NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 23 – The African Development Bank’s (AfDB’s) Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative began yesterday in Nairobi, Kenya.
In its sixth edition, it is being held in partnership with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) as well as with the Office of the President’s Advisor on Women’s Rights.
The three-day event, themed ‘Enhancing Financial Inclusion for Women’, ends today.
It aims to revolutionise the financial landscape and foster an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs.
“Financial products need to be tailored to women’s unique lived experiences, needs and aspirations from the start not later when at scale,” Governor Ann Waiguru, the Chair of the Council of Governors, said.
“Financial institutions face a major challenge in understanding and responding to the unique needs of the women entrepreneurs,” Waiguru added.
“We need innovative approaches to improve women’s creditworthiness as traditional collateral requirements only serve to reinforce gender inequalities.”
The AFAWA initiative seeks to increase women’s access to finance on the continent by bridging the $42 billion financing gap for women-led and owned small and medium enterprises.
Since its inception just over two years ago, the AFAWA initiative has already approved $1.2 billion in funding for women-led enterprises in 32 countries across Africa, with a goal to mobilise $5 billion in financing for African women-led businesses by 2026.
“Kenyan women are known for their resilience and tenacity,” Harriette Chiggai, Women’s Rights Advisor to the Office of the President of the Republic of Kenya, told reporters when detailing table banking, grants, and other government programmes targeting women entrepreneurs.
“The AFAWA Finance Series is an acknowledgement of our commitment to creating an environment where Kenyan women can access essential financial tools for enterprise and development,” Chiggai added.
The series explores ways to enhance regulatory frameworks that can boost access to finance for women-led small and medium enterprises.
The event will also build understanding of AFAWA’s Guarantee for Growth (G4G) mechanism as implemented by the AGF.
“Too many women entrepreneurs across the continent are denied opportunities to grow their businesses. We’re here today to help challenge common misperceptions and emphasize that there’s business to be had in offering financial services to women-led enterprises. AFAWA understands the challenges women face and the initiative is addressing them head on,” said Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Vice President for Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery at African Development Bank Group.
Research shows women are better at repaying loans than men and typically reinvest up to 90 percent of their income in the education, health, and nutrition of their families and communities.
“The question we are addressing is how to support women and increase their productivity to fully participate in the GDP of the African economy,” said AGF Group CEO Jules Ngankam.
“Through the AFAWA G4G program we are derisking financial institutions that on-lend to women-led SMEs increasing their appetite for this target market,” he added.
Previous AFAWA Finance Series have been held in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Angola, and Nigeria.
