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Tag: Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative

  • United Nations Women honors African Development Bank Group President Adesina as HeForShe Champion

    United Nations Women honors African Development Bank Group President Adesina as HeForShe Champion

    …UN Women describes HeForShe as a global movement that has engaged more than two million men and individuals in championing gender equality

    I am resolute in my conviction that when Africa’s women win, Africa wins – Akinwumi Adesina; Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez and CEOs of Global Citizen and Movember also honoured.

    The United Nations Women organisation has named the African Development Bank Group President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, a HeForShe Champion for his work promoting gender equality in Africa.

    At a ceremony held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday 24 September, UN Women’s HeForShe Alliance celebrated Dr. Adesina as one of four new champions – global leaders recognized for their dedication to transforming institutions and setting new benchmarks for equality, ensuring that women and girls have equal opportunity in social, economic, and political spheres.

    “Africa can only reach its full development potential by exponentially increasing opportunities for women. Advancing gender and empowering women are central to the African Development Bank Group’s work across the continent,” Adesina said.  

    “I sincerely thank UN Women and HeForShe for this recognition. Becoming a HeForShe Champion reflects my personal, as well as the Bank’s, unwavering commitment to promoting gender equality and to delivering increased access to finance for Africa’s women entrepreneurs. I am resolute in my conviction that when Africa’s women win – Africa wins,” he added.

    UN Women describes HeForShe as a global movement that has engaged more than two million men and individuals in championing gender equality. The other three newly announced   HeForShe Champions are Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain; Hugh Evans, CEO and Co-Founder of Global Citizen; and Michelle Terry, CEO of Movember.

    “When men and women alike stand together for gender equality, we move towards a just and equal world for all,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous. 

    The HeForShe Alliance invites people to identify means of supporting women and girls in every aspect of life, as well as to take steps towards tackling the gender pay gap, ending violence against women, and improving access to essential public services amongst other issues.

    HeForShe cited Adesina and the African Development Bank Group for committing to mainstreaming gender considerations across all its investment projects and operations. This includes incorporating gender-responsive indicators into project monitoring and the creation of Gender Marker System that enables Bank staff to track progress towards mainstreaming gender equality in its programs and projects.

    “By embedding gender criteria in its processes, the Bank has the potential to lead the financial sector in promoting gender equality, setting a new standard for development finance institutions globally,” HeForShe said in a statement.

    The Bank’s latest Gender Strategy, approved under Adesina’s leadership, has guided staff to embrace gender equality as smart economics. A video shown during the HeForShe event noted that the Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative – created by the Bank Group President – has to date secured $1.8 billion in financing for lending to Africa’s women entrepreneurs. Already  $1 billion of that financing has been disbursed through 172 financial institutions in 43 African countries, to more than 18,000 women-led small and medium business.

    Internally, the Bank has also committed to advancing its Economic Dividend for Gender Equality (EDGE) certification. Last year, the Bank achieved level one certification with EDGE: the certification program is designed to assist companies to create an optimal workplace for men and women by independently verifying measurements of a company’s compensation scale, representation, inclusiveness of career development opportunities, training and other indicators.

    The HeForShe Champion honor comes as the African Development Bank Group celebrates 25 years of gender mainstreaming in its operations, and as HeForShe celebrates its 10th anniversary.

  • 60 years of the African Development Bank: private sector representatives applaud institution’s backing

    60 years of the African Development Bank: private sector representatives applaud institution’s backing

    … urge further support for innovation and entrepreneurship among women and young people

    The African Development Bank must expand its support for female entrepreneurs, as well as young innovators and business creators, to reduce poverty and tackle the lack of jobs in Africa, according to young African entrepreneurs. 

    The African youth business representatives were speaking during a panel discussion on the topic “Our world, our experience”, organised shortly after the launch of the Bank’s 60th anniversary celebrations.  

    Jean-François Yao, Regional Policy Advisor in charge of Institutional Partnership at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), praised the Bank’s new approach, which now factors in humanitarian emergencies to development issues.  

    “The African Development Bank is already doing great things in the humanitarian domain and for a raft of organisations that help to reduce human suffering, and we congratulate them for that,” said Yao. He went on to reiterate that the Bank’s first action with the ICRC, conducted after the signing of a letter of intent in 2019, had made it possible to launch a pilot project empowering women in the Sahel. This project has provided support for vulnerable women and widows affected by the crisis in the Sahel, particularly in Chad, Mali and Niger, and has transformed the lives of numerous people. 

    “A Malian woman who sold doughnuts received 200,000 CFA francs,” said Yao. “This enabled her to develop her business, then to make fruit juice, and today she works in second-hand clothing. She was able to buy a plot of land and begin building her own house. She has also been able to send at least three of her six children to a private school.” 

    He expressed his satisfaction with the results of this groundbreaking partnership, which was bolstered in 2023 by a memorandum of understanding. This memorandum has made it possible to launch a humanitarian project in South Sudan that will benefit a million internally displaced people. Although the Bank’s and the ICRC’s activities run in parallel, the two institutions have found a shared starting point from which they can implement a development-humanitarian nexus, and they plan to sign a framework agreement in the near future to further strengthen this partnership. 

    In the opinion of the private sector representatives, the Bank’s actions need to be clearer and more visible. Better still, the Bank must increase and diversify its operations to develop the private sector, which is the principal provider of employment. 

    Christelle Essim Egue, Lamin Barrow and Stéphane Aka-Anghui, who all operate in the Ivorian private sector, shared their experiences of working with the Bank Group and their vision for the institution over the next decade. 

