New Insights from BFA Global Reveal What It Really Takes to Increase Women’s Incomes

Nairobi, Kenya – BFA Global today released new findings from its Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Opportunity Leads Umbrella Program, identifying five critical, interconnected domains that drive income growth for low-income women micro-entrepreneurs. The insights emerge from a two-year collaboration with 11 enterprises in Kenya through the WEE Program.The insights challenge the notion that income growth follows a simple, linear path. Instead, it shows that sustained income gains depend on a set of reinforcing conditions working together.

“We started with a simple question: what does it really take to increase incomes for low-income women in practice, not just in theory,” said co-authors Phoebe Kiboi and Maha Khan. “What we found is that no single intervention works in isolation. Income growth happens when multiple factors align.”

Through the program’s interventions, 1,800 women micro-entrepreneurs saw their incomes rise by an average of 49 percent, equivalent to an additional $85 per month.

The insights identify five interconnected domains that determine whether women can translate opportunity into sustained income:

• Support Structures: Factors such as childcare, time, mobility, and social norms shape whether women can participate in economic opportunities at all. Enterprises that design around these realities can unlock participation at scale.
• Skills and Confidence: Skills training is most effective when it builds both technical capability and self-belief, and when women have real opportunities to apply what they learn.
• Networks: Peer networks provide critical support systems, enabling access to capital, customers, and information. These informal structures often act as the backbone of women’s economic activity.
• Productive Capital and Assets: Access to capital drives growth only when it is appropriately timed and tailored. Misaligned financial products can hinder rather than help progress.
• Market Linkages: Connecting women to markets creates opportunity, but sustained income depends on the strength of the other four domains.

When one domain is missing, progress stalls. Skills without market access do not translate into income. Capital without capability creates risk, and market access without support structures excludes those who need it most.

The insights emphasize the need for more integrated approaches that align multiple domains rather than optimizing individual interventions in isolation. For more information, see the key findings.

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About BFA Global

BFA Global is an impact innovation firm that combines research, advisory, venture building, and investment expertise to build a more inclusive, equitable, and resilient future for underserved people and the planet. We partner with leading public, private and philanthropic organisations, global and local, to catalyse innovation ecosystems for impact across emerging markets. Since 2006, we have completed 646 projects completed in over 107 countries, supported 250+ ventures in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, who have collectively raised $1B+ in follow-on funding, and have a survival rate above 80% (global average is ~20%), and built a network of 100+ global and African investors, innovators, and funders.

Learn more at https://bfaglobal.com/.