The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $9 million grant aimed at improving access to finance and opening up new business opportunities for women entrepreneurs in Tonga. The funding is intended to support the growth of women-owned and women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.
The initiative, titled the Women Entrepreneurs Leveraging Innovative Finance in Tonga Project, will focus on developing more inclusive financial products, targeted support services and policy measures designed to strengthen private sector development. ADB said the programme will address long-standing challenges faced by women seeking to start and scale businesses.
“The project is ADB’s first finance sector initiative dedicated to women entrepreneurs in Tonga,” said the Regional Director of ADB’s Pacific Subregional Office Aaron Batten. “It will unlock bank lending for women entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses.”
Women entrepreneurs in Tonga often encounter multiple obstacles, particularly when seeking finance. These include limited access to acceptable collateral, frequently linked to land ownership rules, high levels of informality in business operations and insufficient access to business development services.
The project aims to reduce these barriers through several measures. These include the creation of Tonga’s first risk-sharing facility to ease collateral requirements and expand lending to women entrepreneurs through partial credit guarantees. An enablement fund will also be introduced to provide grants that improve the bankability of informal MSMEs. In addition, the programme will deliver tailored business development services through a dedicated advisory hub and strengthen women’s financial, digital and business skills.
The grant will be financed through ADB’s Asian Development Fund, which provides support to the poorest and most vulnerable countries in Asia and the Pacific. Between 2021 and 2024, the fund helped 384,000 people move out of poverty and supported the creation of around 500,000 jobs.
ADB is a multilateral development bank focused on inclusive, resilient and sustainable growth across the Asia-Pacific region. Founded in 1966, it is owned by 69 members, including 50 from the region, and works with governments and partners to address development challenges through innovative finance and long-term investment.
