Five lessons from investing in women's economic empowerment in Liberia

Globally, closing gender gaps in employment and entrepreneurship could boost GDP by more than 20%. But the real transformation happens when we move from statistics to action—when we understand not just why to invest in women, but how to do it effectively.

Over the past three years, Liberia's Women Empowerment Project (LWEP) has provided critical insights into what works. With $44.6 million in World Bank financing, LWEP has supported hundreds of women entrepreneurs while tackling barriers like gender-based violence and harmful social norms. Here are five lessons for countries seeking to accelerate women's economic empowerment.

Lesson 1: Small grants can generate outsized returns

Women entrepreneurs often lack collateral or credit history to access formal loans, yet they need capital to start or expand businesses. We learned that even modest grants—when paired with training and business planning—can unlock significant economic activity.

Ma-Fatu Kolleh, a mother of seven, started her business in 2001 with just $20. After receiving a $1,250 LWEP grant, she expanded her shop and dramatically increased profits. "My shop is stocked and growing. I am living proof that small beginnings can lead to big dreams," she says. Today, Ma-Fatu supports her family, invests in her children's education, and has become an anchor business in her community.

Over nine months, LWEP helped to develop 324 business plans, approving 191 grants. This approach means rethinking traditional lending requirements. Grant programs can bridge women to financial inclusion, helping them build credit histories and demonstrate bankability for future loans.

Lesson 2: Digital infrastructure turns short-term support into long-term resilience

Traditional grant programs risk creating dependency rather than sustainability. We learned that connecting women-led businesses to digital systems for finance transforms one-time grants into lasting opportunities.

LWEP links women to mobile money platforms, and in the future, to digital business registration systems. Women who once operated cash-only roadside stands now accept digital payments, maintain bank accounts, and access markets beyond their communities. This digital bridge helps women formalize operations, build credit, and sustain growth long after grants end. Digital financial inclusion should be integrated from the start—not added as an afterthought.

Lesson 3: Climate resilience must be built into women's enterprises

Women entrepreneurs in developing countries often work in climate-vulnerable sectors like agriculture and trade. Climate shocks can wipe out livelihoods built over years.

LWEP integrates climate considerations throughout business development—from market assessments that factor in climate risks to climate-focused business plans, awareness training, and mobilization of community climate champions. Women's groups learn to identify risks, adapt production methods, and diversify income sources. Women's economic empowerment and climate adaptation should not be separate agendas. Programs should help women build businesses that are both profitable and resilient.

Lesson 4: You cannot separate economic from social empowerment

Economic interventions alone cannot overcome deep-rooted social barriers. In Liberia, over 90% of women face vulnerable employment, but they also face gender-based violence, restrictive norms, and limited household decision-making power.

Comprehensive approaches work better. LWEP combines financial literacy with life skills training and engages traditional and religious leaders to prevent GBV. This strengthens basic GBV response in health services and creates safe spaces for women and girls. Siloed interventions miss opportunities for transformation. Programs should address the interconnected barriers women face.

Lesson 5: Women's economic success creates multiplier effects

When women succeed economically, they generate ripple effects throughout their communities. They hire other women, invest in their children's education, support extended family, and reinvest profits locally.

In Liberia, women produce 93% of the country's food yet own just 27% of businesses and lag men in account ownership by 12 percentage points (Figure 1). Achieving gender parity could raise women’s contribution to economic activity to 53% and increase Liberia’s GDP by up to 30%.

Figure 1. Gender gaps in account ownership and women’s entrepreneurship in Liberia

Source: World Bank Gender Data Portal (2023); Global Findex Survey (2024). 

The woman-led enterprise supported by LWEP doesn't just lift one household—it creates employment for others, strengthens local supply chains, and builds more resilient communities. When women thrive, they become engines of inclusive growth. Investments in women should be evaluated not just by individual outcomes but by catalytic effects on job creation and local economic activity.

Scaling what works

These lessons reinforce what evidence shows globally: investing in women is one of the smartest economic decisions a country can make. But implementation matters.

The Liberia Country Partnership Framework for Fiscal Years 2025–2030 aims to build on these lessons to promote foundations for more and better jobs —with particular focus on women and youth. President Joseph Nyuma Boakai highlighted LWEP as a vital element of Liberia's National Development Plan at the Fourth World Conference on Women at the UN General Assembly in September 2025.

The path forward is clear: integrate economic and social interventions, leverage digital infrastructure, support climate resilience, provide flexible financing, and measure multiplier effects. When we invest in women with these principles in mind, we don't just support individual entrepreneurs—we unlock the potential of entire economies.

As Ma-Fatu's story demonstrates, small beginnings can lead to big dreams. The question for development practitioners everywhere is: Are we creating the conditions for those dreams to flourish?