Africa is not short on ambition when it comes to financing women. Across the continent, new grant competitions, special funds, and targeted lending schemes have raised visibility and created momentum. Yet capital flows remain far below potential. The challenge is deeper than money: women’s economic participation is still treated as an add-on rather than embedded in the core architecture of banking
Beyond Access to Finance
Much of the debate has focused on representation: how many women secure loans, sit on boards, or attract venture capital. But data from the IFC shows that only 7% of private equity and venture capital in emerging markets reaches women-led businesses. Even when women do access finance, it is often on smaller and shorter terms than their male counterparts.
Structural barriers — from collateral requirements to restrictive inheritance laws, and from gendered social norms to unconscious bias — mean the system is not designed to fully unlock women’s potential. Women entrepreneurs are also excluded from procurement networks, face higher barriers to digital access, and carry heavier care responsibilities that constrain their mobility and time.
If African entrepreneurs women, particularly in SMEs and the private sector, are to drive growth at the pace we need, gender-smart thinking must look at the entire business cycle: how deals are sourced, how supply chains are structured, how products are designed, and how leaders are promoted.
Where the Gaps Lie
Despite making up nearly 60% of Africa's self-employed workforce, women entrepreneurs face a $42 billion financing shortfall. Even when they access credit, terms are smaller and more expensive than for their male peers. Trade and working capital are especially constrained: women-owned firms report greater difficulty obtaining supply-chain finance and letters of credit, hampering regional trade just as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) takes off.
The issue is not a lack of initiatives, but how finance and business systems themselves are designed. Most risk models still revolve around traditional collateral, such as land or property titles, which women are far less likely to own due to entrenched legal and social barriers. This disadvantages women regardless of the strength of their business model or repayment capacity.
Too often, the evidence base guiding product design remains weak. Pilot projects and anecdotal surveys take the place of sex-disaggregated data that shows, which financial products genuinely close gaps. Without robust data, we cannot measure progress or hold accountable institutions.
Finally, economic opportunity flows through networks—from banks to suppliers to investors—that remain heavily male-dominated. Women are often excluded from these circles, meaning many viable businesses never even reach the table.
The Shift Required
Credit and investment decisions need to move beyond rigid collateral requirements and place more weight on cash flows, track records, and alternative forms of security. Deal origination must expand beyond closed, male-dominated networks, and incentives should reward success in supporting women-led businesses.
But finance alone is not enough. True inclusion requires reform across the private sector and the enabling environment:
– In supply chains: companies must ensure women entrepreneurs can compete fairly for procurement opportunities.
– In workplaces: Firms must recruit and promote women equitably, recognizing the leadership pipeline.
– In products and services: Business models must reflect women’s realities as workers, consumers, and leaders — from access to digital platforms to protections against gender-based violence.
Models That Work
Across Africa, examples show what happens when women's realities are embedded into institutional design. Ecobank Côte d’Ivoire’s first gender bond, tailored SME programs such as Ellevate by Ecobank, and simplified onboarding models demonstrate that when inclusion is hardwired into systems, both returns and resilience improve.
Philanthropy also plays a catalytic role, with flexibility to de-risk early-stage innovations, invest in evidence, and support capacity-building. But philanthropy cannot deliver scale alone. Its greatest impact comes when paired with private-sector commitment and government policy reform — the space where UN Women agrees partners and holds stakeholders accountable.
Call to Lead
This year marks the 15th anniversary of UN Women and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. These milestones remind us that while progress has been made, change is far too slow.
Financing entrepreneurs women is not charity; it is one of Africa's most overlooked levers for growth — and a fundamental human right. Unlocking this potential requires more than finance. It calls for a private sector bold enough to design with women in mind—across products, workplaces, supply chains, and markets. And here's the provocation: the private sector is uniquely equipped to do this.
We are not starting from scratch. Gender bonds, including supply chains, and tailored SME programs provide that gender-smart models are both commercially viable and socially necessary.
