Mozambique among beneficiaries of US$61 million women entrepreneurs programme

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Mozambique among beneficiaries of US$61 million women entrepreneurs programme

2:05 CAT | 15 May 2019

Photo: AfDB

Mozambique is one of 21 African countries that will benefit from a US$61.million African Development Bank (AfDB) initiative for women entrepreneurs.

A statement from the AfDB says that the funding will be allocated by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), a World Bank partnership that brings together 14 donor governments, eight multilateral development banks and other public and private sector entities.

The AfDB’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) programme aims to improve access to finance women-led small and medium-sized enterprises in 21 low-income African countries: Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“The activities funded by We-Fi will be aligned with AFAWA’s three-pronged approach to holistically addressing the $42 billion financing gap between women and male entrepreneurs,” the AfDB statement reads.

The AFAWA aims to increase access to finance for women through innovative and tailored financial instruments, including guarantee mechanisms for women entrepreneurs.

According to AFAWA, the African continent has the highest percentage of women entrepreneurs in the world and, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2016/17 Women’s Report, the female entrepreneurship rate in sub-Saharan Africa reaches 25.9 percent of the female adult population, meaning that one in four women creates or runs a company.

“Women typically reinvest up to 90 percent of their income in the education, health and nutrition of their family and community – compared to 30 to 40 percent for men, demonstrating greater development impact,” AFAWA points out.

Read the full AfDB report below.

Global partners announce $61.8 million allocation to boost African Development Bank initiative for women entrepreneurs

‘“This substantial support from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, We-Fi, will help us scale up our actions and achieve greater results for women entrepreneurs across the continent” – Vanessa Moungar, Bank’s Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society.

The Governing Committee of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) has approved a funding allocation of $61.8 million for the African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) program.

We-Fi is a partnership among 14 donor governments, eight multilateral development banks, and other public and private sector stakeholders, established in October 2017 and hosted by the World Bank Group.

“This substantial support from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, We-Fi, will help us scale up our actions and achieve greater results for women entrepreneurs across the continent. Our ambition with AFAWA goes beyond regular assistance to women in business,” Vanessa Moungar, the Bank’s Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society said about the announcement.

With the We-Fi funding, AFAWA intends to improve access to finance for 40,000 women-owned/led small and medium enterprises in 21 mainly low-income and fragile African countries, where women entrepreneurs face greater challenges in accessing finance, markets, knowledge, and mentoring programs. Specifically, the program’s activities will be implemented in Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The activities funded by We-Fi will be aligned with AFAWA’s three-pronged approach to holistically addressing the $42 billion financing gap between women and male entrepreneurs.

The first AFAWA pillar aims to increase access to finance for women through innovative and tailored financial instruments, including guarantee mechanisms to back up women entrepreneurs.

In collaboration with strategic partners, the second pillar focuses on providing capacity-building services to women entrepreneurs, including access to mentoring and entrepreneurship training courses. AFAWA also helps financial institutions address the specific needs of women-owned/led businesses through tailored financial and non-financial products.

The third pillar concentrates on improving the business environment for women by engaging in policy dialogue with central banks and other relevant authorities and stakeholders.

Lastly, the We-Fi funding will reinforce initiatives of the Bank and partners, such as UN Women and CARE International, in favour of women entrepreneurs in various sectors that are frequently overlooked by traditional financiers, donors and governments. These special initiatives include Fashionomics Africa and the African women tech entrepreneurs program.

For more information on AFAWA, please visit our website: www.afdb.org.

Source: Lusa / AfDB