    “Previously, I produced 500 packets of doughnuts a day; today, I produce 60 packets per minute,” said a visibly proud Christelle Essim Egue, an Ivorian entrepreneur and founder of Pam Holding, a firm specialising in the production of doughnuts and natural pepper. “With the Bank’s support, we were able to create other products.”  

    Courtesy of the Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative, which supports women entrepreneurs continent-wide, Christelle received 40 million CFA francs in financing from AFAWA via the pan-African bank ECOBANK. Today, her company is flourishing, and she is preparing to open a new factory and diversify her business by investing in palm oil production. For her palm oil plant, she will need to raise 500 million CFA francs and may turn to the Bank for support. 

    Lamin Barro, meanwhile, an innovator and developer of IT solutions, and the CEO of Etudesk, a start-up specialising in online training, has previously partnered with the African Development Bank. The Bank called on his company’s services to support 200 young innovators in Egypt. In Côte d’Ivoire, his start-up helps more than 800 people – in public institutions, local and pan-African companies, and subsidiaries of multinational corporations – in the sphere of technological innovation. 

    Praising the Bank’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab initiative, the young up-and-coming entrepreneur stressed that the Bank must help young Africans “to create and innovate”. He added: “One of my dreams is to see an incubator or innovation centre in every university in Côte d’Ivoire, and even in Africa. We can promote ‘education entrepreneurship’ i.e. setting up one’s own business while still at university.” He went on to emphasise that Africa must stand up and be counted when it comes to technological developments such as artificial intelligence, blockchains, etc. As far as this CEO is concerned, the Bank must increase its presence on social media to encounter young people with whom it can “co-develop projects.” 

    Pointing out that Côte d’Ivoire’s private sector generates 500,000 jobs a year, Stéphane Aka-Anghui, Executive Director of the General Confederation of Businesses in Côte d’Ivoire (CGECI), is calling for a special partnership with the Bank hinged on a shared objective: to industrialise Africa, create jobs and promote start-ups and innovation among young people. 

    “The Ivorian government wants to create eight million jobs by 2030,” he stated. “This can only happen if we create a large number of businesses. If we start one million businesses, they can generate 10 million jobs.” 

    The CGECI, which has more than 4,000 companies in Côte d’Ivoire under its umbrella, provides more than 80 percent of the country’s tax revenue. It has already benefited from support from the Bank to help businesses structure themselves better and take advantage of the common market of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The CGECI hopes to develop other initiatives with the Bank’s assistance, such as the national champions programme and the CGECI Academy, an initiative that provides support to start-ups. 

    Following a stirring speech from Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President and Chairman of the Boards of Directors of the African Development Bank Group, at the launch of the institution’s 60th anniversary festivities, Aka-Anghui asked him to find the time to come and deliver a similarly inspiring message to Côte d’Ivoire’s business leaders, to encourage them to become true champions for Africa. 

  • AfDB, First City Monument Bank sign $50 million to bolster access to finance for women-owned SMEs

    AfDB, First City Monument Bank sign $50 million to bolster access to finance for women-owned SMEs

    …expected to improve access to finance for at least 50 enterprises: 29 in the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors, 9 in renewable energy and 13 in the healthcare industry

    The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has signed an agreement with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) for a $50 million line of credit to support access to finance for small and medium-sized and women-empowered enterprises.

    FCMB will use the line of credit to expand lending activities that will boost the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery and drive more inclusive and climate-resilient growth. It will focus on enterprises in Nigeria’s agribusiness, manufacturing, healthcare and renewable energy sectors.

    The African Development Bank is also providing a complementary technical assistance package of $285,000 under its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative. The grant funding, provided by the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative (We-Fi), will support enhancing financial literacy, business management and entrepreneurial skills for women-led businesses as well as strengthening FCMB’s monitoring and reporting functions.

    The African Development Bank’s Director General for Nigeria, Lamin Barrow, said, “The Bank’s support to FCMB will advance the objectives of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative, which seeks to improve gender inclusivity by enhancing access to finance for women entrepreneurs.  

    “With at least 30 percent of the funding from the Line of Credit to be channeled to women-owned businesses, FCMB will be better positioned to scale up the deployment of its tailored products and services to meet the needs of SMEs and women-owned businesses,” Barrow said.  

    FCMB’s Managing Director, Yemisi Edun, said, “We are happy to collaborate with the African Development Bank to create expanded opportunities and accelerate post-COVID-19 pandemic business recovery for SMEs and women-owned businesses in Nigeria through funding and technical support. We are intentional about collaboration that upskills entrepreneurs, drives industrialisation, and creates economic value, wealth and employment for Nigerians.”

    She said that the agreement affirmed the African Development Bank’s confidence in FCMB’s growth potential and corporate governance structures. 

    The project is expected to improve access to finance for at least 50 enterprises: 29 in the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors, 9 in renewable energy and 13 in the healthcare industry. It will create a minimum of 1000 jobs and enable roughly 14 female entrepreneurs to gain access to long-term funding.  

     The African Development Bank anchors its current Nigeria strategy on two pillars: supporting infrastructure development and promoting social inclusion through agribusiness and skills development. Its current Nigeria portfolio comprises 53 operations with a total value of $4.5 billion. Thirty of these operations, with a value of $2.7 billion, are sovereign operations; the 23 non-sovereign operations have a value of $1.8 billion.