Thousands of African women entrepreneurs stand to benefit from a new targeted financial inclusion initiative
The AfDB is joining forces with pan-African telecoms company Axian to expand access to finance and business support to a total of almost 60 000 women-led enterprises in five countries, according to a report in Africa Business Communities.
The first phase of the initiative targets 34 000 women-led SMEs in Madagascar, Tanzania and Senegal. The second will provide financial literacy, digital skills and entrepreneurship training to 25 000 women in those three countries, plus Togo and Comoros.
ITWeb Africa reports that the programme will be facilitated by Axian’s mobile money platforms, Mixx and Mvola.
According to the AfDB, the continent has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship globally but women entrepreneurs face a funding gap of almost US$50 million.
The development bank is supporting the programme through its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (Afawa) initiative and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative.
‘The partnership will expand tailored digital financial services, strengthen financial literacy and unlock new opportunities for women-led businesses across the continent,’ said Melissa Basque-Roux, Afawa co-ordinator.
The programme will focus on five priority areas: expanding access to digital finance for women-led businesses; strengthening financial and digital literacy; developing financial products tailored to women entrepreneurs; accelerating digital inclusion through mobile technology; and helping women-owned businesses to succeed in the formal economy.
8 September 2026
Image: Unsplash
