Shared by Anne Valko-Celestino
The Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) Program is a new flagship initiative for the AfDB, demonstrating the Bank’s commitment to women’s economic empowerment by, in particular, addressing the challenges that women face in an attempt to access finance. At the launch of AFAWA at the at the 2016 Bank’s Annual Meetings, the President of the AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, explained that the success of the AfDB’s “High 5s Agenda” depends on what is done, first, for women. “When women are supported, they deliver. When you empower women, everything changes. When women win, Africa wins. About 97 percent of women pay back their loans and the 3 percent are stopped by husbands on their way to pay,” he said.
AFAWA will also empower women in business with capacity development, training, mentoring, information and knowledge sharing. This approach is particularly important for enterprises in the agricultural sector, many of whom are classified as micro or small enterprises. Speaking at a High Level Function for Heads of States and Governments and partners on the sidelines of the 27th African Union Summit, President Adesina reiterated the AfDB’s commitment to support empowerment of women in agriculture in order to unlock the sector’s potential. “To transform agriculture we must recognise the critical role women play in agriculture in Africa. We must invest in measures that target the needs of women farmers including access to land and improving market access” he said.
In AFAWA, the AfDB will engage its partners in mobilizing funding of up to US $300 million to provide available, accessible and affordable financial services to women in business through selected financial institutions, aiming to unleash the potential of women entrepreneurs to allow them to equally contribute to Africa’s economic development.
The AFAWA Team would be pleased to further engage on the opportunities under AFAWA – kindly contact a.celestino@fdb.org or b.jones@afdb.org.