This archive report was first published on 27 August 2019.
On August 25-27, 2019, the G7 Summit in France saw French President Emmanuel Macron announce a significant step towards championing gender equity, with a $251 million award to the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) Initiative.
According to Macron, the AFAWA initiative was born out of a collaboration between the African Development Bank and African guarantee funds, as well as a network of African banks.
Macron's announcement was a culmination of efforts that began in 2015, when African Heads of State tasked the African Development Bank with implementing a financing mechanism for women's economic empowerment.
The AFAWA initiative operates in three key areas:
- Enhancing productivity and growth through training for women entrepreneurs
- Creating incentives for lending to women in business
- Supporting African governments to reform and break barriers to women in business
With women operating close to 40% of SMEs in Africa, AFAWA aims to raise up to $5 billion for African women entrepreneurs, with the African Development Bank providing $1 billion in financing.
