The African Development Bank Group’s (AfDB) Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), says it is offering grants of up to $250,000 to organizations helping to prepare women-led businesses to drive the continent’s economies.
AFAWA initiative is asking business enablers to apply for second round of funding to support Africa’s women-led businesses, AfDB said in a statement posted on its website yesterday.
It added that Transformational Business Network, part of the first cohort of Women’s Entrepreneurship Enablers, supports early growth stage women entrepreneurs to scale their businesses
AFAWA is also launching its second call for proposals for the Women Entrepreneurship Enablers program, targeting women’s business associations, incubators, accelerators, women-led cooperatives, and civil society organizations that promote the development of women entrepreneurs on the continent.
The statement further reads: “The program supports projects that enhance the viability and sustainability of formal women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and enables them to access financing opportunities to grow their businesses.
“Successful proposals will demonstrate innovative approaches to building a supportive ecosystem for women’s entrepreneurship, aimed at improving access to finance for women SMEs.
“Enablers are expected to develop a comprehensive and sustainable capacity-building program to enable access to finance in partnership with financial institutions.”
AFAWA said applicants from all 54 African countries are welcome, and organizations in the Sahel region and North Africa are strongly encouraged to submit a proposal.
Successful proposals will demonstrate innovative approaches to building a supportive ecosystem for women’s entrepreneurship, aimed at improving access to finance for women SMEs.
Under the terms, it said that eligible organizations may request one-time funding of between $100,000 and $250,000, which will be provided through the AfDB’s Gender Equality Trust Fund (GETF).
The Bank’s Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society, Malado Kaba, said: “Our first call for Women Entrepreneurship Enablers proposals drew nearly a thousand applications from organizations doing some ground-breaking work to equip women with the tools to expand their businesses.
“Today, we are excited to pursue this initiative by bringing in a second cohort and funding the development of their capacity building activities allowing women entrepreneurs to obtain significant financing and scale.”
Similarly, AFAWA’s Manager, Esther Dassanou, said: “Entrepreneurship enablers play an important role in bolstering the skills of women to establish ‘bankable’ SMEs.
“However, the enablers themselves often face challenges, such as viable long-term growth plans and lack of financing, which reduce their reach, impact, and sustainability.”
During the first call for proposals in May 2021, AFAWA selected 10 pan-African organizations including two from Nigeria, with demonstrated success in mobilizing finance for women entrepreneurs.
They are: Creative SpaceNG (Nigeria); Women in Africa (WIA) Initiative (Nigeria); AECF (Kenya); Seedstars (Tanzania); African Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (South Africa); Graça Machel Trust (South Africa); Entreprenarium (Rwanda); Transformational Business Network (Kenya and Uganda); E4Impact (Kenya); and PAWA Africa (South Africa).
