AXIAN Group and the African Development Bank have launched a major financial inclusion programme targeting more than 34,000 women-led enterprises across five African countries, tackling a financing gap that persists despite Africa holding the world’s highest rate of female entrepreneurship.
The programme is backed by the African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative, known as AFAWA, and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, or We-Fi.
It targets one of the most persistent constraints facing women-owned businesses across the continent. Despite leading the world in rates of female entrepreneurship, African women entrepreneurs face an estimated $49 billion financing gap.
The initiative will run through AXIAN Group’s digital financial services platforms, Mixx and Mvola, integrating digital lending, financial literacy training, business development services and digital inclusion tools designed to help women entrepreneurs grow their businesses and gain access to formal financial services.
The programme comprises two complementary components. The first will deliver tailored digital financial products and services to 34,000 women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Madagascar, Tanzania and Senegal.
The second will provide financial literacy, digital skills and entrepreneurship training to 25,000 women across Madagascar, Tanzania, Senegal, Togo and Comoros, extending the programme’s reach to two additional countries beyond its direct financing component.
The initiative will utilize mobile money, digital lending, and alternative credit assessment to support women entrepreneurs who have been underserved by traditional financial systems due to a lack of collateral, credit history, or banking relationships.
Erwan Gelebart, CEO of AXIAN Digibank and Fintech, framed the programme as addressing a structural gap rather than a shortage of entrepreneurial ambition.
“Across Africa, millions of women are already running successful businesses. The challenge is not entrepreneurship. It is access to finance, to digital tools and to opportunities for growth,” Gelebart said. “Through Mixx and MVola, we are using technology and financial innovation to support women entrepreneurs in building stronger businesses, creating jobs and participating more fully in the digital economy. This programme is about unlocking opportunity at scale.”
Melissa Basque-Roux, Coordinator of the African Development Bank’s AFAWA initiative, echoed that framing, emphasizing women entrepreneurs’ centrality to the continent’s broader economic transformation.
“Through AFAWA and We-Fi, the African Development Bank is pleased to support this partnership with AXIAN, Mixx and MVola,” Basque-Roux said. “The partnership will expand tailored digital financial services, strengthen financial literacy and unlock new opportunities for women-led businesses across the continent.”
The program focuses on five priorities: expanding access to digital finance for women-led businesses, enhancing financial and digital literacy, creating financial products for women entrepreneurs, boosting digital inclusion via mobile technology, and helping women-owned businesses transition to and thrive in the formal economy.
Implementation will be led by Mixx and MVola in partnership with local operating companies across participating countries, pairing regional expertise with country-level execution capacity to maximise reach and impact.
The initiative builds on the African Development Bank’s existing relationship with AXIAN Telecom.
In January 2025, the Bank approved a $160 million senior corporate loan to enhance digital connectivity and financial inclusion in nine African countries, including dedicated funding for 22,000 women entrepreneurs in Madagascar.
This expands an existing financing relationship rather than being a standalone initiative.
The launch highlights a trend among African development finance institutions and fintech operators using mobile money to reach women entrepreneurs excluded from formal banking.
Mobile penetration in sub-Saharan Africa is surpassing traditional banking, making digital platforms like Mixx and MVola crucial for reaching women-led businesses in areas with limited access to physical bank branches.e.
