AfDB, AGF approve $1.2bn loan for women-led business
AfDB, AGF approve $1.2bn loan for women-led business
The African Guarantee Fund in collaboration with the African Development Bank Group has approved $1.2bn 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 on Tuesday at the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa, Finance Series event in Lagos. The event aims to unlock financing opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
The AFAWA Finance Series is a component of the African Development Bank’s initiative that brings together government representatives, policymakers, and financial institution leaders to offer an introduction to AFAWA’s partnership services for the Nigerian market.
In his remarks, the Director General for African Development Bank Nigeria Country Department, Lamin Barrow, said that the Bank’s AFAWA initiative seeks to increase women’s access to finance in the continent by closing the $42bn financing gap for women-led small and medium enterprises.
“Our goal is to mobilise $5bn financing for African women-led businesses by 2026. Since we launched AFAWA a little over two years ago, the initiative has approved $1.2bn for on-lending to women-led enterprises in 32 countries across Africa,” he added.
Speaking during the opening ceremony on behalf of the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, Grace Ogbonna, the Acting Permanent Secretary/Director Economic Research and Policy Management Department, Federal Ministry of Finance, said, “The topic of women’s empowerment demands our attention, our commitment, and our collective efforts to ensure that women have equal opportunities to fully participate in our nation’s economic growth.”
The Chief Executive Officer, African Guarantee Funds Group, Jules Ngankam said, “In Africa, 70 per cent of women are excluded financially, including in the areas of access to credit, land ownership, job opportunities, leadership positions, and wealth creation. These imbalances have been one of the factors limiting Africa from reaching its full potential.”
He commended the government of Nigeria for taking steps in promoting women-led small and medium enterprises and noted that the AGF through the AFAWA initiative is eager to collaborate with the government and policymakers to further transform the environment to make it more conducive for women entrepreneurs.
