Market assessment and solutions to increase property ownership by women

AHI examined solutions to increase women’s ownership of property that can serve as a security and investment critical to their social and economic empowerment. The project was specifically aimed at lower and middle income segments to encourage financial institutions to move further down market and increase mortgage lending. As part of this assignment our team conducted in-depth market, demand and supply-side assessments including participant interviews and key informant interviews (KIIs), learnings from which informed our conclusion.

It was initially envisioned that this assignment will culminate in a financial product or program aimed at incentivizing property ownership by women, to be provided through FIs backed by an IFC investment. However, this study concluded that a financial product solution to increase property ownership by women in Vietnam was not in alignment with the key barriers identified in the market assessments. Instead, an alternate approach that targets women’s economic empowerment through financial inclusion and increased credit for small-business was suggested as the more appropriate approach in the case of Vietnam.