Support for female entrepreneurs

Women’s economic empowerment has improved rapidly in the last century. Today, many women are not just fully engaged in the workplace; some lead international organisations, corporations and countries. But gender gaps, still prevalent in the European Union and other regions, are costly and imply foregone opportunities not only for women individually, but also for companies that do not fully leverage female talent, and for economies. After a century of impressive progress, overall economic opportunities for women are still lagging behind those of men. On average, women earn 13% less per hour in the European Union. Women are less often entrepreneurs and those that strive to grow their businesses or decide to lead companies face high barriers. Globally and across the European Union, we still have a way to go to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls, as stipulated by the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the European Pillar of Social Rights. Three surveys — the EIB Investment Survey (EIBIS) 2021, the EIBIS Startup and Scaleup Survey 2019 and the EBRD-EIB-World Bank Group Enterprise Survey — show that supporting female-led businesses makes good economic sense, as these companies generate wider economic, social and environmental benefits. Notably, support for female-led businesses can contribute to raising female labour force participation, thereby helping to reduce poverty risks. At the same time, framework conditions that make it easier for women to have professional careers, or establish and run a business successfully, are key to seeing more female-led businesses emerge and thrive

Africa’s digital solutions to tackle COVID-19

African countries are using technology in many new ways to fight the coronavirus pandemic. This report highlights some of the best digital solutions and estimates the investments required to implement the technology on a wider scale. The European Investment Bank prepared this report with the support of the United Nations Development Programme and the consulting firm BearingPoint

EIB Working Paper 2021/10 - The simpler, the better

In this paper we assess the merits of financial condition indices constructed using simple averages versus a more sophisticated alternative that uses factor models with time varying parameters. Our analysis is based on data for 18 advanced and emerging economies at a monthly frequency covering about 70% of the world’s GDP. We assess the performance of these indicators based on their ability to capture tail risk for economic activity and to predict banking and currency crises. We find that averaging across the indicators of interest, using judgmental but intuitive weights, produces financial condition indices that are not inferior to, and actually perform better than, those constructed with more sophisticated statistical methods

EIB Working Paper 2022/15 - Estimating financial integration in Europe

"Financial integration, broadly defined as the intensity of cross-border linkages between financial markets, has the potential to channel capital to where it is most productive, bringing many benefits. However, some financial integration is cyclical, increasing economic upswings and declining during down-turns. Of more long-term benefit is financial integration driven by structural factors such as the reductions in exchange rate risk and the increased regulatory or supervisory convergence associated with the establishment of a currency union, such as Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union. This paper presents a new indicator of de facto financial integration in the European Union. Analysing this indicator alongside different financial and macroeconomic variables makes it possible to separate the impact of cyclical boom-bust shocks from the influence structural factors. It shows that increasing structural financial integration tends to improve risk absorption and reduce income disparities among European countries. However, it also suggests that most of the movements in the indicator reflect business cycle dynamics, rather than structural integration. These results highlight the need to develop further policies to foster structural financial integration in the EU.

EIB Complaints Mechanism Report 2020

Any concerns about an EIB Group activity or project? The Complaints Mechanism listens to citizens and ensures their voice can be heard. Have a look at its Activity Report for 2020. 2020 was a particularly challenging year amid the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The EIB Group Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM) had to find innovative ways to not only handle complaints but also interact with its key stakeholders. In 2020, the EIB-CM registered 77 new cases, handled 137 cases and closed 94 of them. The number of outstanding complaints at year-end has continued to decrease, from 89 in 2018 to 60 in 2019 and to 43 in 2020. The EIB-CM managed to close most long-overdue cases during the year. A number of highly complex cases were closed in 2020, including Nenskra HPP (Georgia), Réseau Ferroviaire Rapide (Tunisia) and Cairo Metro Line (Egypt). The key achievements are reflected in the annually published Complaints Mechanism Activity Report, which gives an overview of how through its actions the EIB Group remains accountable to the public

Regional Cohesion in Europe 2020-2021

EU Cohesion Policy aims to strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion across the European Union and to correct imbalances between countries and regions. The green and digital transition are key priorities of Cohesion Policy for the next years. Cohesion support 2021-2027 is focused on five key policy objectives to support growth: A more competitive and smarter Europe A greener, low-carbon transition towards a net zero carbon economy A more connected Europe by enhancing mobility A more social and inclusive Europe A Europe closer to citizens by fostering the sustainable and integrated development of all types of territories. EU funds will support investment across these policy objectives with a particular focus on a smart and green Europe. However, the COVID-19 pandemic risks deepening divergences between citizens, territories and firms. Firms across the EU will need to adapt to the post-pandemic environment and megatrends, notably digitalization and climate change, to stay competitive looking ahead. The EU has committed to a joint recovery centered on fostering the transition towards a greener and smarter economy across the EU. The extent to which this will mitigate the risks of rising inequalities and divergences across firms depends not least on support for cohesion. Data coming from the EIB Investment Survey (EIBIS) provides a unique tool to gain insights on how non-financial corporates in cohesion and non-cohesion regions are behaving. EIBIS information sheds new light on investment needs and gaps, financing requirements as well as firm activity on innovation, digitalization and climate change

A Partnership with Africa

Africa is embarking upon a period in which its political, economic and social outlook will transform. The European Investment Bank is a key part of the EU toolbox that for decades has helped make the partnership between Africa and Europe stronger. We aim to maximise our potential as the EU bank, so that we can join our African partners in addressing today’s critical challenges together and embrace our opportunities. This publication lays out our track record in Africa and our vision for our future partnership with the continent

EIB Group Carbon Footprint Report 2019

The EIB Group has been measuring and managing the environmental impact of its operations since 2007. In that time we have grown to meet the needs of European citizens (and beyond) by providing sustainable finance to tackle Climate change across the globe. In 2019 the EIB Group has improved its Carbon footprint and reduced emissions resulting from its internal operations. In 2019, the relative carbon footprint per employee fell by 6.0% to 5.41 tCO2e per employee. At the same time, the Group’s total net carbon footprint decreased by 4.4% to 21,434 tCO2e. This reduction is mostly driven by a decrease in business travel, commuting and data centres (Green IT)

EIB Working Paper 2022/13 - COVID-19 and the resilience of European firms

Past research suggests that economic crisis lead to a reallocation of resources from less productive to more productive firms, with many firms taking action to boost their own productivity. This paper uses data from the EIB Investment Survey and the ORBIS database to analyse how the COVID-19 crisis affected the level of employment and digitalisation efforts of European firms. Moreover, it examines how these changes relate to the pre-crisis performance of firms, in terms of productivity, digitalisation and growth. It finds that firms were less likely to reduce their number of employees, both in the short and in the long term, if they exhibited higher productivity or higher growth, or were in highly digitalised sectors. It also finds that firms were more likely to increase their use of digital technologies during the crisis if they were already relatively advanced users of digital technologies