Turkish Women Entrepreneurs Set to Gain Ground with $878M World Bank-Backed Initiative

Turkey is poised for significant shifts in its small business landscape as the World Bank rolls out a major financing programme targeting underserved entrepreneur segments. The initiative channels €750 million ($878 million) in funding guarantees through Türkiye Vakıflar Bankası to unlock up to €1.5 billion in commercial lending, fundamentally reshaping access to capital for micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs).

Bridging the Funding Gap for Women and Youth

The Access to Finance for Jobs and Growth Programme addresses a persistent challenge: Turkish women and younger entrepreneurs have historically faced systemic barriers when seeking financing. The scheme will directly support approximately 30,000 MSMEs over its lifetime, with dedicated focus on 15,000 women-led enterprises and 1,000 youth-founded companies, particularly those operating in economically disadvantaged regions or areas recovering from natural disasters.

This targeting reflects recognition that Turkish women entrepreneurs operate at an inherent disadvantage. As Mehlika Gider, president of KAISDER (Women Employers and Industrialists Association), emphasised, “Business has no gender, but women face structural headwinds from social norms from day one.” She argues that market mechanisms alone cannot overcome these embedded barriers—deliberate policy intervention is essential for meaningful inclusion.

Performance Incentives and Digital Adoption

Beyond loan guarantees, the programme employs a layered approach to sustained impact. Performance-based incentives reward companies that hire and retain workers from underrepresented demographics—specifically women and youth. Simultaneously, financial institutions participating in the scheme gain incentives to adopt standardised digital financial services platforms, lowering transaction costs and expanding lending accessibility.

This dual mechanism addresses two market failures simultaneously: discriminatory lending practices and technological fragmentation across financial intermediaries. By creating uniform verification standards and reporting protocols, the programme aims to demonstrate to other Turkish banks how to profitably serve the MSME segment previously considered too risky or costly.

Employment and Economic Multiplier Effects

The World Bank projects the initiative will generate between 800,000 new or improved employment opportunities, either directly through MSME hiring or indirectly through supply chain and consumer spending effects. For a labour market where women’s participation remains significantly below peer economies, job creation centred on female entrepreneurs multiplies benefits: household income stabilisation, increased fiscal revenue, and reduced dependency on social support systems.

Etkin Özen, World Bank task team leader, frames this as ecosystem-level transformation: “This extends beyond simple capital provision. We’re establishing a standardisation platform that allows financial sector participants to harmonise practices, enabling replication across institutions and scale across the broader MSME economy.”

Broader Turkish Infrastructure Investment

This MSME initiative sits within a wider World Bank commitment to Turkish economic resilience. In November, the institution approved a $640 million financing package for Istanbul emergency preparedness and urban infrastructure reinforcement against natural disasters. Concurrently, negotiations continue on $6 billion in energy transmission grid modernisation, while $600 million recently deployed toward flood and drought mitigation work across regions.

The interconnection reflects strategic thinking: resilient infrastructure and disaster-resistant communities create stable foundations for small business survival and growth, particularly where women entrepreneurs operate within constrained geographic or sectoral niches.

Sustainability Questions Amid Economic Headwinds

Gider underscores a critical implementation challenge: loan terms must reflect current macroeconomic reality. Subsidised financing that appears attractive during programme launch may burden beneficiaries under worsening economic conditions. The programme’s success hinges not just on capital deployment but on calibrating repayment expectations against Turkish inflation, currency pressures, and real wage trends.