African Development Bank invites business enablers to apply for funding to support women entrepreneurs in Africa. The proposals should focus on projects that enhance the viability and sustainability of women’s entrepreneurship. According to the AfDB, women’s business associations, incubators, accelerators, and cooperatives that advance women’s entrepreneurship, can apply.
Besides, the funding is for innovative projects or programs to bolster the skills of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The Bank indicated that all women entrepreneurs across Africa are eligible to apply. The deadline for the submission of applications is midnight on May 30, 2021.
Meanwhile, the AfDB explained that Entrepreneurship enablers are business associations and civil society organizations. These enablers play an important role in empowering women to establish bankable SMEs and other businesses. However, the Bank admitted that the enablers themselves often face some challenges. An example is long-term growth plans and lack of financing. This, according to the Bank, will “reduce their reach, impact, and sustainability”.
Creating enabling environment for women businesses
Esther Dassanou highlighted the vital roles Women business enablers play in the success of women businesses. According to Ms. Dassanou, manager of the AFAWA, enablers “are critical to creating a viable enabling environment in which women entrepreneurs can grow”. She indicated that they create businesses that generate jobs for the continent.
Also, Ms. Dassanou indicated that the Bank is “committed to supporting enablers to strengthen the business and financial skills as well as wealth-creating capacity of their members”. She added that the Bank will do this through the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative (AFAWA).
Furthermore, the Bank indicated that it will assess applicants’ track record in supporting women SMEs, innovation, and strong development impact. It will also assess their capacity to mobilize other sources of funding. Eligible organizations may request funding of between $100,000 and $250,000. These funds will be provided through the Bank’s Gender Equality Trust Fund.
Also, Vanessa Moungar indicated that the call for proposals is an opportunity for direct and concrete support for women entrepreneurship enablers. According to her, it will help “scale up their growth and impact, and advance women’s financial inclusion on the continent”.
$5 billion financing to women SMEs
The AfDB indicated that it will consider applications from all countries across the continent. It will, however, give priority tocountries that already align with the ongoing AFAWA Guarantee for Growth Program pipeline. These countries include Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, and Madagascar. Other are Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Zambia. You can accessmore details on the application process on the Bank’s website, www.afdb.org.
AFAWA aims to unlock $5 billion in financing for small and medium enterprises owned and managed by women by 2026.
The Bank’s partners and donors, the Group of Seven (G7) countries as well as the Netherlands and Sweden support the AFAWA. The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) also supports the work of the AFAWA. The funding aims to strengthen the ecosystem for women’s entrepreneurship. This is in line with the Bank’s agenda to further gender equality and women’s empowerment.
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