Banca Intesa Beograd expands Women in Business programme with €15m credit line
28 April 2025
Women entrepreneurs in Serbia will benefit from a new €15 million credit line, as Banca Intesa Beograd - part of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group - and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) celebrate ten years of cooperation through the Women in Business programme.
Banca Intesa in Serbia was the first bank in the country to implement the EBRD's Women in Business initiative, setting the stage for wider financial inclusion and women’s empowerment in the region.
“When Banca Intesa Beograd joined the Women in Business programme in 2015, it had a clear goal – to provide concrete support to female entrepreneurs and contribute to their greater economic integration. Today, I can proudly say we have not only met this goal but surpassed it.”
Darko Popović, President of the Executive Board of Banca Intesa
Since 2015, the Women in Business programme has been a driving force for gender-inclusive growth in Serbia.
Banca Intesa Beograd has supported nearly 4,000 women-led business ideas with nearly €40 million in favourable loans, helping entrepreneurs access capital, strengthen their business skills, and grow sustainably.
When launched by the EBRD in the Western Balkans, Women in Business programme pioneered a new model to break down the barriers that women entrepreneurs face in accessing finance and growing their businesses.
Women in Business has grown into a €160 million regional programme supporting over 8,000 businesses, thanks to the strong commitment of partners like Banca Intesa and donors such as the EU, Sweden, Italy, and Luxembourg.
Beyond funding, the Women in Business programme provides a robust support ecosystem—offering mentorship, one-on-one advisory services, business skills training, and networking opportunities.
This combination has contributed to strengthening women's role in the economy, while supporting business development, competitiveness, and job creation in Serbia.
Darko Popović, President of the Executive Board of Banca Intesa, and Aleksandra Vukosavljević, EBRD Director, Financial Institutions, Western Balkans and Eastern Europe, sign the new credit line:
A bit of context
In the Western Balkans, including Serbia, women entrepreneurs continue to face numerous challenges, both in terms of access to finance and knowledge, which affects the economic opportunities they have to start and grow their businesses.
To promote women entrepreneurship by addressing the obstacles, the EBRD in 2014 created the Women in Business programme in the Western Balkans and Turkey.
Since then, the Women in Business programme has supported around 8,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises led by women across the region to grow their business with financing worth around €110 million.
In addition to financing, over 600 one-on-one advisory projects with women-led SMEs were carried out, as well as trainings for over 4,000 women participants.
