African Investment Forum Drums Up Support For Women Entrepreneurs

Gender lens investing has been mainstreamed into the operations of the African Development Bank, the continents biggest development finance institution. This was revealed by Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president and chairman of the Bank at an Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa AFAWA Day event during the Africa Investment Forum in Rabat, Morocco.

You cant get anything done at the Bank if you are not paying attention to how those projects will impact women, directly or indirectly, he told the gathering.

The Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa is an initiative designed by the Bank and supported by the Womens Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative We Fi, G7 participating countries Canada, France, Germany and Italy as well as Netherlands and Sweden, to make 5bn in financing available for women-led and owned businesses to help bridge the 49bn gap that women in Africa face. Adesina said he was motivated to devise a solution when as a young executive, he frequently met women traders on the plane between Lagos and Abidjan.

When I became president of the bank, I said we have to make sure that these women get the financing they need to be able to thrive in their businesses, he recalled.

Adesina reported that as of the end of November, AFAWA has approved 2.42bn for women entrepreneurs in Africa. Of this, 1.14 bn has been disbursed to 18,607 women businesses in Africa. This has been achieved by working with the African Guarantee Fund, the implementer of the Guarantee for Growth program, and 185 financial institutions across 44 African countries. At this rate, I am fully confident that AFAWA is well on course to meet its set target to mobilise the 5 billion for women-led and women-owned enterprises in Africa by 2026, Adesina predicted, adding that I can tell you theres never been anything like AFAWA on our continent.