Designing pathways to improve the financial health of women-owned microbusinesses in 17 emerging markets

• Jul 30, 2025
• 1 min

Women-owned microbusinesses (wMBs) play a pivotal role to drive economic activity, job creation, and community resilience across emerging markets. While these markets now see a rise in women’s entrepreneurial participation, wMBs often continue to face entrenched barriers, which range from restrictive gender norms and limited digital infrastructure to poor access to finance. 

MSC assessed the landscape of wMBs across 17 emerging economies in Asia, Latin America, and Africa and designed a contextualised financial health framework tailored to their needs. 

We conducted secondary research to identify trends, analyzed learnings from the literature review, and collected data to understand recurring themes. This included key economic, financial, and policy indicators relevant to the financial health of wMBs. We then conducted country-level findings, which were further strengthened by a committee of subject experts to ensure contextual relevance. The country-level research fed into the development of the financial health framework and design of recommendations to implement the framework with illustrative examples to improve the financial health of wMBs. 

These recommendations are based on the stakeholders, such as the government, financial service providers, and enterprise support organizations. Once implemented, the framework can drive more contextualised financial products, targeted capacity-building programs, and improved risk assessment tools for wMBs. This will eventually impact the lives of wMBs across all emerging markets, which is almost 30% of microbusinesses in emerging markets.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. commissioned the project.