African leaders are putting women at the front of efforts to drive the continent’s economic growth through the launch of a women-empowerment initiative, dubbed the African Women Leadership Fund.
The ground-breaking partnership, formally signed between the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) and the Standard Bank Group in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, over the weekend, “will be transformational in breaking down structural barriers to inclusive investing in Africa,” the ECA said on Monday.
“The launch of the African Women Leadership Fund will provide capital to both first time and experienced fund managers in support of UN Sustainable Development Goals 5 (Gender Equality) and 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and the African Union Agenda 2063,” an ECA statement said.
Over 20 million U.S. dollars was raised for the fund on Saturday toward a goal of 100 million dollars. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda was instrumental in leading the way, pledging 500,000 dollars. Senegal’s President Macky Sall also committed 500,000 dollars. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also pledged to contribute to the fund. Private sector participants pledged the rest.
Among the world leaders who witnessed the official launch of fund were United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde, and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
“We are turning the tables and making women the decision-makers of investable money in Africa,” ECA Executive Secretary Vera Songwe said. “We want women to be on the supply side of money, not only on the demand side.”
“The goal here is to give women-led financial investment activities a huge injection of jet fuel to bear out the proven positive correlation between gender balance, higher financial returns and developmental impact,” Songwe said.
The African Women Leadership Fund, among other things, envisages empowering women financial leaders who will drive economic growth, job creation, and create prosperity.
Noting that women-owned funds and businesses in Africa struggle due largely to lack of successful fundraising, insufficient exposure to systems and procedures, and lack of track records, the ECA also stressed that women-owned funds and businesses also contend with “gender-based social expectation, resistance to women in leadership roles and lack of a support network.”
“The fund will empower Africa’s women by giving them access to financial resources and investment management expertise,” the ECA said.
Sola David-Borha, chief executive of Africa regions at Standard Bank Group, said the fund aligns with the Bank’s purpose to drive Africa’s growth and “presents an opportunity for Standard Bank to leverage our footprint and expertise on the continent, and the relevant experience of our asset management arms… to build Africa’s economies.”
“Africa is our home. We drive her growth,” David-Borha said.
Women fund managers will receive a deployment of capital, and subsequently invest in majority female-owned businesses, in which sectors such as education, manufacturing, healthcare, clean energy and agriculture are said to be priority areas.
The initiative also envisages providing technical assistance for fund managers and entrepreneurs, ranging from building capacity, direct mentoring to leveraging technology in health and education.
According to the ECA, a portion of the funding for the women’s initiative will be secured from 10 million dollars pledged recently by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and 8 million dollars pledged by Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg. Enditem
