📋 Tender Overview
LANDLORD(S)
Luxembourg
EXECUTION PERIOD
01.07.2025 - 30.06.2030
TOTAL DURATION
60 months
Context
In the Central American Integration System (SICA) region, despite their increasing labor market participation, women continue to earn significantly lower incomes than men, while facing persistent barriers to their economic empowerment. One of the main challenges lies in their limited access to financing, particularly in the so-called missing middle bracket (between USD 10,000 and USD 100,000). To address these needs, the Luxembourg-based Female Entrepreneurship Fund (FEF) was established in 2024. It aims to improve the financial inclusion of women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (WSMEs) in the region by supporting financial institutions committed to gender equality.
Goals
The FSF Technical Assistance Facility (FSF-TAF) supports FSF-invested financial institutions and their WSME clients. Its objective is to strengthen financial inclusion by helping these institutions design gender-responsive financial products, improve their assessment and marketing processes, and integrate gender equality into their internal operations. At the same time, the facility strengthens the capacity of the final WSMEs through tailored technical assistance, skills development, and access to support networks. The project also promotes rigorous monitoring and knowledge sharing to guide future interventions and improve impact assessment.
Beneficiaries
Direct beneficiaries are the financial institutions supported by the FEF and their WSME clients. Indirect beneficiaries include other women entrepreneurs in the region who benefit from the shared tools, studies, and best practices.
Targeted geographic area
The project is implemented in the SICA region, including Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. The FEF-TAF team is primarily based in San Salvador to ensure close coordination with stakeholders and partners.
Stakeholders
Initial funding is provided by the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade. The FEF-TAF is managed by LuxDev, which may delegate certain functions to CENPROMYPE, the Regional Center for the Promotion of Micro and Small Enterprises within the framework of SICA. LuxDev and CENPROMYPE have a long-standing collaboration, notably on initiatives to promote women's entrepreneurship in Central America. The FEF-TAF is designed as a multi-donor initiative, with governance structures that will evolve as new partners join the project.
