Ambition always lives here (TEST)

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Subject: Ambition always lives here (TEST)

2X Global: Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

Dear Friend,

Time surely flies, doesn’t it?

How can it be that we are on the cusp of November, well into Q4 and writing the penultimate regular newsletter of the year to you?

After this and November’s edition, it will be time for our year-end, wrap-up newsletter, coming as usual in mid-December.

Perhaps we’re particularly pondering time right now as the past week or so has prompted us to look back and also look ahead.

A week ago, the 2X Global team quietly celebrated a milestone – the fifth anniversary of our founding as October 22 marked five years since the organisation was formally registered in 2021, originally as 2X Collaborative.

It was an audacious idea, conceived during a time when the world was still in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic with its attendant uncertainty and myriad challenges – a reminder that even in the most difficult of times, there is room for hope, courage and ambition. In that spirit, it felt like the natural next step from the similarly ambitious 2X Challenge which had been established a few years earlier.

Over the last five years, 2X Global has grown – from an audacious idea to an influential global community shifting markets, building capacity and advancing standards to scale up financing and investment for women.

In that vein of ambition, we’re looking ahead too – in a few days’ time, we will be launching 2X Certification for Financial Institutions (FIs). Coming just over two years after we first launched 2X Certification, at our 2X Global Summit 2024 in Nairobi, this too, is the natural next step for Certification and our standard-setting work.

The launch of 2X Certification for FIs will bring a recognised certification standard to a key area of the financial sector, including banks, lenders and other FIs, taking the sector from self-reporting of gender commitments to an independently verified standard.

2X Certification for FIs is extensive and holistic, extending gender-smart standards across financial institutions’ operations, products and practices.

In so doing, it helps distinguish gender commitments from meaningful action and also provides a road map for institutions to strengthen their practices – raising the bar for what gender-smart finance can look like and encouraging greater ambition across the investment ecosystem.

And so, five years on from registering an audacious idea, we’re still forging ahead – marking milestones, raising standards and asking what more is possible. Because what we know for sure is that there is always more to do, and always room for greater ambition.

In community,

2X Global Team

News from the field

Mainstreaming gender lens investing. Ecobank has announced a landmark USD 2.6 billion lending commitment for women-led businesses through its Ellevate programme. The commitment aims to support women entrepreneurs and drive economic growth across Africa. 'Don't assume infrastructure is gender neutral' - in an interview with Environmental Finance, with new 2X Challenge participating investor the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), 2X Global CEO Jessica Espinoza noted that project design is consequential when it comes to being able to implement gender approaches in infrastructural investment down the line. Australian philanthropist Nicola Forrest has committed more than US$500 million to her foundation focused on women and children, signalling a major philanthropic investment in advancing their wellbeing and opportunities. Across Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, EBRD and the European Union are combining finance and expertise to help women entrepreneurs grow their businesses, create jobs and strengthen their communities. FinDev Canada is providing a US$60 million loan to Thailand’s Muangthai Capital to expand women’s access to finance and support private-sector investment. It marks FinDev Canada’s first direct loan to a Thai non-bank financial institution.

Gender and Climate Investing. A new gender window from the Asian Development Bank is directing adaptation finance to women, women-led households, cooperatives and grassroots women’s groups — moving beyond gender mainstreaming to give women greater access to and control over climate finance. Deetken Impact has reached a US$100 million first close for its Inclusive Climate Action Fund, aiming to channel capital towards climate solutions while placing inclusion at the heart of the investment approach. The European Investment Bank plans to double its climate adaptation financing to at least €30 billion by 2030, supporting investments in areas including water, agriculture, infrastructure and disaster resilience.

Leadership, Culture and Policy, JEDI. New research finds that highly cognitively capable women can face greater interpersonal hostility and receive less support from colleagues — highlighting how gender stereotypes can continue to shape workplace experiences, even at the highest levels. 100 Women in Finance has announced its 2026 Americas Industry Leadership Award honoree alongside four 25th-anniversary awards recognising women whose leadership is helping shape the future of finance. As AI reshapes workplaces, traditional measures of women’s representation may no longer tell the full story. A new perspective argues that investors should look beyond headcounts to whether women are getting access to AI skills, opportunities and recognition that translate into leadership. FIFA has more than doubled preparation funding for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, bringing it in line with the men’s tournament. Each participating team will receive US$2.5 million, alongside improved travel and accommodation provisions for players. In the UK, government is setting up a £15m fund dedicated to tackling misogyny in workplaces, schools and public places amidst growing concerns about the rise of “manosphere” influencers.

Data and Tools. A new report from the Gender Equity Policy Institute finds that AI systems can reproduce and amplify gender bias across hiring, lending, healthcare, criminal justice and other areas of women’s lives — raising urgent questions about how these systems are designed and governed. Quality gender data can help investors and businesses make better decisions, but gaps in collection, reporting and comparability are limiting its value. A new KPMG East Africa report offers practical steps to turn gender data into a strategic asset. The 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index finds that 1.2 billion people - disproportionately women and children, across 108 countries are living in acute multidimensional poverty — with the number rising for the first time since the index was launched in 2010. Australia’s women-led economy represents a significant — and largely untapped — source of future growth. New data shows that much of the opportunity lies in helping women-owned businesses make the leap from micro to small enterprises, where access to capital, contracts and customers can make all the difference.

Care Economy. Who benefits from investment in care? A new Ford Foundation analysis examines how private capital has captured the care economy, asking what happens when financial returns take precedence over the quality of care and conditions for care workers — most of whom are women. A new UN Women guide offers a practical framework for measuring gaps in care services and assessing the costs and returns of investment — making the case for care as an essential investment in gender equality, economic prosperity and social wellbeing.

Resilience (GBVH, Financial Inclusion, Health, Security).

Proposed laws in several Latin American countries targeting allegedly false reports of gender-based and sexual violence are raising concerns among women’s rights advocates, who warn that the measures could create new barriers to justice and deter survivors from reporting abuse. New Australian research examines the links between misogyny, online radicalisation and youth extremism, offering evidence-based recommendations for tackling misogyny as a driver of violent behaviour. The gender wage gap in the US narrowed slightly in 2025, but women working full-time still earned just 84 cents for every dollar earned by men. At the current pace, equal pay remains decades away. Bangladesh and the European Investment Bank are planning a €250 million Women’s Health Initiative expected to reach around 47 million women and adolescent girls. The programme will strengthen maternal and newborn care, cancer services and emergency healthcare while building a more resilient health system.

Community Calendar

16-17 November

2X Global will be hosting a session at the upcoming House of Impact convening in Helsinki, Finland. Join us there for The Missing Lens: What Gender-Blind Capital Fails to See. Learn more.

18 November

Join 2X Global for a session on how to apply the 2X Criteria across companies, funds, and financial institutions operating in diverse sectors, contexts, and geographies. Learn more and register here.

18-20 November

2X Global will be at the upcoming SME Finance Forum in Singapore, joining the leading SME finance network for their three-day convening. Learn more.

1 December

For those who want to go deeper on the 2X Criteria, join us for a training session on the 2X Criteria, with a focus on Complex Structures and Additional Financial Instruments. This session will explore the application of the 2X Criteria to complex investment structures, including infrastructure transactions, bonds, guaranties, and risk-sharing facilities. Learn more and register here.

Explore what's coming up across the 2X Global community

See the Full Events Calendar.

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Subject: Ambition always lives here (TEST)