Frankfurt School Supports Women Entrepreneurship in Ukraine

The Women Entrepreneurs (WE) Finance Code Ukraine was officially launched in Kyiv on 14 July. Government representatives, regulators, financial institutions and international partners gathered around a shared ambition: to expand access to finance for women-led businesses, with a vision to strengthen Ukraine's long-term economic resilience.

The World Bank’s WE Finance Code initiative is a global commitment framework designed to increase funding for women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), already active in over 30 countries worldwide.

Led by the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine, with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), the initiative launches with an impressive coalition of 22 founding signatories representing banks, credit unions, leasing companies and financial sector associations committed to driving tangible impact.

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management International Advisory Services is supporting the implementation of the WE Finance Code Ukraine as the implementation consultant on behalf of the EBRD. Working closely with national stakeholders and Coalition members, Frankfurt School is facilitating coalition building and providing hands-on technical assistance to financial institutions and national partners through tailored capacity-building workshops, technical training, peer-learning and knowledge-sharing activities, the development of a data dashboard, and support in strengthening reporting frameworks and the collection and analysis of sex-disaggregated data.

By helping financial institutions translate data into actionable insights, targeted financial products and evidence-based strategies, the programme aims to strengthen the financial sector’s ability to better serve women-owned and women-led SMEs, expand their access to finance, and contribute to a more inclusive financial ecosystem in Ukraine.

The launch day also saw the first coalition meeting which defined the implementation priorities and lay the foundation for a long-term partnership focused on expanding access to finance, strengthening the availability and use of sex-disaggregated data, and developing financial solutions that better serve women-led MSMEs.

Fair and equal access to finance is essential for unlocking the potential of women entrepreneurs. Equally important is the availability of robust, gender-disaggregated data, which enables policymakers, regulators and financial institutions to better understand where financing gaps lie, to measure progress and design evidence-based support measures that respond to specific challenges women face.