Australia Extends $3 Million Loan to Support Women Entrepreneurs in the Philippines

• The Australian government is lending a USD 3 million loan to ARQ SME Finance, a Philippine women-owned lending firm
• It aims to assist women business owners and enable small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
• The loan is via Australian Development Investments (ADI), the government's flagship impact investment fund

The Australian government has made public a USD 3 million (₱172 million) loan facility to ARQ SME Finance, an Australian owned by Filipino women lending firm.

The scheme is designed to fill the financing gap for women entrepreneurs and develop small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The loan facility is being funded by the government through its showcase impact investment fund, Australian Development Investments (ADI).

Australian Ambassador Marc Innes-Brown defined the initiative as crucial given that there are so many eligible women entrepreneurs here in the Philippines but access to finance is still a stumbling block.

He stressed that collaborating with ARQ is designed to increase women's opportunities and help drive inclusive economic growth.

The financing is aimed at firms in the "missing middle"—those that are too big for microfinance but too small for conventional bank lending. ARQ SME Finance targets companies that have gender equality embedded in leadership, hiring, supply chains, and workplace culture.

In the words of Abigail Tan, ARQ SME BDC managing partner and co-founder, "the investment will enable the business to extend further and embrace businesses that care about gender equality, sound financial management, and sustainable business practice."

This effort complements Australia's overall "Investing in Women" effort towards promoting women's economic participation in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, this effort has assisted in addressing structural impediments to the employment and enterprise of women.

Impact investing - where a financial return is created alongside social outcomes - sits at the heart of ADI’s strategy to address poverty and inequality in Australia.

By allocating more resources into underserved sectors and encouraging utilising inclusive practices, Australia aims to create sustained systemic change in the businesses covers the region.

This was announced at the 2X Global Summit held in Manila, which brought together over 100 leaders from governments, finance and philanthropy to explore investment approaches that advance gender equality worldwide.