The 2X Challenge — G7 Development Finance Institutions' Gender-Lens Investing Initiative

The 2X Challenge was launched at the 2018 G7 Summit in Canada as a commitment by G7 development finance institutions (DFIs) to collectively mobilise US$3 billion in private-sector investment benefiting women in developing markets over three years. Investments are certified against the '2X Criteria', a standardised framework assessing a company's or fund's contribution to women's entrepreneurship, leadership, employment, consumption of products/services designed for women, and gender-lens investment intent — now widely cited as the industry standard for gender-lens investing (GLI).
The initiative has run three successive rounds. The first (2018–2020) surpassed its US$3 billion target, mobilising over US$11 billion; an early-stage progress report by Proparco recorded US$2.47 billion committed by mid-2019. The second round (2021–2022) set a US$15 billion target and reported roughly US$16.3 billion mobilised. By 2024, cumulative mobilisation across both rounds was reported at over US$33.6 billion, prompting a third round with a US$20 billion target for 2024–2027, this time open to private-sector investors alongside 18 DFIs and multilateral development banks including the IFC, EBRD, European Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
Independent commentary from DFI members is more measured than the headline totals: Proparco's own assessment notes uneven sector uptake — stronger in financial services than in sectors such as renewable energy — and states plainly that members have 'only scratched the surface' of integrating gender criteria into deal pipelines. A related field initiative, the 2X Invest2Impact competition in East Africa, received nearly 800 applications and selected 100 women-owned businesses, illustrating unmet demand for capital among women entrepreneurs even where certified gender-lens capital exists.
Caveats: the billions mobilised are self-reported by participating DFIs against their own '2X-qualifying' criteria rather than independently audited, and mobilisation of capital committed under the 2X label does not by itself demonstrate improved outcomes for the women intended to benefit.

Read the full analysis: https://www.2xchallenge.org/