Finance Institution Raises Gender Investment Target To 30% Under New Strategy

British International Investment (BII), has raised its gender investment target to 30 per cent under its new five-year strategy in advancing women’s economic empowerment.

The announcement was made at the 2X Global Summit in Montréal, where BII joined development and multilateral finance institutions to renew their commitment to the 2X Challenge.

In a joint statement of Intent published at the summit, the institutions highlighted that the world remains far off track to achieve gender equality. New UN data shows that 351 million women and girls could still be living in extreme poverty by 2030, underscoring the urgency of accelerating investment in women’s economic empowerment.

According to the statement, closing these gaps will require an additional $360 billion a year but could raise global GDP by more than 20 per cent.

As momentum behind gender-lens investing continues to grow, the value of gender-lens funds has increased from $1.3 billion in 2017 to $7.9 billion, demonstrating both investor interest and opportunity to channel more capital towards women-focused investments.

BII’s new 2026–31 strategy raises its own ambition, targeting 30 per cent of new investments in its core portfolio to qualify under the 2X Challenge.

The approach focuses on expanding women’s financial and digital inclusion, supporting quality jobs for women, and increasing women’s participation in climate and low-carbon industries.

At the summit, BII launched a refreshed Gender and Inclusive Finance Toolkit, a practical resource designed to help fund managers, investors and businesses embed gender lens across the investment lifecycle. It brings together plug-and-play tools for different stages of investment, case studies from BII’s portfolio, and an inclusive business section for portfolio companies.

The managing director and head of Climate, Diversity and Advisory at BII, Amal-Lee Amin, said, “gender-lens investing has never been more critical for advancing inclusive economic growth. As the global environment becomes more complex and progress on gender equality slows, we must reaffirm our commitment to advancing women’s economic empowerment through investment.

“Our refreshed Toolkit brings together the tools, evidence and practical examples investors need to move from ambition to action. We also know that progress takes time, so our approach is focused on learning, working with investees and bringing more investors with us.”