The study aims to explore women entrepreneurs' access to credit from SACCOs in Nepal. It focuses on women entrepreneurs engaged in diverse sectors, including trade and services, manufacturing, and agriculture. The study seeks to highlight the gender-based challenges women face when applying for business loans from financial institutions. Specifically, the study addresses the following questions in the context of women-led micro-enterprises in Nepal: 1) Do small business women have access to adequate finance from SACCOs? 2) Do women face barriers attributed to gender norms when accessing credit from financial institutions? 3) What are the supply side constraints (of SACCOs) in providing credit to small business women? Through exploring these questions, the study aims to contribute valuable insights to the ongoing discourse on gender-lens investment practices and their potential to create a more inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurial environment for small and growing businesses (SGBs) owned by women in Nepal.

The paper offers guidance for those considering funding or designing interventions targeting women climate entrepreneurs and WSME-responsive climate initiatives by addressing the following questions: Why is it important to focus on women climate entrepreneurs? Where are areas of opportunity for women climate entrepreneurs and implementing partner support—including sectors that are emerging as critical to a low-carbon economy? What actions, initiatives, and efforts are happening now? Who are the key players? Where are the challenges? Ramping up an integrated focus on WSMEs and climate is critical, given that gender equality is considered a primary objective in less than 1 percent of climateoriented official development assistance (ODA) provided by governments for economic development in emerging markets and fragile economies.

First, the paper highlights the need for a gender-differentiated approach to climate action in general. It then discusses the importance of prioritizing the needs of women climate entrepreneurs, with insights on green and blue sectors. The next section details the state of play: organizations that are supporting gender-responsive climate action and those focused on the nexus of women’s entrepreneurship and climate along with a report on the status of financing for such initiatives. It concludes with recommended courses of action for development organizations, impact investors and other partners to take as they consider new projects and initiatives.

A key challenge in empowering women in extreme poverty through entrepreneurship is securing access to capital for business growth after training. Small and microenterprises often face exclusion from formal financial systems due to a lack of traditional credit data, guarantors, and financial statements, resulting in high-interest informal loans ranging from 80% to 300%. This report examines the potential of a credit scoring system using alternative data such as peer group (Chama) lending performance and business income to assess creditworthiness. The goal is to demonstrate that alternative data can unlock capital from local financial institutions for women entrepreneurs at scale.