<\/span>\u00a0does<\/span>\u00a0support is narrower and, for a capital allocator, more useful: gender-intentional SME finance is an operating-model discipline, and the institutions capturing the opportunity are the ones that have redesigned how they see, price, and serve the segment<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Lillian Kidane<\/a>\u202fis Partner\u202fand Regional Director for Africa, Dalberg Advisors.\u202f\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

Chimdi Onwudiegwu<\/a>\u202fis an Associate Partner, Dalberg Advisors.\u202f\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sharper lens:\u00a0Banks\u202fcan\u202fbetter\u202fserve\u202fwomen-owned\u202fSMEs\u202fby\u202fredesigning their\u202foperating\u202fmodels\u202f\u00a0 Lending to\u202fwomen-owned business\u202fcould be a growth engine\u202ffor African\u202fbanks, but\u202frevamped\u202f’gender-intentional’ credit models may be needed to serve these borrowers profitably. Dalberg Advisors argues that alternative forms of collateral, credit scoring based on cash-flow and\u202fbehavioural\u202fdata, and\u00a0tailored loans\u00a0should replace traditional lending models.\u202f\u00a0 By\u202fLillian Kidane\u202f&\u202fChimdi Onwudiegwu\u202f\u00a0 In 2016,\u202fKCB Bank Kenya\u202ffound that only about 7% of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":458144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-458130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-women-in"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA sharper lens: Banks\u202fcan\u202fbetter\u202fserve\u202fwomen-owned\u202fSMEs\u202fby\u202fredesigning their\u202foperating\u202fmodels\u202f - The African Financial Summit Platform<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afis.africa\/en\/a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A sharper lens: Banks\u202fcan\u202fbetter\u202fserve\u202fwomen-owned\u202fSMEs\u202fby\u202fredesigning their\u202foperating\u202fmodels\u202f - The African Financial Summit Platform\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A sharper lens:\u00a0Banks\u202fcan\u202fbetter\u202fserve\u202fwomen-owned\u202fSMEs\u202fby\u202fredesigning their\u202foperating\u202fmodels\u202f\u00a0 Lending to\u202fwomen-owned business\u202fcould be a growth engine\u202ffor African\u202fbanks, but\u202frevamped\u202f’gender-intentional’ credit models may be needed to serve these borrowers profitably. Dalberg Advisors argues that alternative forms of collateral, credit scoring based on cash-flow and\u202fbehavioural\u202fdata, and\u00a0tailored loans\u00a0should replace traditional lending models.\u202f\u00a0 By\u202fLillian Kidane\u202f&\u202fChimdi Onwudiegwu\u202f\u00a0 In 2016,\u202fKCB Bank Kenya\u202ffound that only about 7% of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.afis.africa\/en\/a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The African Financial Summit Platform\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T07:53:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T08:38:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.afis.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/N.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Soukaina HARTI\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Soukaina HARTI\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.afis.africa\\\/en\\\/a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.afis.africa\\\/en\\\/a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Soukaina HARTI\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.afis.africa\\\/fr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f8845f90743d0bd8014109e5350dc65c\"},\"headline\":\"A sharper lens: Banks\u202fcan\u202fbetter\u202fserve\u202fwomen-owned\u202fSMEs\u202fby\u202fredesigning their\u202foperating\u202fmodels\u202f\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-20T07:53:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-20T08:38:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.afis.africa\\\/en\\\/a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":950,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.afis.africa\\\/fr\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.afis.africa\\\/en\\\/a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.afis.africa\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/N.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Women IN\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.afis.africa\\\/en\\\/a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.afis.africa\\\/en\\\/a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.afis.africa\\\/en\\\/a-sharper-lens-banks-can-better-serve-women-owned-smes-by-redesigning-their-operating-models\\\/\",\"name\":\"A sharper lens: Banks\u202fcan\u202fbetter\u202fserve\u202fwomen-owned\u202fSMEs\u202fby\u202fredesigning their\u202foperating\u202fmodels\u202f - 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