The African Guarantee Fund, in collaboration with the African Development Bank Group, has approved a $1.2 billion loan to empower women-led enterprises across Africa. This financial support will benefit women entrepreneurs in 32 countries on the continent.
The announcement was made at the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) Finance Series event in Lagos, which aims to unlock financing opportunities for women entrepreneurs. AFAWA is part of the African Development Bank’s initiative to increase women’s access to finance by closing the $42 billion financing gap for women-led small and medium enterprises in Africa.
The Director General for African Development Bank Nigeria Country Department, Lamin Barrow, stated that the goal is to mobilize $5 billion in financing for African women-led businesses by 2026. Since the launch of AFAWA a little over two years ago, the initiative has approved $1.2 billion for on-lending to women-led enterprises in 32 countries across Africa.
Grace Ogbonna, Acting Permanent Secretary/Director of Economic Research and Policy Management Department at the Federal Ministry of Finance, emphasized the importance of women’s empowerment and called for collective efforts to ensure that women have equal opportunities to participate fully in the nation’s economic growth.
Jules Ngankam, CEO of the African Guarantee Funds Group, commended the government of Nigeria for promoting women-led small and medium enterprises and expressed eagerness to collaborate with the government and policymakers to create a more conducive environment for women entrepreneurs.
This partnership is a significant step towards advancing gender equality and economic empowerment for women across Africa.