The African Development Bank Group and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) are stepping up efforts to close Africa’s persistent financing gap for women-owned businesses, bringing development banks, financial institutions and entrepreneurs together in Côte d’Ivoire to examine practical ways to unlock more capital and economic opportunities.
The four-day learning event, held from Sept. 22-25, was jointly hosted by the African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) and We-Fi, a World Bank-hosted partnership.
Representatives from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, Islamic Development Bank and World Bank Group, alongside the We-Fi Secretariat, attended.
The African Development Bank’s Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility, which also receives We-Fi financing, participated.
AFAWA estimates that women-owned and women-led small and medium-sized enterprises face a $49 billion financing gap across Africa. The initiative has sought to address the shortfall through partnerships with financial institutions, guarantees and technical assistance.
“Our collaboration clearly illustrates the approach we are taking across Africa: working hand in hand with financial institutions, through guarantees and technical assistance, so that they can better meet the needs of women-led businesses,” Melissa Basque-Roux, AFAWA’s Coordinator, said at the opening session.
The programme included visits to financial institutions and women-owned businesses in Côte d’Ivoire, alongside peer-learning sessions examining digital finance, business growth, research, care services, business networks, market access, technology and climate innovation.
Delegates visited NSIA Banque Côte d’Ivoire, a subsidiary of the pan-African NSIA Group, which uses financial tools to support women-owned businesses.
“We are convinced that women entrepreneurs play a decisive role in the economic development of our country,” said NSIA Banque Côte d’Ivoire’s Deputy General Manager, Sékou Chérif Sanogo. “We are committed, in partnership with African Development Bank, to offering women entrepreneurs tailored financing solutions as well as local support. This enables them to achieve their ambitions and sustainably develop their businesses.”
The delegation also met three AFAWA- and NSIA-funded entrepreneurs:
Ariane Monney, owner of Casa Èkwa restaurant and hospitality business, Yvette Yelematou Soro, of construction firm Lemias Engineering and Blandine Koffi, owner of fisheries business Poisson d’Afrique.
The entrepreneurs outlined financing challenges they faced before accessing AFAWA-backed funding and how improved access to finance supported their businesses.
“There were other banks. When I needed a guarantee, when I needed a loan, NSIA was there for me from the beginning,” Soro said.
The discussions also highlighted the growing role of digital finance in reaching businesses traditionally excluded from formal banking.
Felicia Siegrist, Senior Knowledge Officer at We-Fi, said the initiative must address institutional capacity as well as funding.
“This is also about setting up internal structures and processes to serve women entrepreneurs effectively and sustainably.”
The event aligns with the African Development Bank’s Four Cardinal Points strategic vision, particularly its emphasis on access to capital, stronger financial systems and institutions and harnessing Africa’s demographic transformation for economic development.
For development financiers, the challenge is increasingly about converting guarantees, technical assistance and digital tools into sustainable commercial lending.
The programme concluded with participating institutions reviewing lessons learned and identifying areas where they can strengthen support for women entrepreneurs.
As African economies seek to mobilise more private capital, expanding financing for women-owned businesses is becoming a central part of efforts to strengthen SMEs, create jobs and broaden participation in the continent’s economic growth.
