The project, implemented in partnership with Turkiye Vakiflar Bankasi TAO (VakifBank), will leverage a €750 million (~$867.8 million) IBRD guarantee under the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, to mobilise up to €1.5 billion (~$1.74 billion), 10-year financing facility in commercial financing from international lenders.
MSMEs and entrepreneurs—especially women and youth—face significant challenges in Turkiye’s financial system, including limited access to credit, digital services, and pathways into formal labour force participation. In turn, this weakens firm productivity, restricts investment, and slows job creation.
By targeting women and youth, the project aims to expand access to finance for all viable MSMEs, and use incentives to strengthen employment, competitiveness, and growth across the economy, World Bank Group said in a press release.
The guarantee will provide sub-loans to approximately 30,000 MSMEs—including 15,000 women-led and 1,000 youth-led firms—through three financing windows that support women and youth entrepreneurship, sectoral access to finance, and resilience in underdeveloped and disaster-affected regions.
Performance-based incentives will reward firms for hiring and retaining employment, especially women and youth, adopting digital financial services to increase access to finance. The project is expected to help create—directly and indirectly—up to 800,000 new or better-quality jobs.
“FINGROW will help Turkiye’s entrepreneurs access the financing they need to grow, innovate, and create jobs—particularly for women and young people who remain among the most credit-constrained,” said Humberto Lopez, World Bank country director for Turkiye. “The project also establishes a platform to harmonise market standards across banks, enhancing digitalisation and supporting a more resilient financial ecosystem.”
“Beyond financing, this project aims to be a demonstration platform that brings financial sector actors to harmonise definitions, verification practices, and reporting standards for MSMEs, enabling other banks to replicate and scale financial services for MSMEs, especially women-led enterprises,” said Etkin Ozen, World Bank Task team leader. “This is key to achieving system-wide impact.”
The Turkiye project forms part of the $4 billion FINGROW programme, a World Bank Group regional initiative designed to improve access to financial services across Europe and Central Asia, support private sector growth and create 3.5 million jobs. Uzbekistan and Turkiye are the first countries in the region to benefit from FINGROW support.
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